| Only one driver has won three consecutive | | | | SMI-owned track and took three straight Coca-Cola |
| championships at NASCAR's highest level, Cale | | | | 600s in 2003 - '05. |
| Yarborough from 1976 - '78. Despite his worst start | | | | After rebounding in late March from a slow start, he |
| since entering the series full time in 2002, a | | | | came in fourth at Martinsville, followed by a runner-up |
| three-peat is still possible for the 21st century's top | | | | spot at Texas and a win at Phoenix. He has slid again |
| driver entering 2008. | | | | since then, and a general consensus is building that |
| With only one win and four top-five finishes through | | | | he's mired in a season-long slump, much like his |
| four months of racing, Jimmie Johnson's two-year | | | | majority car owner (Gordon). Johnson says the |
| reign as king of NASCAR could be coming to a close | | | | reason for his drop is the Car of Tomorrow, now run |
| were it not for the controversial Chase format. | | | | at every series event. Gordon has also struggled in |
| Johnson was a firm ninth in the standings prior to | | | | the wider car after Hendrick drivers won the first |
| Dover and trailed leader Kyle Busch by 367 points. | | | | five COT races in '07. Johnson points out that his |
| Lofty expectations bring a series of disappointments | | | | early wins from a year ago were in the old car and |
| if the rate of success dips, and Johnson's grip is | | | | on shorter tracks. His five COT victories last season |
| getting slippery. After a series leading 10 wins in '07, | | | | came at Richmond (.75-mile) and Martinsville |
| including four of the last five Nextel Cup events, the | | | | (.526-mile)-two wins each-and at Phoenix (1-mile). He |
| 48 Chevrolet was the logical choice to win again in | | | | and the 48 crew are still figuring out how the heavier |
| '08. That dominance is no longer there and | | | | car handles on the bigger tracks in '08. |
| teammates Jeff Gordon, Casey Mears, and | | | | The edge Hendrick Motorsports had last season |
| newcomer Dale Earnhardt Jr. are winless as well in '08. | | | | seems to be gone, through Johnson points out that |
| JJ doesn't seem worried. | | | | other teams have simply caught up. If he can't fare |
| The El Cajon, Californian also has two career series | | | | better at LMS of all places, where he has frequently |
| runner-ups and 34 wins to his credit, and a long | | | | excelled (he finished fourth in the May 17 All-Star |
| history of rising to the top. Considering the incredible | | | | race), he may be content to complete each race the |
| run he had in last year's Chase, as long as he's in the | | | | rest of the way, win if he can, and qualify for |
| field he remains a solid contender. | | | | NASCAR's version of the postseason before making |
| His atypical troubles continued recently at Lowe's | | | | a strong move to the front. |
| Motor Speedway, a track he has mastered in | | | | Johnson has started well in previous years before |
| previous years. Career-wise, Johnson is peerless at | | | | going through a similar slide during the summer. He |
| LMS, statistically speaking. He ranks first in every | | | | went 11 consecutive events without a win when the |
| major category at the Concord venue, besting rivals | | | | temperature rose in '06, and 14 straight weeks |
| so convincingly that claims of a conspiracy-i.e., a | | | | without a checkered flag in '07 before a late August |
| Lowe's car crushing the competition at a Lowe's | | | | win at California. This isn't his first drought, but he has |
| facility-routinely emerged. On May 25, the 48 car | | | | never struggled like this so soon. Still, he's the only |
| finished 39th in a field of 43 after engine trouble | | | | HMS driver with a win thus far. |
| knocked JJ out of a race for the first time this | | | | Keep watch. The Hendrick team has never been |
| season. Previously he had won seven times at the | | | | down for too long. |