Sputtering Johnson gets new crew chief for late run
Out of a playoff spot, seventime NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson is moving on to another new crew chief.
Hendrick Motorsports replaced Kevin Meendering Monday with Cliff Daniels, who will be atop the pit box for a road course race Sunday at Watkins Glen International in New York.
Johnson won seven championships with crew chief Chad Knaus over 17 years before they were split up after the 2018 season. Meendering failed to steer Johnson into victory lane, and the former champ is 12 points out of the 16- driver playoff field with five races left before the cutoff. Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman ( each with 532 points) hold the final two spots in front of Johnson ( 520).
Johnson, 43, has 83 career wins but none since June 2017 at Dover, Del., and is mired in the longest non- winning streak of his career. Johnson finished 15th in the
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No. 48 Chevrolet Sunday at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. He has just three top- five finishes this season and eight top 10s.
“We have great confidence in Cliff’s ability to win races with Jimmie and the team,” owner Rick Hendrick said. “He’s a natural leader and tremendously talented from both a technical and communication standpoint. Cliff’s familiarity with Jimmie and the No. 48 team culture will benefit us a ton. He will bring the spark that’s been our missing ingredient.”
Daniels, 31, was Johnson’s race engineer on the 2016 championship team. He moved into Hendrick Motorsports’ competition systems group after the 2018 season and rejoined the No. 48 team as race engineer a month ago at Sonoma Raceway in California, a sign that a shakeup could be looming.
“Cliff has really shined since he came back to the 48,” Johnson said. “When he returned, there was an immediate change in the team dynamic that all of us felt. We’ve worked together for a long time, have a ton of mutual respect and a shared vision. I have no doubt the strong connection and working relationship is going to pay dividends right away.”
Meendering will remain with Hendrick Motorsports in a senior competition role.
Jones eyes playoff field
Erik Jones started the season on the hot seat for Joe Gibbs Racing. Now, 21 races into the season, he is on a hot streak for the best team in NASCAR and making an easy case for a new contract.
With five races left before NASCAR playoff field is set, Jones is close to clinching a spot in the 16- driver lineup on points ( No. 13 with 559), though he is still looking for a win that would guarantee him a shot at a championship.
Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin are the elite stars that make JGR the class of NASCAR. Jones, 23, could wiggle his way into the conversation should he find his way into victory lane.
Jones was runner- up in the No. 20 Toyota to Hamlin at Pocono, and finished third each of the previous two races at Kentucky and New Hampshire. Jones has scored eight of his 11 top- 10 finishes since early May to move up in the standings. Nine drivers have clinched a playoff spot with wins, and Aric Almirola, Ryan Blaney and William Byron would need disastrous finishes to miss the playoffs. Jones, Kyle Larson, Bowyer and Newman hold the final spots.
Jones plans to make it a four- driver class for JGR in the playoffs. “We’re doing great building points, but it would be great to knock a win out,” he said.
His seven top- five finishes so far are three shy of last year’s total, though he won his only career Cup race in July 2018 at Daytona.