Johnson posts fastest lap in Dover Sat. a.m. practice

Jimmie Johnson set the fastest single lap in the Saturday morning practice session at Dover International Speedway with a speed of 154.999 mph; his average speed of 152.099 during 33 laps was eighth best.

Our View Johnson continues to try and prove that the accidents he suffered in two of the last three races are not going to affect him. By the numbers alone, he should be considered a favorite, but the intangible factor of luck may not be on his side.

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Johnson wins Darlington Happy Hour

Jimmie Johnson had only the seventh fastest single lap in Darlington's Happy Hour, but he was quickest over the long run with a speed of 175.316 mph during 11 laps.

Our View With six top-fives in the last eight Darlington starts—including a sweep of victory lane in 2004—he has to be one of the favorites to win the Showtime Southern 500.

Most importantly, he kept from hitting the wall, which is something 13 other drivers could not report. For a complete list of drivers involved in incidents in the combined practice sessions, check out Darlington Stripes, a rolling list of drivers who have made contact with the wall this weekend.

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Johnson is the latest spinner

Add Jimmie Johnson to the list of drivers who spun during Happy Hour. His incident came at the 42-minute mark.
 
Our View Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Marcos Ambrose preceded him, which is a smorgasbord of experience levels. Qualification could be an interesting session.
 
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The Complete Statistical History of Stock-Car Racing: Records, Streaks, Oddities, and Trivia

Johnson wins Food City 500

Jimmie Johnson scored his 50th career Cup victory at Bristol Motor Speedway, tying him for 10th on the all time winner's list with Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson. This was his first victory at Bristol—a track on which he has traditionally struggled.

Our View This could be the last piece of the puzzle for Johnson. Last year in this race he said a light switch flipped in his head and he finished third. He came back to finish eighth in the fall and with this victory, it would seem he was correct.

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Johnson fastest again in Happy Hour

Jimmie Johnson backed up his fastest single lap of 122.725 mph in the morning session for the Food City 500 with another fastest lap in Happy Hour. This time, his top speed was 122.287 mph.

Our View His average speed of 119.009 mph was third best compared to second best in the morning session. However, the most important stat is that Johnson ran 116 laps in this session and still maintained that speed. Johnson reports that a light switch has flipped on how to run this place. Perhaps it's time to dump the reservations surrounding his Bristol record and go ahead and recommend him.

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Johnson fastest in Food City 500 Sat. a.m. practice

Jimmie Johnson posted the single fastest lap of 122.725 mph in Saturday morning's practice session, which confirms his fourth-place qualification effort. In addition, his average speed of 120.039 during 55 laps was the second best on that chart.

Our View We stand by the fact that this is one of his weakest tracks. The issue at Bristol is not so much speed as it is attitude in heavy traffic.

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Labonte crashes in Food City 500 practice 1

Bobby Labonte spun at the 20-minute mark in the first practice session for the Food City 500. He made significant contact with the wall and will almost certainly need to roll out a backup car.

Our View In addition, one of this week's favorites Kyle Busch also spun and a perennial favorite Jimmie Johnson looped down the frontstretch, but neither of these drivers made contact.

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Johnson posts fastest lap in Kobalt Tolls 500 practice 1

Jimmie Johnson posted the single fastest lap in Saturday's first practice session with a speed of 189.694 mph.

Our View His average speed of 180.128 during 35 laps was not bad either and it ranked sixth on that chart. Once more, he will be one of the drivers to beat on Sunday.

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Johnson wins two in a row

Jimmie Johnson took four tires while Jeff Gordon took only two on the final pit stop and that made the difference at the end. Johnson won his second race in a row in the Shelby American. In fact, for the second consecutive race, he finished just ahead of Kevin Harvick as that driver also slipped past Gordon.

Our View Johnson has officially regained his title as the "Cookie-cutter" king after struggling at Vegas during the last two races.

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Ku Busch wins pole at hometown LVMS

Cool temperatures helped Kurt Busch and a myriad of other drivers break the old track record. When the dust finally settled, he raised the mark to 188.719 mph.

Our View Until the final cars went out on track, however, Dale Earnhardt Jr. seemed unassailable with his speed of 188.173. He was the second driver to take time and settled into fourth on the grid. By comparison, the first driver was Jimmie Johnson and he eventually qualified 20th.

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Johnson wins fifth Auto Club race

He won in his first start at this track in 2002 and now Jimmie Johnson has five Auto Club Speedway victories after holding off a furious charge by Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton.

Our View That is his sixth top-three finish on this track in his last seven starts. During that span, he has an average finish of 2.57, which makes him as much of a must-have as you will find.

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Johnson wins Auto Club Happy Hour

After posting the single fastest lap in the first Saturday practice session at Auto Club Speedway, Jimmie Johnson logged the quickest average speed in Happy Hour at 177.507 mph during 39 laps.

Our View Johnson has been as close to perfect in the last three years at Auto Club as is possible. He remains a must-have.

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Johnson posts fastest lap in Auto Club practice 2

Jimmie Johnson posted the fastest single lap of practice in the first Saturday session, with a speed of 182.537 mph.

Our View His average speed during 25 laps was third best at 178.253 mph, which gives him one of the best balances of speed and sustainability.

Both drivers ahead of him on the average speed chart posted fewer laps.

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Johnson wins first Duel in Daytona

Jimmie Johnson spent most of his Gatorade 150 Duel in Daytona back in the pack, but with the checkers in sight, he stayed out on old tires and beat Kevin Harvick to the line by fractions of an inch.

Our View Johnson needs to hang on for 500 miles on Sunday, however, and he is not one of the best restrictor-plate superspeedway racers. Start him at your own risk.

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Bliss crashes and takes out contenders in 150s Practice 2

At the 15 minute mark of the second practice for the Gatorade 150s, Mike Bliss spun by himself at the exit of turn four and collected Joey Logano. In the aftermath, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin also sustained some damage.

Our View Bliss and Logano will certainly have to go to backups. Johnson—who ran into the back of Hamlin in the stack up—will probably be able to make repairs. Hamlin's damage is also minimal.

Kyle Busch was nearly involved, but he made a masterful move around Logano and Bliss.

Update: Apparently the damage was greater than we thought: Johnson will have to go to a backup.

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Several NASCAR drivers highlight Rolex 24 entry list

Six active NASCAR drivers will add some stock car spice to this weekend's Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona DP roster. Max Papis will be in Chip Ganassi's No. 01 car, DEI teammates Juan Montoya and Jamie McMurray will also team up in the Ganassi No. 02, A.J. Allmendinger will run the No. 6 Michael Shanks entry, Paul Menard is in the No. 90 Porsche Coyote and Jimmie Johnson will team with Alex Gurney and Jimmy Vasser in Wayne Taylor's No. 99.

Our View While this has no direct correlation to NASCAR races at Daytona or even on the road courses—since the Daytona Prototypes are distinct from the stock cars—track time is always helpful.

Complete Daytona Prototype entry list
Complete Grand Touring entry list

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Hendrick Motorsports sweeps the top three for season

Hendrick Motorsports made another piece of history this week when they finished 1-2-3 in the points' standings. In addition to the championship for Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin finished second and Jeff Gordon finished third.

Our View That is how you define dominance; nothing more needs to be said.

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Johnson makes history with fourth consecutive championship

For the first time in NASCAR's 61-year history, a driver has won four consecutive championships. Jimmie Johnson capped off the season with a fifth-place finish in the Ford 400.

Our View Better still for fantasy owners, his fifth-place finish shows he was never content to points' race.

And with no changes to the NASCAR Chase schedule, he has to be considered a favorite to win a fifth consecutive.

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Hamlin wins Ford 400

Denny Hamlin led the final 44 laps of the Ford 400 and earned his first victory on the progressively-banked Homestead-Miami Speedway. Previously, his best results were a pair of third in 2006 and 2007.

Our View After Hamlin posted the third best average speed in Happy Hour, we elevated him to dark horse status for the win; he didn't disappoint.

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Ky Busch caps off Nationwide season in style

Kyle Busch clinched the Nationwide season championship by merely starting the Ford 300, but he capped off the season in style by holding off second-place Carl Edwards—who also finished second in the points' standings.

Our View On Friday night, Kevin Harvick won the Camping World Truck Series race while his Ron Hornaday-led team clinched the owner's championship.

Could we see a third such storyline with a Jimmie Johnson victory on Sunday?