View Jimmie Johnson’s current sixrace “slump” however you’d like.
Fellow competitors (and Johnson detractors) might look at this number – 21.3 – as an optimism spark. That’s Johnson’s average finish over the last six races. He has just one top-10 finish (a 10th-place run at Pocono) over that span. Otherwise, it’s been rough: a 31st at Daytona, 25th at Chicagoland, 22nd at Indianapolis, 28th at Watkins Glen and 12th at Michigan.
That average finish over the last six races ranks 24th in the series.
Could it be a sign that his four-season stranglehold on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship will be soon over?
Johnson supporters, though, should look at this: 96.0.
That’s Johnson’s Driver Rating over the last six races, which is eighth-best over that span. In other words, lots of bad luck has plagued the four-time titlist.
His other numbers over the “slump” impress as well: an Average Running Position of 12.7, 204 Laps Led, 98 Fastest Laps Run and a Pass Differential (passes minus times passed) of plus-23.
Now, Johnson rolls to Bristol, a track that used to give him fits – until recently.
Coming into this season, Johnson has failed to win at six different tracks. One of those was Bristol. He checked that one off the list with an impressive win in March, where he led 84 laps and posted a Driver Rating of 132.4.
Despite some ragged overall statistics, his March win at Bristol was actually a rather predictable one. The statistics coming into that race suggested that something clicked at the short track for Johnson.
Over the last three races there, Johnson has an average finish of 4.0, a Driver Rating of 124.2, an Average Running Position of 3.8, 279 Laps Led, a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 96.1%, 159 Fastest Laps Run and a Pass Differential of plus-41.
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: News & Notes - Bristol Motor Speedway
CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR 0 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite / Vortex 4 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet Alpha Natural Resources / Joy Mining Machinery 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet Carquest / Go 6 David Ragan Ford UPS 7 Robby Gordon Toyota SpeedFactory.tv 9 Kasey Kahne Ford Budweiser 9 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Phoenix Construction 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Ground 12 Brad Keselowski Dodge Penske Racing 13 Max Papis Toyota GEICO 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Office Depot / Old Spice 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Crown Royal Black 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Doublemint 19 Elliott Sadler Ford Hunt Brothers Pizza 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 26 TBA2 Ford Air National Guard 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Hamburger Helper 34 Travis Kvapil Ford Long John Silver's 36 Casey Mears Chevrolet Tommy Baldwin Racing 37 Tony Raines Ford A&W All American Food 38 David Gilliland Ford Taco Bell 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Wix Filters 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford Valvoline 46 J.J. Yeley Dodge Cash America 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota Bush's Best Baked Beans / Kingsford 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 55 Michael McDowell Toyota Prism Motorsports 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 66 Dave Blaney Toyota Prism Motorsports 71 Landon Cassill Chevrolet TRG Motorsports 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Mobil 1 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Farm American 82 Scott Speed Toyota Red Bull 83 Reed Sorenson Toyota Red Bull 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota FrontRowJoe.com 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Amp Energy / National Guard 98 Paul Menard Ford CertainTeed / Menards 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac 132 Mike Bliss Toyota Braun Racing 164 Todd Bodine Toyota Gunselman Motorsports 192 Brian Keselowski Dodge K-Automotive Motorsports 207 TBA Toyota SpeedFactory.tv
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