Breaking news
NASCAR Cup Loudon II
Jimmie Johnson on title run: "We’ve definitely got to clean things up"
Jimmie Johnson remains in the hunt for what would be his NASCAR record eighth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Jim Utter
Edited: Sep 25, 2017, 4:37 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Johnson knows, however, for that to happen he and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team are going to have be on top of their game the remaining eight races in the playoffs.
Johnson had an excellent chance in Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to contend for the win or at least come away with a top-five but saw those hopes dashed with a late-race miscue on pit road.
“We had a lug nut pop off when they went to index the wheel, so it was a longer pit stop than we had hoped for and fell from fifth to 15th or something, and just kind of finished there,” said Johnson, who finished 14th in the race.
Johnson is seventh in the series standings. The lowest four (of 16) playoff drivers in points without a win after next weekend’s race at Dover, Del., will be eliminated from title contention.
“It’s frustrating for sure, but in the big picture we got some Stage points. Some of our competitors had trouble,” Johnson said. “We’ve definitely got to clean things up moving forward to advance through these rounds.”
Johnson is by no means in trouble. He began his quest for title No. 7 last season with finishes of 12th and eighth at Chicagoland and New Hampshire. This year, he’s finished eighth and 14th, respectively.
Johnson didn’t really kick his title drive into high gear last season until the fourth race of the playoffs, when he won at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Running up front on Sunday, though, was a fast improvement over his team’s struggles during the summer months when he went he finished 27th or worse in four of a five-race stretch.
“It’s been a frustrating summer, obviously. I think maybe we’ve just been swinging too hard at times and making not ideal situations that much worse,” Johnson said. “And the last three or four weeks, we just settled in and got what we could.
“Today we lost some points on the table, which isn’t fun, but the last couple of weeks I think we finished where we ran. And from there, we’ll start learning. I don’t think we’re going to learn huge chunks, but we’re directionally correct.
“These fast cars keep having trouble and I feel like maybe there are some opportunities if we’re sitting in the right position.”
Which is exactly what happened last season.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rallies at Loudon to stay in playoff hunt
Next article NASCAR, owners and Dale Jr. take varying stances on Anthem protests
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jim Utter
Erik Jones agrees to multi-year contract extension with Legacy Motor Club
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Erik Jones agrees to multi-year contract extension with Legacy Motor Club
Goodyear's option tires at Richmond "were like Mario Kart with a star"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
Goodyear's option tires at Richmond "were like Mario Kart with a star"
NASCAR: Austin Dillon move was "really close to crossing the line"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
NASCAR: Austin Dillon move was "really close to crossing the line"
More from
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"
Jimmie Johnson explains why the time was right for Legacy to add a third car full time
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Jimmie Johnson explains why the time was right for Legacy to add a third car full time
Why the 2027 Daytona 500 is the end of a road for Jimmie Johnson
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Daytona 500
Why the 2027 Daytona 500 is the end of a road for Jimmie Johnson
More from
Hendrick Motorsports
Hendrick Motorsports pokes fun at Denny Hamlin with Snickers photo: "That was all Rick"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
Hendrick Motorsports pokes fun at Denny Hamlin with Snickers photo: "That was all Rick"
Who won the teammate battles of NASCAR Cup 2026?
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
Who won the teammate battles of NASCAR Cup 2026?
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
Latest news
Renger van der Zande moves to IMSA’s LMP2 class full-time with Tower Motorsports
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 18 min
Renger van der Zande moves to IMSA’s LMP2 class full-time with Tower Motorsports
Nick Sanchez will compete for 2027 NASCAR Truck title with McAnally-Hilgemann
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
19 min
Nick Sanchez will compete for 2027 NASCAR Truck title with McAnally-Hilgemann
Why Corvette’s new LMGT3 champion Jonny Edgar has a bright future
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
22 min
Why Corvette’s new LMGT3 champion Jonny Edgar has a bright future
Jack Miller explains what he wants to achieve in WorldSBK after MotoGP exit
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
53 min
Jack Miller explains what he wants to achieve in WorldSBK after MotoGP exit
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe