TBO.com - Live in the moment

NEXTEL CUP

What? Jimmie Johnson Reeling?

By TONY FABRIZIO The Tampa Tribune

Published: Aug 3, 2007

Jimmie Johnson won it all last year - the Daytona 500, the all-star race, the Brickyard and the championship.

And he picked up practically where he left off, winning four of the first 10 races this year.

In the past seven races, though, Johnson has endured finishes of 42nd at Pocono, 37th at Chicagoland and 39th at Indianapolis. He has plunged from second to ninth in the standings, 607 points behind leader and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon entering this weekend's return trip to Pocono Raceway.

Could the driver who has staked practically a permanent place in the top 10 since his rookie season actually miss the Chase for the Championship?

Probably not, because the Chase field has been expanded from 10 drivers to 12, and Johnson still has a 265-point margin against 13th place with six races left before the cutoff.

But the fact the question is even being asked shows how quickly fortunes can change in NASCAR's top level these days.

"This year, I've had great cars and we've won a lot of races," Johnson said this week. "But here of late, we've had great performances, but not the finishes to show. So it's a weird sport. It seems that in today's world it's harder to keep momentum alive."

Johnson's run of bad luck started with the season's first trip to Pocono in June. A tire failure and suspension damage left him running 42nd when the race ended early because of rain.

After finishes of 19th, 17th, fifth and 10th in the next four races, Johnson was running behind eventual winner Tony Stewart at Chicagoland with 44 laps left when his right rear tire came apart, catapulting his No. 48 Chevy into the SAFER Barrier.

At Indianapolis, he was involved in an eight-car melee early. His crew made sheet metal repairs, but as Johnson continued to race, his left front fender rubbed the tire and caused it to disintegrate. Johnson slammed into the SAFER Barrier and had to make a quick exit as flames broke into the cockpit of his car.

"Somebody I feel bad for right now, honestly, is Jimmie Johnson," Stewart said after getting his second win of the season at Indy. "This guy can't buy a break. For a year and a half, he couldn't do anything wrong, either. We couldn't get a break in the first half of the year, [so] maybe it's changing now, and maybe we can get on a run of our own, just like he's done for the last year and a half."

Johnson isn't exactly in dire straits - yet. As long as he makes the Chase, he should be fine going in.

For the first time, the field for NASCAR's version of a postseason will be ranked by win totals rather than points. Johnson is still tied with Gordon for most wins in 2007, so if the Chase began now, he and Gordon would start with the most points, the 5,000 that all qualifiers get and 40 bonus points for four wins.

"It certainly looks like I'll be a big beneficiary of [the new format]," Johnson said. "I'll take that forgiveness and try to capitalize on it."

Gordon points out that Johnson may have to change his mind-set, though. Instead of being able to go all out and race for wins and bonus points, he'll have to race cautiously enough to make sure he makes the Chase.

"I still think he's a major threat for this championship," Gordon said. "Obviously, they have to think about things a little bit different now that they've had some bad finishes that have knocked them back in the points."