Johnson on playoff bubble
Jimmie Johnson is in uncharted territory.
Never has the seven-time champion missed the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. With six races remaining in the regular season, however, he is in danger of that happening.
Heading to Pocono Raceway this weekend for the Gander RV 400, Johnson is tied for 17th in the standings with Daniel Suarez. That’s one spot outside the cutoff for playoff eligibility, 17 points behind 16th-place Clint Bowyer. Johnson does own the tiebreaker over Suarez with one more topfive finish (3 to 2).
This didn’t appear to be an issue four weeks ago. Johnson posted his best finishes of the season — fourth at Chicago, third at Daytona — and ranked 13th in the standings.
Then came a 30th-place finish at Kentucky. On Sunday at New Hampshire, Johnson had power steering and water pump issues in his No. 48 Chevrolet and endured another 30th-place finish that dropped him to 17th in the standings.
“We’ve had an unfortunate turn of events the last couple of weeks,” Johnson said. “Prior to those two weeks, we really upped our performance and (have) been bringing more competitive cars to the track. We just have to keep evolving in that space, for the 48 (team) specifically and as a whole for HMS (Hendrick Motorsports). There are some styles of tracks, with the 550 rules package, that suits us well and others that we need to work on. We’re working hard.”
A victory would solve everything and put Johnson in the playoffs. However, he is mired in a 79race winless streak dating to June 2017 at Dover. Still, he remains positive. “I’ve learned in this sport you just have to let things roll off your back,” Johnson said. “Monday, you dig in and learn your lessons from the weekend behind
you, look forward and let stuff roll off your back. Be fully committed and fully focused on the upcoming weekend. That’s the position we’re in. Bring on Pocono.”
In 35 career starts at the 2.5-mile triangular track in Long Pond, Johnson has three wins, 11 top-five and 20 top-10 finishes.
Johnson is not the only driver who can use a good run at Pocono this weekend to secure or solidify a playoff spot.
Nine of the 16 berths are taken by drivers with victories: Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Bill Elliott, Alex Bowman and Kevin Harvick. Justin Haley, the surprise winner at Daytona three weeks ago, is not eligible for the Cup Series playoffs since he is a full-time Xfinity Series driver.
Aric Almirola is 98 points above the cutoff spot. Ryan Blaney is 84 points above it and William Byron is 61 points above.
Things really tighten up in spots 13 through 16 in the standings. Just 14 points separate Kyle Larson (519 points), Erik Jones (516), Ryan Newman (509) and Bowyer (505).
Practice and qualifying for the Gander RV 400 is Saturday. The race is scheduled for Sunday at 3 p.m. ARCA SERIES » Racing at Pocono kicked off Friday with the ARCA Series FORTS USA 150.
After 14 of 20 races, Michael Self had three wins and 10 top-five finishes to lead the series standings with 3,260 points. Despite having zero wins and leading only four laps, Bret Holmes is second with 3,170 points thanks to five top-five and 12 top-10 finishes. Christian Eckes is third with 3,155 points with one win, seven topfive and 11 top-10 finishes. Travis Braden has two topfive and 11 top-10 finishes to sit fourth in the standings with 3,140 points.
One driver to keep an eye on is Chandler Smith. The 17-year-old has four wins and seven top-five finishes in eight starts, but all four wins have come on short tracks — Toledo; Madison, Wisconsin; Elko, Minnesota; and Iowa. Smith is making his superspeedway debut at Pocono.