NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson won't become an 8-time champion

Jimmie Johnson is set to retire from NASCAR Cup Series competition as a seven-time champion after failing to qualify for the playoffs for a second straight year.

Entering the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson had never had a winless season since he began driving the #48 Chevrolet on a full-time basis back in 2002.

In fact, the 83-time race winner had never won fewer than two races in a season. But Johnson went winless in 2018 for the first time and ended up finishing in 14th place in the championship standings, a career-worst.

Entering the 2019 season, he had never failed to qualify for the playoffs since they were introduced in the 2004 season.

More from NASCAR Cup Series

But for the second straight year, he went winless in the regular season, and this time, he was unable to lock up a playoff spot on his point total. He ended up finishing in a career-worst 18th place in the championship standings.

Entering the 2020 season, the 44-year-old El Cajon, California native, who still hadn’t won a race since winning at Dover International Speedway in June of 2017, had announced that this would be his fourth and final attempt to win what would be a record eighth championship.

The seven-time champion had tied Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt on the all-time titles list by winning the 2016 championship, going from last to first place in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to do so.

But things simply did not go Johnson’s way in the 2020 regular season, from crashing out of the lead with one lap to go in stage one at Darlington Raceway to losing a season-best second place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway due to a disqualification to missing the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway due to contracting COVID-19.

Once again, he failed to find victory lane, and for the second time, he failed to qualify for the playoffs.

While he finished the regular season in 15th place in the point standings and 16 driver qualify for the playoffs, two drivers below the top 16 won in the regular season to secure playoff berths. Stewart-Haas Racing rookie Cole Custer won at Kentucky Speedway and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon won at Texas Motor Speedway.

So Petty and Earnhardt are safe, and with only one other active driver having won more than one title (Kyle Busch with two), that will likely be the case for many years to come.

Entering the 2020 regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway, Johnson was four points below the playoff cut line and nine points behind the driver two positions ahead of the playoff cut line.

Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto sat in 15th place in the playoff picture, five points ahead of Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron in 16th, with Johnson another four points behind in 17th.

Johnson utilized strong stages to enter the final stage of the overtime-extended 164-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked oval in Daytona Beach, Florida ahead of the cut line.

At this point, DiBenedetto was sitting in 15th place in the playoff picture, just one point ahead of Johnson in 16th. Byron was four points behind Johnson and out of the playoff picture.

But late in the race, Johnson was involved in a wreck that put a huge dent in his chances to qualify for the postseason.

The #48 team fought hard to make repairs to his car to get him back on the race track and give him at least a chance, and that’s exactly what happened.

But his rally — one that would have been heroic had it been completed — came up just 30% shy.

The fact that he came that close was quite impressive, given the awful state of his car.

He restarted the race with two laps to go sitting 20 points behind DiBenedetto in 22nd place. DiBenedetto ran third.

DiBenedetto did not get a good final restart and fell back several positions.

Johnson, meanwhile, gained several positions.

But it was not enough for him to overcome the deficit.

The driver of the #21 Ford finished in 12th place ahead of Johnson in 17th and qualified for the playoffs for the first time in his career by just six points over Johnson.

Byron, meanwhile, qualified for the playoffs by taking the checkered flag, although he would have done so even had he fallen back several positions as well based on where DiBenedetto and Johnson were running. At that point, he could have finished in 12th and been safe.

He finished 10 points ahead of DiBenedetto and 16 points ahead of Johnson.

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

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs are set to present Johnson with 10 more opportunities to find victory lane before he officially retires from full-time competition. While he won’t be battling for an eighth championship, can he capitalize on at least one of those opportunities to move into fourth place on the all-time wins list?

Home/NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson won’t become an 8-time champion

By Asher Fair | Aug 30, 2020

Jimmie Johnson is set to retire from NASCAR Cup Series competition as a seven-time champion after failing to qualify for the playoffs for a second straight year.