Former champions: Jimmie Johnson's place in NASCAR history not set yet
CORAL GABLES, Fla. - As Jimmie Johnson draws closer to capturing a third straight NASCAR Cup Series title, other past champions are weighing in on the Hendrick Motorsports driver – from his place in the sport, to his driving style, to his potential to bag a few more titles before his career is done.
Johnson needs to finish 36th or better in Sunday’s Sprint Cup finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to be guaranteed the 2008 championship. He would join Cale Yarborough as the only other driver to claim three consecutive crowns at NASCAR’s highest level.
Yarborough accomplished that feat from 1976-1978.
“There’s no comparison in the way Cale drove and the way Jimmie drove,” seven-time champion Richard Petty said during a news conference on Thursday in Coral Gables, Fla. “Jimmie is a more finesse race car driver and Cale just did what he does to get to the front and win races. Times are different, equipment is a little bit different, but Cale, it didn’t make any difference if he was two laps behind or 10 laps behind or two laps ahead, he just tried to pass the guy in front of him. Jimmie does a little bit more figuring than what Cale did.”
Three-time Cup champion Darrell Waltrip concurs with Petty’s assessment. In his mind, Johnson and Yarborough used different approaches to achieve their success.
“Driver-wise they have nothing in common. I mean, I’ve never seen Jimmie Johnson pull his gloves up over his elbows,” said Waltrip, who earned championships in 1981, 1982 and 1985. “Cale manhandled the car. He just drove it.”
Waltrip says it’s the driver chasing Jimmie Johnson – Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards – whose driving style draws a comparison to Yarborough’s.
“He drives a lot like Carl,” Waltrip said. “If there’s similarities, it’s probably more like Carl and Cale than it is Jimmie and Cale.”
That’s not say Waltrip is against Johnson’s approach. Since Johnson joined the Cup ranks in 2002, Waltrip has been impressed by what he sees as Johnson’s evolving level of patience displayed on the track.
“He’s very calculating,” Waltrip said. “He’s even gotten better. There was a time maybe two or three years ago when he would get himself in a little bit of a situation that he shouldn’t get in, but he has really gotten good at managing himself out on the race track in his race car and avoiding trouble. He’s learned a lot about how to do that and not push it when he knows he shouldn’t.”
If Johnson wins the championship on Sunday, he would become the fifth driver to win three titles, joining Waltrip, Yarborough, Lee Petty and David Pearson. Only Jeff Gordon, with four titles, and Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty, with seven each, have claimed NASCAR’s biggest prize more times. Could the 33-year-old Johnson already rate as one of the sport’s best of all time?
“The greatest accomplish everything,” Waltrip said. “He’s only accomplished a few things. So it’s too early, and he’d be the first to tell you, ‘Man, I’m not ready for that.’ I mean, [Johnson and his team] are as good as there is right now but when you look at ‘greatest’ you’ve got to look a long way. You can’t just look short-term. You’ve got to look way back and they’re getting there and they can get there, but I’d say it’s a little early.”
Petty agrees that it’s premature to say exactly where Johnson falls in line among the sport’s most accomplished drivers.
“Jimmie right now, they’re just about a half a step ahead of most of the cars out there and it shows that throughout the season, not just one or two races,” he said. “But as far as where Cale goes in the pecking order or where Jimmie goes in the pecking order, the pecking order comes about over a period time, not just having two or three good years. You’re great right now but in eight or 10 years they don’t know you. … It’s everybody’s speculation.”
Nor does anyone know many championships Johnson will end up with before he retires. Waltrip says that it will depend mostly on whether crew chief Chad Knaus and other key members of the No. 48 team stay put.
Dale Jarrett, who competed against Johnson from the California native’s rookie season of 2002 through Jarrett’s retirement earlier this year, believes the sky is the limit for Johnson, who has been in the top five in points every season since joining the series.
“I’m not sure that we’re giving him enough credit as a driver for what it takes,” said Jarrett, who claimed his lone title in 1999. “Certainly he’s with a great organization and he has a lot of good people behind him, but to put yourself in that position for seven straight years as a driver and a competitor, it’s just phenomenal what Jimmie has been able to accomplish. And he’s not by any stretch of the imagination close to being finished.”
