Jimmie Johnson is staying calm and confident

Defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, a six-time series champion, is not stressed out about not having won this season. Because of a format change, race winners are guaranteed spots in the 16-car Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, followed by points leaders without wins.

“Until we are not locked in, there is nothing to worry about,” said Johnson, who is seventh in points. Where we sit in points right now, we are locked in. Of course, we want to win. We want to win every race we go to. If not, points still matter. There is a bigger window to make the Chase today than there was last year. Last year was 12, this year it’s 16. I don’t think there is anything to stress out about yet.”

Johnson, a two-time winner at Kansas Speedway, has not won since Nov. 3 at Texas, a span of 12 races.

“We have been through dry spells before,” Johnson said. “ A 10-12 race dry spell isn’t a very long one period. I still feel that we are extremely competitive and I feel as an individual I’m a better race car driver today than I was last year. I just keep learning more and experiencing more and add that to my repertoire of things to do. Our team is as strong as it has ever been. Our teammates are all running very well this year.”

This story was originally published May 10, 2014 at 12:18 AM with the headline "Jimmie Johnson is staying calm and confident."