Eliminated Drivers Showing Dominance?

By Joey Gucciardo @GucciardoJoey

(Photo: David Scearce/OnPitRoad.com)

Is your driver eliminated from Chase contention? Maybe they'll start winning now.

The Chase was dominated by Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Jeff Gordon, and Kevin Harvick, basically, so far.

Now, you have Dale Earnhardt JR. earning his first ever Martinsville win.

But, the dominance from others doesn't stop there.

MORE: OnPitRoad.com's Race Recap

In fact, some eliminated drivers even STRUGGLED.

Look at this: Jimmie Johnson finishing 32nd.

MORE: Johnson Can See Writing On Wall (Nate Ryan, USA Today Sports)

But, Johnson was racing his white car "White Lightning" since the beginning of the 2014 season, with breif appearances with the car in 2012 and 2013. The No. 48 team decided that the car was bad luck, so they switched back to the car that they ran in 2012 and 2013, the blue car. Now, there is a red car.

If a new paint scheme is what Johnson needs, and this is his permanent 2015 car, then expect him to be in the 2015 chase (as long as this car is good luck).

He will be racing the car for the first time this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

I guess the moral point of the story here is that even though Hendrick Motorsports only has one driver still standing in the chase (Jeff Gordon), the drivers on the team that are eliminated are STILL surprising us with wins, good finishes, changes, announcements, quotes, and so on.

These Hendrick boys are the guys to watch right now, for sure.