NASCAR Cup Series: Is Jimmie Johnson ‘back’?

Following a fourth place finish and arguably his strongest overall NASCAR Cup Series race in two years, is seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson “back”?

Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson entered the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season having never gone on a win drought of more than 24 races throughout his Cup Series, which began in the 2001 season.

But since earning the 83rd victory of his Cup Series career to tie Cale Yarborough for sixth place on the all-time wins list back in June of 2017 at Dover International Speedway, the 43-year-old El Cajon, California native has not been back to victory lane.

As a result, Johnson’s active win drought is 76 races long, which is more than three times the length of what was previously the longest win drought of his career.

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However, Johnson had a particularly strong outing in Sunday evening’s Camping World 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, the 17th of 36 races on this year’s schedule.

Johnson qualified for this 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Chicagoland Speedway oval in Joliet, Illinois in fourth place in his #48 Chevrolet, and he made his way to the lead by the race’s eighth lap.

Johnson led from lap eight through lap 17, and he did not lead again after that. However, he spent pretty much the entire race running in the top five, and much of it he spent in the top three battling for the lead or for second place. He finished in fifth in both stage one and stage two, which was truly less than reflective of his speed throughout the race.

He ended up finishing the race in fourth place and scoring 46 points, which was the second highest point total of the race behind that of teammate and race winner Alex Bowman, who scored 49 points.

From start to finish, this race was arguably Johnson’s best race during his active win drought. He had previously finished in third place at Dover International Speedway in October of 2017 and at Bristol Motor Speedway in April of 2018 during this win drought, but neither of those performances displayed the overall strength he displayed on Sunday evening from the time the green flag flew to the time the checkered flag waved.

That brings to the forefront one key question. Is the seven-time champion “back”?

Johnson had shown signs of being “back” during his win drought before, but never over the course of an entire race from start to finish, which is what makes his run in the Camping World 400 particularly notable. He was a serious contender throughout the entire race, something that previously could not have been said about him at any point since he earned his 83rd career victory.

Additionally, the fact that it was teammate Alex Bowman who won this race to secure the first victory of his Cup Series career, to deliver Hendrick Motorsports their first victory by somebody other than Chase Elliott since Kasey Kahne won the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway back in July of 2017 and to deliver Chevrolet their first victory by somebody other than Elliott since Austin Dillon won the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway back in February of 2018 driving for Richard Childress Racing shows that Hendrick Motorsports are clearly making strides in the right direction after struggling mightily over the last few seasons, which bodes particularly well for Johnson.

Perhaps even more notable is the fact that Hendrick Motorsports had such a breakthrough race at a 1.5-mile race track, as there are more of these tracks on the schedule, and more importantly, on the playoff schedule, than there are of any other track. Johnson had already recorded three top eight finishes in five races on these types of tracks in 2019 entering the Camping World 400.

If there is anybody who can perform at a high level when given the proper chance to do so, it’s the seven-time champion.

It is also particularly worth nothing that after he went on his then career-long 24-race win drought during the 2016 season, he bounced back by winning the 2016 championship. While his active win drought is a lot longer than this one, if he can keep stringing together races like he did in the Camping World 400, he will be a force to be reckoned with, even if he can’t quite reestablish himself as a perennial favorite.

Is Jimmie Johnson back to the level where he can compete for wins on a regular basis in the NASCAR Cup Series and perhaps where he can contend for what would be his record eighth championship in the series?

That will depend on far more than his result in one race, but given the level at which he competed throughout the entirety of this one race, it is undeniable that he is making great progress toward getting back to the level at which fans are used to seeing him competing.