Filed under: Jimmie Johnson, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports, NASCARAnyone looking for a chink in four-time defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson's armor will seize upon his 25th-place showing in Sunday's opening race in NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
His finish at the one-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway equaled his starting position -- which was a career worst at the track. But it hardly tells the whole story of an eventful afternoon of more spills than thrills.
Johnson spun out, traded paint and misdiagnosed a wheel problem in the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet before ultimately posting the worst performance of the 12 Chase drivers. It dropped him from second in the standings to seventh, 92 points behind leader Denny Hamlin, who finished runner-up to winner Clint Bowyer.
"We just don't know until the end what type of bonus points you need,'' said Johnson, who started the Chase with 50 bonus points earned for his five regular season wins this year. "The bonus points coming in ... how helpful were those 50 that I had coming in ...
"Only time will tell. But you don't want to get off to this start. If you can hope for something, you want a top 10, and 25th is not what you hope for.''
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