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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CLOSE: Champions Scrambled The Record Book In 2009
While Jimmie Johnson’s 2009 accomplishments certainly put him in rarified air; Kyle Busch and Ron Hornaday, Jr. also left their mark on the seasom...
John Close  | http://www.closefinishes.com  |  Posted November 23, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Jimmie Johnson made history by winning his fourth consecutive title Sunday night. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Jimmie Johnson’s fourth-consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championship capped off an amazing 2009 racing season that saw the No. 48 Hendrick Chevy team climb to heights previously unseen in the sport. In any other season, Johnson would easily be the hands down winner of any Driver of the Year.

Not this year.

While Johnson’s 2009 accomplishments certainly put him in rarified air, two other drivers – Kyle Busch and Ron Hornaday, Jr. - also left their mark on a season that will long be remembered as one of the most prolific in NASCAR history.

Johnson’s story has been well documented in recent weeks. A record fourth-straight title is the most glaring of his accomplishments. A closer look at his stat sheet over the past four Cup seasons reveals 29 victories, 64 top-five and 94 top-10 finishes in 144 events. His finishing average over the last four years – 10.52 per event.

Throw in around $60 million in earnings for those efforts over the past four years (Richard Petty made $8.5 million total in his 35-year NASCAR career) and it is little wonder why Johnson is the king of the stock car universe today.

As stellar as Johnson’s long-term accomplishments are, his 2009 season numbers actually pale in comparison to those of Kyle Busch. Easily the most active driver in the sport this season, Busch took the green flag in 86 NASCAR premiere division events (Cup, Nationwide, Truck) in 2009. His final totals – 20 victories, 45 top-five and 56 top-10 finishes.

No one in NASCAR has put up this kind of individual season since Petty tilted for 27 Grand National (now Cup) in 1967. Like Johnson’s record fourth-straight championship season, Busch’s 2009 effort was one for the ages.

Somewhat left in the shadows of Johnson’s and Busch’s magnificent campaigns this year was the effort of Hornaday. Still racing and winning into his 50’s, Hornaday muscled his way to a fourth NASCAR Truck Series title this season becoming the all-time leader in that category for the division (he shared the old record of three championships with Jack Sprague.)

Hornaday cruised to the title in crushing fashion closing out the show a week early at Phoenix. His six wins this season boosted his Truck Series all-time leading total to 45 and his 20 top-10 finishes in 25 events this year boosted his career total to 178 top-10 efforts in just 250 lifetime series starts. In case you’re not good at math, that’s finishing in the top-10 an amazing 71 percent of the time – not for this season, but for his career.

We salute each and every one of these accomplishments. It was an amazing season filled with fast action, high drama and ultimately, record performances on multiple fronts. To those who stated NASCAR was boring this year – or had a mind-numbing sameness to it because the three individuals profiled above pummeled the competition – we say greatness is never boring.

Just having one driver achieve what they did this season would have made 2009 special. The fact that three drivers - Johnson, Busch and Hornaday – gave us epic, record-breaking seasons in 2009 will mark it as one of the most productive and memorable in the 61-year history of the sport.

Hendrick Honors

One accomplishment that slid a little under the radar Sunday was the latest in a career of firsts for team owner Rick Hendrick.

In the history of NASCAR, no team owner had ever swept the first three positions in the final Cup Series season standings. Hendrick added that jewel to his racing resume with Johnson, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon finishing 1-2-3 in the 2009 title tally.

Regardless of what side of the fence you stand on when it comes to your opinion of Hendrick and his racing empire, there can be no denying success and the numbers say Hendrick Motorsports has had plenty of that in recent seasons.

Congrats to the estimated 450 employees and multiple teams at Hendrick Motorsports on a huge season – and to Mr. Hendrick for being able to put it all into a cohesive group where the end result provided yet another memorable NASCAR season.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

John Close worked his first NASCAR race at Bristol, TN in 1986 and since then has staffed NASCAR events as a journalist, public relations and marketing representative, team manager and race day spotter. Prior to his NASCAR association, Close covered as many as 75 auto races a year as the Sports Editor for a daily Associated Press newspaper in his native Wisconsin. Close has been a regular contributor to several top racing publications including Stock Car Racing, Circle Track, NASCAR Illustrated and Speedway Illustrated magazines. In 2004, Motorbooks International published Close’s first book – Tony Stewart –From Indy Phenom To NASCAR Superstar. MBI released a second book by Close – NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series – Desert Dust To Superspeedways, in 2007. Close is a regular guest every Wednesday on Tradin’ Paint on SIRIUS NASCAR Channel 128. His work can also be found on multiple racing web sites including CloseFinishes.com
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John Close

CloseFinishes.com

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