Where Did Jimmie's Horse Shoe Go?

Wasn’t it only a month ago that Kevin Harvick was talking about the golden horse shoe that Jimmie Johnson had stuck up where the sun doesn’t shine? Well the horse shoe seems to have made its way back to the light and Harvick has regained his points lead.

After a disappointing race at Daytona, a track that Johnson struggles with every year, the “dream team” turned on their mojo and made it obvious they had their minds on the drive for five. They won the next two races and finished twelfth at Atlanta before returning to their winning ways and taking the top spot in Bristol. With his spot in victory lane, Johnson took his familiar perch on top of the standings. But the last few weeks has made it look like the horse shoe has indeed fallen out.

First he had the two weeks of tension with teammate and car owner, Jeff Gordon, who made it obvious to the media he was not happy with Jimmie after Talladega. The extra edge that set Gordon off may be that he hasn’t won a championship since discovering Johnson at a test years ago. That was a great discovery for HMS, not so much for Gordon. 

Jimmie got caught up in a wreck at Talladega, which is considered a crapshoot anyways but a bit of the horse shoe’s luck could have helped him conquer the beast. He pulled off a tenth place finish at Richmond after mending fences with Gordon but got caught up in a wreck at Darlington to finish thirty sixth. While Johnson is not known for his early season success (after all, he is the late season chase master), he seems to be having a bad luck riddled few weeks and has slipped back to second in the points. 

Chad Knaus has a knack for putting the 48 car in championship situations and Johnson does seem to have the luck and talent to pull himself out of almost any mess he gets into. But has Lady Luck moved onto another driver and forgotten about the “Chosen One”? If Johnson continues this up and down pattern, I’m not sure he can get the fifth championship. He needs to get as far ahead as he can before his first child arrives in July and his attention is split between the track and home. 

While it would be nice to see Jimmie win number five, he needs to pull off a bit more consistency or he might find himself following Mark Martin’s season from last year. I’m sure Harvick is happy to see that the horse shoe has slipped away from Jimmie and is in his hands but he better not get too comfortable in that top spot if the 48 decides they are tired of the drama in their results.