2006
The seven-time champion announced that 2020 would be his last full season of Cup Series racing. Johnson is coming off two disappointing campaigns and the 44-year-old veteran missed the Chase for the Cup playoffs for the first time in his career last season. Crew chief Kevin Meendering was replaced by Cliff Daniels mid-season in 2019 but the hoped boost never materialized. Instead, Johnson continued to spiral downward, collecting just four Top 10 s in the 15 races that Daniels presided. It could be that father time has finally caught up to the NASCAR icon, and skill erosion has set in. The upcoming season will be a farewell tour for Johnson, and it could be very reminiscent of recent farewell tours like Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. s. Inconsistency and mixed results could continue to hound Johnson in his final year of competition.
How Cliff Daniels Became the Hottest Crew Chief in the NASCAR Cup Series
Early chemistry and NASCAR Cup success for Kyle Larson and Cliff Daniels remind some of Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus.
By Al Pearce Jared C. TiltonGetty Images
Crew chief Cliff Daniels and driver Kyle Larson have a 19-race scorecard of 11 top-5 finishes, including four victories, plus five runner-up finishes, a fourth, and a fifth.
Daniels spent time between 1999 and 2005 racing on a semi-regular basis at Southside in Richmond, Langley in Hampton (Va.), and at Charlotte. He harbored a passion for driving, but reality and not enough funding ended that career path.
Plenty of contenders as Cup series returns to Road America
Field Level Media
02 Jul 2021, 10:55 GMT+10
What matters most at mammoth Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.? Road course racing skills or experience?
Perhaps a combination of both?
That s certainly the case for reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion and acknowledged road course star Chase Elliott, who fashioned a pair of fourth-place finishes in 2014 and 2015 when he raced at Road America in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Elliott will be one of the heavy favorites when the Cup Series visits the 4.048-mile road course for the first time since Tim Flock beat Billy Myers to the finish line by 17 seconds in 1956 in the only previous Cup race at the track.
Images as Kyle Busch Overcomes a Balky Transmission for Victory at Pocono
Kyle Busch wins with a car stuck in 4th gear
By Getty Images Icon SportswireGetty Images
With remarkable perseverance behind the wheel of a car stuck in fourth gear, Kyle Busch saved enough fuel to win Sunday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 350, the second leg of a weekend NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader at Pocono Raceway.
After William Byron and Denny Hamlin ran out of gas ahead of him, Busch cruised to an 8.654-second victory over Kyle Larson, who started from the rear of the field in a backup car after crashing while leading in the final corner of Saturday’s race.
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