Some of the dominant Sprint Cup drivers in 2013 were not as good in 2014. One of these drivers was 2013 champion Jimmie Johnson, who finished 11th in the final standings, making it his first such finish outside the top ten in his full-time Cup career. Johnson, who also won every series championship from 2006 to 2010, still pulled off four wins, but it took him twelve races - a full third of the season - to get his first win of the year, which finally came in the Coca-Cola 600. After winning two of the next three races as well, Johnson made the chase with his three Hendrick Motorsports teammates, but was eliminated at Talladega in the second-round finale.
But Johnson, who has never been considered to have had a truly horrible season especially given his six championships, had it good compared to other drivers. Matt Kenseth, who was ultimately Johnson's main opponent for the championship in 2013, won seven Cup races last year, more than any other driver. And while Kenseth started 2014 with a win in the first Budweiser Duel qualifying race at Daytona, he didn't win a single points race all year, shocking many fans who believed he would be a championship contender again this year.
Then there's Tony Stewart, whose last Cup win came at Dover in June of last year. Since then he's been involved in a sprint car crash that broke his leg and caused him to miss the rest of the season, followed by another sprint car incident leading to the death of young driver Kevin Ward Jr., after which Stewart sat out three more NASCAR Cup races. Stewart's failure to win this year broke his streak of 15 consecutive seasons, starting in his 1999 rookie season, in which he won a race. He will certainly be hungry for wins in 2015 along with Kenseth.
Other drivers who won in Cup in 2013 but not 2014 are Greg Biffle, David Ragan, Brian Vickers and Ryan Newman. Clint Bowyer, Trevor Bayne, Marcos Ambrose and Paul Menard hadn't seen victory lane in NASCAR's top series in two or more seasons. Similarly, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch broke winless streaks in 2014.
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