With 83 wins, seven Championships and an instant Hall of Fame resume under his belt, Jimmie Johnson had high expectations for his final full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Four months in, during a bizarre year for everyone, those dreams for the 44-year-old are falling flat. I’m glad he is going to be able to hang up his helmet after a season that hasn’t gone as planned.

The first and primary issue remains Johnson’s on-track performance after a difficult 2019 season, arguably the worst of his career. Registering just three top-five finishes, he missed the NASCAR postseason for the first time since it came into existence in 2004.

Cliff Daniels, Johnson’s third crew chief in two years, took the reins in the summer of 2019. Ever since, in my opinion the lack of cohesion has been pretty apparent. 15 races into 2020, Johnson has only had two top five finishes and six top 10s. He’s crashed out twice and was disqualified from from the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (one of his best tracks), erasing a second-place finish due to a post-race inspection failure.

Off the racetrack, Johnson has missed out on the fanfare of a final year. Tracks have festivities planned, but without fans allowed at most of them, it’s taken the grandeur of those honors away from him. The COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll although Johnson remains firm in his desire to make 2020 his last full-time season despite the circumstances.

Of course, the most recent plague that has befallen Johnson in his farewell season has literally been the national plague itself. Friday night, he and his wife tested positive for COVID-19. In an interview with NBC Sports’ Dale Jarrett, Johnson explained that the news has shaken up his family, both at home and on the racetrack. Justin Allgaier was tapped to sub in Indianapolis as Johnson’s playoff push is in jeopardy for a second straight year. Luckily, NASCAR’s waiver system will still allow him to compete for a spot despite missing Sunday's race.

As noted above, Johnson has since passed two COVID-19 tests and will be back in the Ally Chevrolet Sunday in Kentucky. Despite Allgaier crashing on pit road and finishing 37th Sunday, Johnson is still 15th in points.

The pandemic is also keeping Johnson from being honored at the end of the year. On June 29,^,NASCAR made the official announcement that its championship banquet would not take place this year.

“With the uncertainty surrounding the Coronavirus and the impact on the industry, this year’s NASCAR Champion’s Week and NASCAR Cup Series Awards originally scheduled to take place in Nashville will not occur,” the statement reads.

My heart goes out to Johnson this season. I respect his career and feel that he is most definitely one of the sport’s greatest drivers. I am sure that when the time is right, NASCAR will do a good job honoring him in some way throughout the remainder of the season once he returns to the track. I just hope they’re able to do so during 2020; any future honors will lose their impact post-retirement.

All is not lost for Johnson going forward. In 2021 and beyond, watch for him to become an advocate for motorsports in general. When he speaks, people listen, most recently this week through his #IStandWithBubba posts on Twitter. Due to his status, I expect Johnson will use that leverage to make a positive change in NASCAR and speak out on issues important to the sport.

Before testing positive for COVID-19, Johnson was open about his desire to run in the NTT IndyCar Series in 2021. He has always entertained the idea of racing for Indy and it sounds like that’s a strong possibility down the road. He was originally scheduled to test an IndyCar today before his positive test results were announced. I would expect him to compete with that series and maybe be an advocate for both series to hold doubleheaders similar to what went down at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this past weekend.

Whatever the next career choice is, it’ll likely be a sigh of relief after the 2020 season Johnson is enduring. Sometimes, the final chapter doesn’t always produce a happy ending.

Erin Campbell is a contributor for Frontstretch.  She can be reached via e-mail at erin@lugnutlivin.com.  Photo is courtesy of our own Davey Segal.