Jimmie Johnson has had the bulls eye on his back for the last four seasons and coming into 2010. That bulls eye was getting ever smaller as the competition was proving they were catching up.
At the Daytona 500 after starting third he had a rear axle break and he finished 35th. Not the start to the year he was looking for.
He quickly though rebounded with three wins in the next four races and moved from 35th in the points to third. Johnson was looking unbeatable and winning early in the year something he didn’t do in the past.
Johnson was a topic not for his winning ways but for his run-ins with his teammate Jeff Gordon at both Texas and Talladega. Johnson downplayed the contact and the sound bites that had many asking is there a rift at Hendrick Motorsports?
"There's no doubt after the fact that frustrations are high, the wreck just compounded it. I think he was speaking out of frustration” Johnson said.
In those ten races which included the contact with Gordon he had six top 10 finishes but also four finishes worse than 16th.
Unlike the last couple season Johnson wasn’t dominating races and he was catching some bad luck and tough breaks.
His next win would come on a road course something Johnson had been trying to accomplish the last couple seasons. At Sonoma he had a good car but Marcos
Ambrose was better. It took a mistake by Ambrose on a late caution to earn Johnson his first road course win.
He went on to win at Loudon that next week and was beginning to look like the Johnson his competitors didn’t want to see.
Still, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin were looming and were keeping pace with Johnson.
Following his two wins he had five finishes outside the top 20 and just three top 10’s. He went from second in the points following Loudon to as low as ninth. Johnson made the Chase and would be reseeded second behind Hamlin.
Johnson struggled in the first race of the Chase and finished 25th but quickly quieted the critics and doubters with a win at Dover.
He went on to finish no worse than ninth in the rest of the Chase but Hamlin and Harvick were right there with him. The turning point of the Chase for Johnson was at Texas. After Gordon wrecked under caution, the call was made.
Johnson’s pit crew would be switched out for at least the rest of Texas. His original crew had struggled on pit road where as Gordon’s crew was consistently one of the fastest. Johnson finished ninth and Hamlin won the race. While Hamlin had the points lead, Johnson and his team weren’t panicking.
The switch was for the final two races and while everyone else questioned the move, Johnson and his team looked toward Phoenix. Hamlin had the race won late and a major gap on Johnson who was second in the points.
Hamlin was forced to pit while Johnson did not have to and Johnson closed in on Hamlin and the point lead heading into Homestead.
Johnson never in this position was more relaxed and confident then in years past. Johnson out qualified both Hamlin and Harvick. Hamlin saw early trouble and struggled for much of the day; Johnson meanwhile ran top 10 all day long.
It was all but sealed late when late caution caught Hamlin last car on the lead lap with older tires. While everyone behind him pitted, Hamlin was a sitting duck. Johnson would finish second in the race but went on to win his fifth consecutive title.
In 2010, Johnson had six wins, 17 top fives and 23 top 10’s. He led over 1,315 laps and had a average finish of 12.2.
Johnson might not have been as dominate on a week to week basis in 2010. That being said Johnson came from behind and out ran and out smarted the competition in what was arguably the toughest and closest Chase ever.
Photo:Hans Deryk/Reuters
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