Is Jimmie Johnson All but Done in the Chase After Devastating Finish at Kansas?

Jimmie Johnson has never been at the bottom of the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings in his career.

Sure, he came close in 2006 when he left Talladega, the fourth race of the 10-race Chase, in eighth place (out of a 10-driver field at the time), a whopping 156 points out of first place. Yet somehow, Johnson rallied back to win the Chase that season, starting a record streak of five consecutive championships.

But after four races in the 2014 Chase, Johnson is dead last in the 12-driver field. What's more, he's 44 points behind new points leader Joey Logano, essentially the equivalent of one full race worth of points.

“This weekend at Kansas Speedway has been anything but typical for six-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who wrecked out early in Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400," Jay Pennell of FoxSports.com wrote, "and appeared to take a big hit in his hopes of successfully defending the latest championship he won last year."

It gets worse: Johnson finished 40th in Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, tying his all-time worst finish in any Chase race since the playoff format began in 2004.

While Johnson was able to rally back in 2006, it's going to be very hard for him to do so in this year's Chase, particularly since he's just two races away from being eliminated from advancing to the third round after the race at Talladega two weeks from Sunday.

It's fairly safe to say that Johnson has never had his back up against the wall as much as he does now. His bid for a seventh career Cup championship—which would tie NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt for most championships by a single driver—is essentially on life support.

But let's not forget that this is the mighty and great Jimmie Johnson we're talking about here. If anyone can rally back to advance to the third round—and then potentially make it into the four-driver, winner-take-all final round in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway—it's the driver of the No. 48 Chevy.

It's not going to be easy, though.

For Johnson to advance, he has to win this coming Saturday night at Charlotte (where he's won seven times) or at Talladega, where he's won two other times in his storied Cup career.

Win and you're in. It's that simple. 

But if he has one decent and another poor showing in the next two races, as much as I hate to say it, Johnson's bid for title No. 7 is going to fall woefully short.

To his credit, Johnson was still wearing a happy face after Kansas. If he's scared or worried, his poker face isn't giving away his hand.

"Well, it just means we’ve got to be on our game at Charlotte and Talladega," Johnson said in a Chevrolet-distributed post-race media release. "There is still a lot of racing left. Stuff can happen. We’ll see how the other Chasers fare. If I can get taken out today, somebody else can...at Charlotte. We'll...certainly need W’s, I would assume, going forward."

Wait a minute, he would "assume"? There's no assumption there, Jimmie.

For perhaps the first time in his career, he's been painted into a corner. Maybe he don't know how to respond. 

Or maybe Johnson is like Mad Magazine's Alfred E. Neuman (no relation to Chase driver Ryan Newman), whose famous line for more than three decades has been, "What, me worry?"

Yes, Jimmie, you had better be worried.

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Still, Johnson isn't panicking—at least on the outside. When interviewed by ESPN shortly after being wrecked by Greg Biffle in Sunday's race, he even had a smile on his face and a calm look in his eyes when asked about how he's feeling right now.

"I’m fine, obviously a big hit in the championship points," Johnson said. "That’ll put a premium on next week and the week after. We have to be on our game at Charlotte and Talladega. There’s still a lot of racing left."

Wrong again, Jimmie.

This isn't 2006, post-Talladega. Sure, there are still six races left on the 2014 Sprint Cup schedule, but realistically, Johnson's season is now down to just two races. There's not a lot of racing left—at least not for Johnson.

And no matter how much he downplays it, smiles and tries to make everyone believe he's not worried, if he's truly shaking inside, like the Eagles sing, "You can't hide your lying eyes."

Follow me @JerryBonkowski