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TAKE ME TO...
NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Jimmie Is No. 1
A rundown of the top drivers of 2009...
RacinToday.com Staff  | http://www.RacinToday.com  |  Posted November 24, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Crew members of Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, hold a flag reading 'four in a row' after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship for 2009. (Photo: Getty Images)

Article Written by Mark Armijo, RacinToday.com

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the greatest of them all?

At least, who was the greatest in 2009? Which driver impressed me most, drove the best and ultimately deserves my vote for Driver of the Year?

The envelope, please….

Yes, Jimmie Johnson.

Photos: Johnson Celebrates Four In A Row

How can you pick against him? Johnson did something no driver in NASCAR’s 61-year history did before, which was motor to an unprecedented fourth straight driving title.

Historians can argue until the end of time the merits of such a feat, but this is what Johnson teammate Jeff Gordon said following the season finale at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway:

“I never thought I’d see this in my lifetime,” he said.

Quite frankly, neither did I.

Thrown in seven wins, including an impressive score at Phoenix International Raceway following a week in which he sputtered to a 38th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway and lost a trunk load of points in the championship standings, and it should be a no-brainer, shouldn’t it?

This corner thinks so.

As for the remainder of my top five picks for DOTY, here they are:

NO. 2

Tony Schumacher

Although with five wins Schumacher didn’t come close to matching last year’s astonishing mark of 15 victories, it still was a tremendous season.

Schumacher snapped his own mark with a sixth straight NHRA Top Fuel crown, including a record-tying eighth U.S. Nationals title, the sport’s Super Bowl.


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