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Jimmie Johnson on winless streak: ‘I know I’m going to win races’

By Nick Tylwalk

MARTINSVILLE, VA - MARCH 24: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, sits in his car during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on March 24, 2018 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA - MARCH 24: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, sits in his car during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on March 24, 2018 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images) /
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During his media session at Martinsville Speedway, Jimmie Johnson laughed off suggestions that he has suddenly lose his touch with the No. 48 Chevrolet.

Is it possible for a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, one with 83 victories and a multi-win season as recently as last year to just suddenly not ever win again? It seems silly when you actually type it out or say that aloud, yet that kind of talk is hounding Jimmie Johnson in 2018.

Statistically, there’s some cause for it. Johnson remains mired in the longest winless drought of his Hall of Fame career, one that will reach 29 races if he fails to win the snow-delayed STP 500 on Monday. If that streak continues through Kansas, it will be the equivalent of a full Cup Series season, and that would be pretty bad by the shining standards set by Johnson and his No. 48 crew.

But when you’ve been as successful as long as Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus, you also earn the right to be confident. That’s exactly the tone that the Hendrick Motorsports driver struck during his Saturday media session at Martinsville Speedway, where he’s won nine times.

"I’m not losing sleep over it. i know I’m going to win races, I know this team is going to win races. I know we’re going to compete for championships. It’s just getting all of our stuff right."

He also very literally laughed a little bit at the suggestions that he’s lost it, that age is catching up with him or that the winless streak is a sign the sky is falling.

"Only 29 races, you know? Yeah, I mean I won three last year."

Maybe that’s part of the point, though. Johnson and the 48 team have been so good for so long that any time they stumble, it’s news. They’re victims of their own expectations, first when they didn’t just magically turn it on during the 2017 NASCAR Playoffs and make a run at another title, and then again when they stumbled out of the gate to start this season.

Next: Chase Elliott ignoring Denny Hamlin talk while preparing for Martinsville

It also doesn’t help that Hendrick Motorsports is struggling writ large. Chase Elliott has been fast but inconsistent, William Byron has been every bit the Cup Series rookie and Alex Bowman is looking more like the next Clint Bowyer than the next Dale Jr. to date. Those things wouldn’t be so noticeable if Johnson was performing at his usual level, but he isn’t.

Fans and the media are going to keep talking until he does (we’ve done it too). If Johnson is wrong and he goes the entire year without a trip to Victory Lane, he may have to change his tune. Until them, he’s earned the right to be confident, and even a little defiant.

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