NASCAR Charlotte 2014: Jimmie Johnson: The championship is ‘fading’

Jimmie Johnson is the first to admit that his team has underperformed in the Chase for the Sprint Cup and is fully aware of the predicament in which he finds himself.

With just two races remaining in the Contender Round before four drivers are eliminated, Johnson is the lowest ranked in the standings (12th) and in all likelihood needs a win Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway or next week at Talladega Superspeedway to advance.

“The mindset is really to come in and try to take a trophy out of here,” Johnson said Thursday at Charlotte. “That really solves our problem in the points that we have right now.

“It is a fading chance, in the position I’m in, I believe, but it is still an opportunity and it is something for us to consider. We’re here to try and win the race, but if we can’t, we still need to finish well, and hope we have some luck down in Talladega.”

Typically the Chase is where Johnson is at his apex. He has won six of the past eight championships, including last year, and no driver has more Chase victories than Johnson (24). But the No. 48 team is mired in a slump that predates NASCAR’s playoff.

Johnson hasn’t led a single lap since Aug. 17 at Michigan International Speedway -- a stretch of seven consecutive races -- and his last victory was back in June, also at Michigan.

“We are just not where we want to be. Bottom line,” Johnson said. “We’re working very hard to get there. This sport is not forgiving. What you have accomplished in the past doesn’t buy you a damn thing for the present. You have to go out there and earn it and make the most of it.”

Although Johnson’s performance has waned, he’s remained competitive. In the past eight races he owns six finishes of ninth or better. And in many instances has run better than the results indicate. A week ago at Kansas Speedway Johnson was running comparable times to the leaders when Greg Biffle spun Johnson into the backstretch wall. He finished 40th.

That encounter with Biffle is why Johnson is 27 points below the Chase cutoff and in danger of not advancing to Round 3. It’s also left him with no margin of error. He either needs a pair of excellent results and others to falter, or a win. Anything less and the defending series champion will be eliminated far sooner than expected.

Working in Johnson’s favor is his win at Charlotte in May, along with a track-best seven victories overall at the 1.5-mile track. He’s confident about his chance Saturday in the Bank of America 500 and going forward, even in spite of the hole he finds himself in.

“We’ve been very fortunate to win six championships and we know we’re not going to win every championship we show up for,” Johnson said. “But we’re going to try. We’re going to keep digging and we’re not going to stop digging.

“We’re not giving up. We’re continuing to try. Reality is that we’ve been looking for speed. But if Kansas didn’t happen, I still think we could have made it to Homestead and had a shot. We still have a shot. The situation has changed some and we’ve got to win. But this team loves adversity. This team thrives on it. And there is no quit in us, so we’ll keep digging.”