Jimmie Johnson’s quest for history boosts him among all-time greats
This is not an attempt to jump to a rash conclusion – journalists almost always regret doing that – but there appears a decent chance that Jimmie Johnson will win his fourth straight Sprint Cup championship this season.
When it happens, what – beyond more fame, fortune and fantastic vacation spots for Johnson and his entourage – will it all mean?
True, it will set a record many thought couldn’t be reached. In six decades of the sport, Johnson would become the first driver to win four straight Cup championships.
None of the other greats – not Jeff Gordon, not Richard Petty, not Cale Yarborough, not Darrell Waltrip, not even Dale Earnhardt – has been able to fit rings onto four fingers in consecutive years.
But, beyond that singular accomplishment, what does it all mean? Is Johnson’s rampaging run through the early years of the 21st century a journey for the ages? Is it the most striking achievement in the sport’s history? Does it push Johnson into a place of honor no one has occupied?
The answer is very, very close to “Yes,” if not “Absolutely.”
Johnson’s worksheet since his first championship season in 2006 – and, in fact, since he first stepped into a Cup car full time in 2002 – is stunningly excellent. A fact often overlooked in talk about Johnson’s championship years is that, even before his streak began, he finished no lower than fifth in points. And, in two of his four non-championship years, he was second.
If Johnson goes on to win this year’s title, in eight seasons his average finish in points will be 2.2, a ridiculously high number that might lead some to suggest an investigation to determine if he actually is a cyborg.
This is excellence personified.
If Johnson wins No. 4, where does that put him in the grand panoply of NASCAR accomplishment?
The 4-for-4 run should be considered almost on the same level as the seven-championship careers of Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Looking back on those two drivers’ careers, it’s remarkable that, given their generally consistent success, neither was able to string together four titles in a row. Both won back-to-back titles (Petty twice and Earnhardt three times), but neither was able to match Cale Yarborough’s accomplishment of being champion three straight years.
Given the time, money and effort that is dumped into Sprint Cup racing in this era, and the resulting difficulties a broader level of competition produces, is it a stretch to compare Johnson’s four straight championships with the seven total achieved by Petty and Earnhardt? Not really. It’s a bit early to put Johnson on the same lifetime level as Petty and Earnhardt, but Johnson has much of his racing lifetime remaining.
Is Johnson’s run as impressive as Petty’s 200 career wins? No. But it’s not likely that anyone will approach the King’s unique standing in that particular arena. When they’re racing the Car of Tomorrow’s Tomorrow in 2050, the magic number of 200 will be standing alone.
What about a couple of other Petty milestones, both from his crazily productive 1967 season? That year Petty won 27 races, and that effort included a dramatic late summer-early autumn run in which, incredibly, he won 10 in a row. How difficult was that, even in a climate dominated by Petty Enterprises? Since Petty’s 10 in a row, no one has won more than five in a row.
Try it some time.
Everybody who makes a significant mark in NASCAR always will ride along under the shadow of Petty, no matter the context or the changing landscape or the modified rules.
He set the standards, and, after all, he is the King.
Let there be no doubt, however, that what Johnson has accomplished and is accomplishing right before our eyes is historic stuff. How it is measured against the flow of history ultimately must wait for a longer perspective, but let there be praise where it is due.
Johnson is doing things even the greats around him haven’t approached.
