Jimmie Johnson has tumbled to ninth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings, which has made some people wonder if he’s in a slump.
Is Jimmie Johnson Really Slumping? We’ll Know After Atlanta
Ryan Newman even told the Associated Press on Wednesday that Johnson’s team is the weakest it’s been in the last five years or so.
So is Johnson really slumping?
We think not, and that it's more a case that Johnson is running well but has had some bad finishes. And NASCAR's season-long driver rating has backed that up (see last week's entry).
But Atlanta will help determine which side of the debate is correct, since Johnson heads to the 1.5-mile oval as the No. 1 driver in the pre-race rating.
Johnson is ahead of teammate Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart rounding out the top five.
Among the big names who aren’t impressive at Atlanta: Jamie McMurray, who is 13th in points and trying to catch Clint Bowyer for the final Chase spot, is only 20th in driver rating.
Bowyer is 16th and Mark Martin is 14th.
Emory Healthcare 500 Pre-RaceFor point-paying races in current and past four years, at this track.Atlanta Motor SpeedwaySunday, September 5, 2010Driver RatingFormula combining the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish. Maximum: 150 points per race.Number of Races: 11
Rank Car Driver Avg Finish High AVG DRIVER RATING1 48 Jimmie Johnson 9.1 143.2 109.52 24 Jeff Gordon 10.2 125.0 101.83 99 Carl Edwards 16.4 142.3 99.44 88 D Earnhardt Jr. 11.8 131.6 98.75 14 Tony Stewart 10.5 143.9 98.76 2 Kurt Busch 17.7 150.0 97.07 17 Matt Kenseth 8.9 130.5 96.58 16 Greg Biffle 14.5 135.1 95.09 11 Denny Hamlin 15.9 121.1 94.510 9 Kasey Kahne 18.2 138.1 93.311 18 Kyle Busch 16.1 143.9 88.712 56 M Truex Jr. 23.4 119.0 87.613 42 Juan Montoya 18.3 118.0 86.814 5 Mark Martin 19.2 121.1 85.715 31 Jeff Burton 15.1 101.6 84.916 33 Clint Bowyer 16.4 115.9 81.817 29 Kevin Harvick 17.1 116.5 81.118 83 Brian Vickers 14.9 108.9 80.519 12 Brad Keselowski 36.0 76.5 76.520 1 Jamie McMurray 21.0 98.6 71.621 39 Ryan Newman 20.3 88.7 71.022 43 AJ Allmendinger 14.6 99.9 69.223 19 Elliott Sadler 20.9 95.8 65.324 07 Casey Mears 19.9 86.6 65.225 43 Reed Sorenson 24.7 101.4 64.226 00 David Reutimann 27.3 95.5 61.027 66 Scott Riggs 26.0 101.5 61.028 71 Bobby Labonte 27.1 86.2 60.629 7 Robby Gordon 24.1 85.5 60.630 98 Paul Menard 20.4 88.7 60.631 38 David Gilliland 26.9 71.8 59.632 12 David Stremme 26.8 84.0 59.433 55 Michael Waltrip 22.9 93.6 58.034 47 Marcos Ambrose 25.3 84.9 57.635 8 Aric Almirola 21.0 57.4 57.436 11 Jason Leffler 25.0 57.0 57.037 96 J.J. Yeley 25.0 89.6 56.738 6 David Ragan 26.6 83.5 55.139 36 Mike Bliss 26.6 87.4 54.440 87 Joe Nemechek 29.9 87.7 52.341 77 Sam Hornish Jr. 29.8 62.7 51.842 20 Joey Logano 29.0 68.9 50.743 66 Dave Blaney 31.5 102.7 49.144 82 Scott Speed 25.8 73.2 48.945 66 Jeff Green 28.2 61.7 48.746 21 Bill Elliott 28.5 60.7 43.847 78 Regan Smith 27.3 54.0 41.648 34 Travis Kvapil 32.0 59.2 40.849 34 John Andretti 29.3 46.1 39.350 70 Tony Raines 31.8 49.2 38.951 4 Mike Wallace 40.0 37.0 37.052 70 Johnny Sauter 30.5 43.5 36.453 61 Kevin Lepage 37.5 40.0 33.954 10 P Carpentier 35.0 33.6 33.655 26 Boris Said 32.0 32.5 32.556 37 Kevin Conway 31.0 31.5 31.557 13 Max Papis 37.0 34.2 31.258 45 Chad McCumbee 36.0 29.3 29.359 55 Mi McDowell 42.0 26.4 26.460 4 Todd Bodine 42.0 23.8 23.8
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