When Jimmie Johnson was bouncing around traffic like a 3,400-pound ping-pong ball en route to a 25th-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on the afternoon of Sept. 19, some figured that the four-time defending champion was going to have more than a little difficulty winning a fifth title.
Surprise. He’s back and with a vengeance.
Johnson more than halved a seemingly daunting 92-point deficit the old-fashioned way, winning the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway this past Sunday and in the process leading the most laps to score a maximum 195 points.
Translation: Johnson — who went from seventh to second via the Dover win — is not going to go quietly.
“He’s the one that set the standard over the last four years and he’s the guy that ultimately we feel we’re going to have to beat in this whole thing,” said current points leader Denny Hamlin.
Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus feel the same way. They are approaching the Chase in the same manner as the past four years unworried about the ups and downs of a single race.
“I’m not concerned with ‘making a statement,’ ” said Johnson, in his post-race remarks. “At the end of the day, I’m just concerned about where I am in the points.
“A lot of that other stuff, if it’s in your brain, you’re not thinking about the right things.
“We’re moving on. We have to go to Kansas and do the job all over again.”
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: News And Notes - Kansas 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 Operation Home Front / Miller Lite 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 6 David Ragan Ford UPS 7 Kevin Conway* Toyota Extenze 9 Kasey Kahne Ford Budweiser 9 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Phoenix Construction 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Freight 12 Brad Keselowski Dodge Penske Racing 13 Casey Mears Toyota GEICO 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Office Depot / Old Spice 16 Greg Biffle Ford Sherwin Williams / 3M 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Crown Royal Black 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M's 19 Elliott Sadler Ford Stanley 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot 21 Bill Elliott Ford Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 26 Patrick Carpentier Ford Air National Guard 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Cheerios / Hamburger Helper 34 Travis Kvapil Ford Long John Silver's 36 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Tommy Baldwin Racing 37 David Gilliland Ford Taco Bell 38 Dave Blaney Ford A&W All American Food 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet U.S. Army 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford Insignia HDTV / Best Buy 46 Michael McDowell Dodge Cash America 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota Little Debbie 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's / Johns Manville 55 Mike Bliss Toyota Prism Motorsports 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota NAPA / Susan G Komen for the Cure 66 Jason Leffler Toyota Prism Motorsports 71 TBA2 Chevrolet TRG Motorsports 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge AAA 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row Companies 82 Scott Speed Toyota Red Bull 83 Reed Sorenson Toyota Red Bull 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota FrontRowJoe.com 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet National Guard / Amp Energy 98 Paul Menard Ford Zecol / Menards 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac 164 Landon Cassill Toyota Gunselman Motorsports
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