NASCAR: Why Jimmie Johnson's failed playoff bid is a blessing in disguise

For the first time in the 16-year history of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, Jimmie Johnson is not a playoff driver. But that may be a blessing in disguise for the seven-time champion.

Jimmie Johnson began competing in the NASCAR Cup Series in the 2001 season, and he began competing full-time in the 2002 season. He has only ever driven for Hendrick Motorsports, and he has only ever driven the #48 Chevrolet.

Going back to the 2002 season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, the seven-time champion has competed in each of the last 638 races that have been contested.

Meanwhile, the Cup Series playoffs were introduced ahead of the 2004 season. The 16-driver field for this year’s four-round, 10-race playoffs is set, and they are set to get underway this Sunday, September 15 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the South Point 400.

More from NASCAR Cup Series

The first ever playoff race was held on Sunday, September 19, 2004 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and entering this year’s playoffs, a total of 150 playoff races have been contested. But nearly 15 years later, a playoff first is set to become official this weekend.

Johnson is not in the playoffs.

Johnson’s failure to qualify for the playoffs came thanks to his 18th place finish in the regular season championship standings. But perhaps more alarmingly, it came after his first career winless season in 2018.

Prior to the 2018 season, Johnson was on a 16-year winning streak, and he had won at least two races in each of his 16 full-time seasons from 2002 to 2017.

The 43-year-old El Cajon, California native is now riding a career-long 85-race win drought. He last won a race on Sunday, June 3, 2017 at Dover International Speedway.

Prior to this 85-race win drought, his career-long win drought was only 24 races long — and he won the championship in the season during which he endured it (2016).

Many fans have suggested that Johnson’s career is on the decline, and one way or another, I don’t think there’s any doubt that he is not competing at the same level that made him the only driver in NASCAR history to win five consecutive championships from 2006 to 2010 and one of only three drivers to win seven titles when he secured the 2016 championship.

But in reality, this “icing on the cake” of Johnson’s career being on the decline with him failing to qualify for this year’s playoffs may be a blessing in disguise.

For the first time in his career, Johnson is set to embark on a 10-race stretch during which he is driving for nothing but race wins. There is no playoff berth on the line.

At best, he will finish in a career-low 17th place in the championship standings, and that’s if he does well; he is currently riding an eight-race streak of finishing in 15th place or lower, and his average finish during this span is an abysmal 24.75.

These 10 races are the most meaningless races of his career.

Yet at the same time, they may be some of the most important.

Say what you want about Johnson being “fine” with not getting into this year’s playoffs. But he has made clear several times that the fire still burns in him to win races, and now he has a chance to prove it with nothing on the line. He wouldn’t be driving if this passion and desire didn’t still exist.

Say also what you want about him winning seven championships. But the fact is, when you’ve driven in the Cup Series for over a decade and a half and have never gone more than 24 races without winning and you suddenly haven’t won a race in almost two and a half seasons and effectively need to do so to qualify for the playoffs in order to keep your 15-year playoff streak intact, there is pressure.

Again, he wouldn’t be driving if he was immune to that pressure, whether he has zero championships, seven championships or 15 championships; it doesn’t matter.

With nothing on the line for pretty much the first time in his career, that pressure will be severely mitigated for Johnson over the course of the next 10 weekends.

There will be no “how many stage points do we need to advance to the round of 12/round of 8?” talks. There will be no “we need to win this one to get to the Championship 4” demands.

But there will be a seven-time champion seeking to get back to victory lane for what would be the 84th time, and with nothing to lose.

dark. Next. Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time

Will the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs prove to be a blessing in disguise for Jimmie Johnson in the form of him securing his first victory since June of 2017 and ending what has become by far the longest win drought of his illustrious career? With nothing on the line, don’t rule out the possibility of seeing him back in victory lane sometime in the next two months.

Home/NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR: Why Jimmie Johnson’s failed playoff bid is a blessing in disguise

By Asher Fair | Sep 13, 2019

For the first time in the 16-year history of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, Jimmie Johnson is not a playoff driver. But that may be a blessing in disguise for the seven-time champion.