NASCAR: Johnson Needs a Big Day in Bristol

NASCAR returns after a week off for the Jeff Byrd 500 in Bristol. The World’s Fastest Half-Mile was kind to Jimmie Johnson last year and he’ll want another good showing this weekend.

Time to start winning
Jimmie Johnson’s poor showing in Las Vegas did little to help his quest for a sixth straight Sprint Cup Championship. On Sunday he will get the opportunity to make up for that forgettable outing in a race he won last year. Johnson finally won the Jeff Byrd 500 in 2010 and that win set him on his way to the title last year. He’ll need a similar performance on Sunday to avoid losing ground in the early part of this season.

As one of the top closers in NASCAR, Johnson is more than capable of staying safe in the middle of the pack for most of Sunday’s race before striking in the final laps. He looked on course to achieve a victory, or at least a good finish, in similar circumstances at Las Vegas but a poor pit stop ruined his charge.

Johnson won’t allow such mistakes to get in his way on Sunday. While victory is far from certain, Johnson will try to get near the front early so as to leave as little work as possible to do in the closing stages. With only one top-10 finish to his name after three races, it’s time for Johnson to start asserting himself more in races. NASCAR betting fans can expect a determined effort from the Californian on Sunday.

Don’t ignore past success
Looking beyond last year’s winner, it’s always wise to see which drivers have succeeded at Bristol in previous years. NASCAR drivers tend to have tracks to which they are particularly suited and as a result if a driver won here before there’s a good chance he’ll do so again.

While it’s been 13 years since his last success in this race, Jeff Gordon has a good shot at returning to victory lane this weekend. Having won the first Bristol race of the season for four years straight in the 1990s, he knows what it takes to win on this circuit. More recent form suggests the Busch brothers will contend this weekend. Kurt Busch won this race in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006 while his brother Kyle took the checkered flag in 2007 and 2009.