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NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson now on career-long winless streak

By Asher Fair

HAMPTON, GA - FEBRUARY 24: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 24, 2018 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
HAMPTON, GA - FEBRUARY 24: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 24, 2018 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /
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Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson is now on a winless streak of 25 races, which is the longest winless streak of his career.

To start the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Chevrolet teams have struggled as a whole. Sure, they did record a 1-2 finish in the Daytona 500 with Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing and Darrell Wallace Jr. of Richard Petty Motorsports, but those two drivers combined to lead just one of the race’s 207 laps. Both drivers could have very easily finished the race outside of the top 10.

At Atlanta, Ryan Newman led the first 17 laps of the race after starting in 2nd place in his #31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. However, in the 325-lap race’s final 308 laps, no Chevrolet drivers led the race at any point.

Among the biggest disappointments to start the season has been the lack of success out of perennial powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports and particularly seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who sits in 35th place in the championship standings with a top finish of 27th at Atlanta.

In fact, none of the team’s four drivers, who are Johnson, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and William Byron, have finished a race in the top 9 yet this season. Elliott has the team’s top finish, which is a 10th place effort at Atlanta. Other than that 10th place result, there have been no top 16 finishes for any of the team’s drivers so far this season.

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Here is a short list of drivers who Johnson currently trails in the championship standings despite the fact that literally no one would have expected this to be the case through two races this season.

  • Jeffrey Earnhardt
  • Gray Gaulding
  • Mark Thompson (1 race)
  • D.J. Kennington (1 race)

As a result of these struggles and his struggles to close out the 2017 season, Johnson is now on a career-long winless streak. His last win came in last season’s June race at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. He has failed to win any of the last 25 races.

Johnson’s previous career-long winless streak was 24 races. That winless streak took place in the 2016 season. After winning the fifth race of the season at Fontana, Johnson failed to win any of the next 24 races. He finally won a race again in the Charlotte playoff race.

The good news? Johnson went on to win the 2016 Cup Series championship, the seventh of his career, to tie all-time greats Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt in that category.

Next: Top 10 most unbreakable records across Formula One, NASCAR and IndyCar

Will Jimmie Johnson’s career-long winless streak end in the near future? How long will it continue for? Is his career on the decline? Tune in to FOX to watch the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada live on Sunday, March 4th at 3:30 pm ET to see whether or not Johnson can bounce back from what has been an awful start to the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season for him.

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