DOVER, Del. — Jimmie Johnson fell in love with Dover the first time he turned a lap at the track in the late 1990s.

He can’t quit it, even when it left him with a broken car part.

Johnson’s 2015 championship hopes were over at Dover not because of a wreck, a blown engine, or a mistake on pit road.

It was a busted right rear axle­ seal that sent the No. 48 into the garage and knocked him out of title contention. Johnson’s bid for a record-tying seventh championship came to a shocking end when he finished 41st and failed to advance to the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

The faulty finish was a rare misstep at his favorite track. Johnson has a record 10 wins at Dover, dominating the mile concrete track like no other driver.

But the last race here was the worst one for Johnson — and he’s tried to focus on the 10 wins rather than the one that got away.

‘‘You’re going to have bad experiences at all tracks,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘Drivers are going to make mistakes even if it’s at their favorite track. It doesn’t matter.’’

“My love for this track . . . it’s still just as cool now as it ever has been.’’

Johnson won the spring race last year at Dover, placing him among a small group of drivers who have won 10 races at a single track.

Johnson joined NASCAR­ Hall of Famers Richard Petty (Martinsville15, North Wilkesboro15, Richmond 13, Rockingham 11, Daytona 10), Darrell Waltrip (Bristol 12, Martinsville 11, North Wilkesboro 10), Dale Earnhardt (Talladega 10) and David Pearson (Darlington 10) in that group.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver swept Dover in 2002 and 2009 and also won races in 2005, 2010, and 2012-14.

‘‘We definitely get fired up knowing this one is coming up,’’ said Johnson, who earned a berth in the Chase with his wins this season at Atlanta and Fontana.

Rain wiped out qualifying, so Johnson will start 21st in Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism based on practice speeds.

‘‘We didn’t have the speed we wanted, [so] it adds actually more frustration than it would at a normal track,’’ he said.

‘‘Because we are like ‘man this is our place this is where we run well, why are we off?’ It has many pros, but there are some cons that exist with a track that you’ve been so good at.’’

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Erik Jones led a race-high 76 laps in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to win the Xfinity Series race at Dover, where he also earned a $100,000 winner’s bonus from the series’ Dash-4-Cash program.