Jimmie Johnson: "We need to get back to our winning ways"

“Honestly, we have high expectations, and we need to get back to our winning ways, leading laps and if we don’t win, finishing in the top two or three,” said Johnson, who picked up wins early this season at Atlanta and Fontana.

“That momentum breeds so much confidence within the race team, with the decisions I make, Chad (Knaus, crew chief) makes, the crew makes, the pit stops, all of that. We need to get back into that.

“I’m not happy with the way the last two races went and the results we had on strong days.”

In need of a good weekend

Since his most recent victory at Fontana, Johnson has three top-five finishes but he also has four finishes of 22nd or worse, including a season-long 35th place finish two weeks ago at Pocono. He’s finished in the top 10 once in the past six races.

“We’ve definitely been trying some new things as the season’s advanced but I wouldn’t say we’re trying things just because we’re locked in (the Chase), but rather the natural progression of the sport,” Johnson said.

“We’ve been strong but I don’t think our results of late are representative of the strength of our team. The last two weeks we’ve had strong cars and had issues like a crash that have affected our finish.”

Rookie Chase Elliott holding the Hendrick banner

Johnson has been the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to win a race this season, but rookie Chase Elliott has surprisingly proved to be the most consistent in the four-driver stable.

Elliott has 11 Top-10 finishes – third-highest in the series – while Johnson has seven. Elliott is currently sixth in the series standings, Johnson is seventh, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 11th and Kasey Kahne is 17th.

While road courses haven’t always been kind to Johnson, he has become a very consistent performer of late at Sonoma Raceway, site of Sunday’s Toyota/SaveMart 350.

He hasn’t finished outside the Top-10 since 2008, including his one and only win at the California track in 2010.

“Sonoma is so tricky. Track position is so, so important.” Johnson said. “It’s a quirky race and the last two times there we have been one of the better cars but just haven’t had it work out.

“I’m optimistic that we can get everything right over the course of the event. If you can save fuel, it usually creates more opportunities. Last year it came down to tires and I was the only guy on old tires and it cost us the race.”