What do you think is the main cause of Jimmie Johnson's poor performance?

noticed jimme is p3 in first practice off the truck. that looks like a great sign. noted however that the 24 car is often faster off the truck and is p2 in first practice. don't think it goes unnoticed that chad is bringing a faster car to the track than the 48 gets.
 
48 fans are just like every other spoiled fan base of a dynasty in sports that didn’t appreciate it when it happened and are now butthurt that it’s gone. The guy is old, he’s not as good as he used to be. Just accept it and move on lol
 
1. Jimmie has struggled to come to grips with this package
2. The Chevy still isn't there
3. Jimmie lost Chad

I don't feel like Jimmie is done, but I'm not sure that the circumstances are such that he will come back before he walks away.
 
I fail to understand how one of the most successful drivers of the modern era is somehow struggling to come to grips with “this package”.

Apparently his strength and his “driving style” has primarily been marked by his masterful throttle control in the corners and his ability to run his cars off the right rear tire ... or is it the right front ... I can’t remember and it doesn’t matter because the driver reacts to chassis dynamics, not the other way around.

Watched Logano’s in-car for several laps during yesterday’s practice. He never lifted once. The driving style required for success with this package on tracks other than Martinsville and the road courses is quite likely well within Mr. Johnson’s skill set.
 
aunty dive said:
I fail to understand how one of the most successful drivers of the modern era is somehow struggling to come to grips with “this package”.

Apparently his strength and his “driving style” has primarily been marked by his masterful throttle control in the corners and his ability to run his cars off the right rear tire ... or is it the right front ... I can’t remember and it doesn’t matter because the driver reacts to chassis dynamics, not the other way around.

Watched Logano’s in-car for several laps during yesterday’s practice. He never lifted once. The driving style required for success with this package on tracks other than Martinsville and the road courses is quite likely well within Mr. Johnson’s skill set.
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Point well taken, and it leads me to the question I always ponder with a rule change. Drivers talk about "feel." I wonder if that "feel" needs to change with a new package, or does a crew chief manipulate the package in an attempt to achieve this "feel" regardless of package? I have never really understood this. Is it conceivable that a driver simply cannot respond to the chassis dynamics of a given package?
 
This is what Jimmie needs. Dominate the field, catch a lucky break, whatever -- just one more win and a family celebration in Victory Lane.

 
aunty dive said:
I fail to understand how one of the most successful drivers of the modern era is somehow struggling to come to grips with “this package”.

Apparently his strength and his “driving style” has primarily been marked by his masterful throttle control in the corners and his ability to run his cars off the right rear tire ... or is it the right front ... I can’t remember and it doesn’t matter because the driver reacts to chassis dynamics, not the other way around.

Watched Logano’s in-car for several laps during yesterday’s practice. He never lifted once. The driving style required for success with this package on tracks other than Martinsville and the road courses is quite likely well within Mr. Johnson’s skill set.
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what if the cars suck? you are forgetting that, or maybe you are making my point, jimmie did well in the old car, the COT car and all the cars up to this point. The main biggest change is the horsepower level. All those prior cars normally had the full 850 hp, which was lowered to 750 and now even lower again for most tracks. look at truex, we all know he wasn't that great of a driver, sorta a win every 3 season type of driver. he comes along and reals off tons of wins, maybe the "package: suits him. I think the way the cars are now is the most different than they ever have been from the past. If you are running 550 hp its going to drive totally different than the old cars. its almost like driving something as different as in indy car. in fact if you watch the throttle application, where they just blip the throttle and that is it in the corners, yeah these cars are closer to how indy does it.

all this stuff is hard to explain if you haven't driven a race car on a track before. The stuff that jimmie says made him fast vs what it takes in the IROC cars we have now is pretty crystal clear.
 
aunty dive said:
I fail to understand how one of the most successful drivers of the modern era is somehow struggling to come to grips with “this package”.

Apparently his strength and his “driving style” has primarily been marked by his masterful throttle control in the corners and his ability to run his cars off the right rear tire ... or is it the right front ... I can’t remember and it doesn’t matter because the driver reacts to chassis dynamics, not the other way around.

Watched Logano’s in-car for several laps during yesterday’s practice. He never lifted once. The driving style required for success with this package on tracks other than Martinsville and the road courses is quite likely well within Mr. Johnson’s skill set.
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He specified that the throttle control was almost in concordance with braking. He said his style is heavy braking, and that his "corner starts when I start to brake"..which means he takes late entries and brakes hard to rotate the car, and then steers with throttle control as you said.

Jimmie's advantage, which he doesn't have in this car (due to lack of braking) was being able to start corner entry late and get through the corner quicker by using brake to steer, apparently. Something the current package doesn't allow him to do. It seems the older cars highlighted a very specific skill that Jimmie coincidentally could do better than anyone else. Now, he can't rely on his "go to" skill, so to speak.

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All I have to say is, don't write Jimmie Johnson off just yet! He's only 43 years old, same age as Harvick. I think he still has plenty left in the tank.

We've seen other drivers go through rough stretches. The afromentioned Harvick went on a rough patch after winning the '07 Daytona 500. Jeff Gordon had his struggles in the late 2000's.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Johnson race 5 more years & have a resurgence as soon as this year. Maybe missing the playoffs will light a fire under his belly, which might be what he needs.
 
Elliott_Fan_9 said:
All I have to say is, don't write Jimmie Johnson off just yet! He's only 43 years old, same age as Harvick. I think he still has plenty left in the tank.

We've seen other drivers go through rough stretches. The afromentioned Harvick went on a rough patch after winning the '07 Daytona 500. Jeff Gordon had his struggles in the late 2000's.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Johnson race 5 more years & have a resurgence as soon as this year. Maybe missing the playoffs will light a fire under his belly, which might be what he needs.
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I doubt very much he has 5 years left.

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I'm more concerned with what has happened to Alex Bowman's performance. He has been the second best HMS team all year until after his win and he hasn't done much since.:confused:
 
AuzGrams said:
The 88 has sucked since that win pretty much. They were good from April to June and outside of that a 15th place team. Puzzled.
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He was right around the 48 in points prior to the win.

Hate to say it but that win was an outlier in terms of speed. Bowman's been a 15th place car all year, Don't think this is too surprising.

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jaqua19 said:
He was right around the 48 in points prior to the win.

Hate to say it but that win was an outlier in terms of speed. Bowman's been a 15th place car all year, Don't think this is too surprising.

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The 88 was 10th in points before Chicago, 70 ahead of the 48 in 17th. I'm willing to give Jimmie credit when it's due but I disagree with your opinion.
 
AuzGrams said:
The 88 was 10th in points before Chicago, 70 ahead of the 48 in 17th. I'm willing to give Jimmie credit when it's due but I disagree with your opinion.
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Hmm odd. I just don't remember him being competitive. I legitimately have seen no difference in his performance all year.

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jaqua19 said:
Hmm odd. I just don't remember him being competitive. I legitimately have seen no difference in his performance all year.

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Like I said in the other post, they had a lot of good speed in April and early May. They've been very hit and miss this year. They showed a little poise today at LVMS.
 
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