2014 Driver Reviews: No. 11 Jimmie Johnson
After doing exit interviews for Sprint Cup Series drivers in 2013, we're turning the tables. We want the drivers to sell themselves. So here are the resumés for all full-time Sprint Cup Series drivers in 2014. Then, at the end, we'll provide a summation of the driver's season in 150 words or less.
Name: Jimmie Johnson
NASCAR Experience: Six Sprint Cup titles. Speaks for itself, doesn't it?
Most recent team: Hendrick Motorsports
Most recent season finish: 11th
2014 accomplishments: Four wins, 11 top fives, 20 top 10 finishes and a Chase berth. And was the defending 2013 champion.
Most memorable moment: Because six titles overwhelms everything else, there will be a positive and a negative category. In the positive, it's the win at Michigan, which was a third win in four races and the first career win there.
In the negative, it's what happened at Kansas Speedway in the fall.
Strengths: Everything
2015 goals: Tie Richard Petty
FTM's Take: Even more than a month after the fact, it's jarring to see Jimmie Johnson this low in the standings, isn't it? Entering 2014, Johnson's lowest finish in the Cup standings had been sixth. Sixth!
But don't start with the "Jimmie-proofing" stuff when it comes to this Chase. Johnson's Chase was abysmal under any circumstances and he would have been near the bottom of a 10-race cumulative Chase. After finishing 40th at Kansas (and basically ending his Chase), he was 24th at Talladega two weeks later and then 32nd at Martinsville. He was 39th at Phoenix, too. Under the old Chase format Johnson would have finished 11th as well.
Are Johnson and the No. 48 team mortal? Of course they are. But we knew that, right? To borrow from the other sport in our coverage realm, there are a lot of similarities between Johnson and Florida State. Sometimes when the bad luck happens, it happens all at once and you can't do much to stop the slide.
Previous reviews: No. 12 Kurt Busch, No. 13 AJ Allmendinger, No. 14 Greg Biffle, No. 15 Kasey Kahne, No. 16 Aric Almirola, No. 17 Kyle Larson, No. 18, Jamie McMurray, No. 19 Clint Bowyer, No. 20, Austin Dillon, No. 21 Paul Menard, No. 22 Brian Vickers, No. 23 Marcos Ambrose, No. 24 Martin Truex Jr., No. 25 Tony Stewart, No. 26 Casey Mears, No. 27 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 28, Danica Patrick, No. 29, Justin Allgaier, No. 30, David Gilliland, No. 31 Cole Whitt, No. 32 David Ragan, No. 33 Michael Annett, No. 34 Reed Sorenson, No. 35 Alex Bowman
- - - - - - -
Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
