With seven Monster Energy Cup Series Championships under his belt, Jimmie Johnson is holding onto hope that he can race for an eighth this season at Homestead.
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After a dismal 27th place finish at Texas Motor Speedway, Johnson is struggling to stay afloat. He finished 24th, 11th, and 12th in his three races prior to Texas. And unless he wins at Phoenix, he'll have to put the quest for his eighth championship on hold until next year.
"I'm scratching my head, probably more than anybody else is," Johnson said according to ESPN. "Corner entry, Kansas and here, has just been really bad. I've got to let off so soon, it lets people get to my bumper and make my condition even worse."
"And then when I do roll in there as fast as someone, I chase it up two or three lanes or I spin it out twice like I did at Kansas."
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In the past, Johnson has been able to recover and persevere from his woes. But over the span of the last month or so, that hasn't been the case. In fact, he's had a rough go of it for most of the season. He's currently riding a streak of 21 races without a win and only one top five finish over the span.
"We've got to figure something out," said Johnson.
He's right about one thing, they've got to figure something out and soon. The window is closing and it's closing fast. Heading into Phoenix with a must win situation, it'll be interesting to see what they do differently with the No. 48 car.
"We'll go there and fight as hard as we can," Johnson said. "And that's one thing this team will never do is give up."