Johnson positioned for Chicago breakthrough

NASCAR star primed for first win at track

Jimmie Johnson had his 41st birthday on Saturday and the best gift was getting a perfectly set-up car that dominated final practices in preparation for Sunday’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. The Westgate SuperBook was so impressed with Johnson’s simulated race runs that they slashed his odds to win in half from 12-to-1 to 6-to-1.

Johnson was listed at high odds to begin the week just because he hasn’t been his typical self this season, and he’s also never won at Chicago’s 1.5-mile layout, one of only four tracks he’s never taken the checkered flag. He’s had only one top-five finish in his last 13 starts and hasn’t won a race in his last 21 heading into Chicago. That’s an eternity for a driver that has posted 77 wins over 15 seasons.

During Friday’s first practice session, Johnson posted the fastest individual lap (183.780 mph) and had the best 10-consecutive-lap average. In Saturday’a final sessions he had the second-best 10-consecutive-lap average early and he was tops during “happy Hour” Kyle Larson had the fastest single lap times in both Saturday sessions, but the the long run speeds are what the crews try to work on most. It’s also what bettors and oddsmakers look at the most. During the race when there are long green flag runs, we should see Johnson making a lot of passes and extending a lead if/when he gets out front. He starts eighth.

Now just because Johnson has never won at Chicago doesn’t mean he’s not good there. He’s rated No. 1 in NASCAR’s loop data by a large margin over second-best Kyle Busch. He holds the track record with 577 laps led and has a 9.2 average finish over 14 starts, which included runner-up on three occasions.

While the team has been slumping, it’s apparent that the beginning of the Chase has motivated the team with six Sprint Cup trophies in their garage. Crew chief Chad Knaus obviously found something during an Aug. 23 test session at Chicagoland that they’re putting to good use this week. And it probably won’t stop there, because five of the 10 races in the Chase are on 1.5-mile tracks where the same notes can be applied.