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CUP: Where Does Johnson Rank?
Written by: Tom Jensen   
11/21/2009
Homestead, FL
 
Jimmie Johnson is in the lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points race by 108 over Mark Martin. (Photo: Getty Images) ยป More Photos

Bobby Allison, a man who knows a thing or two about talent, doesn’t hesitate when asked about Jimmie Johnson's place among the great drivers of NASCAR.

“He’s right at the top,” Allison said of Johnson. “I can’t say first, but I can’t say below first. He is right at the top, definitely.”

Johnson will have a golden opportunity to state his case as one of, if not the, best driver in NASCAR history on Sunday. If he finishes 25th or better in the season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead, Johnson will be the first man in the 61-year history of the Sprint Cup Series to win four consecutive championships. And he will join teammate Jeff Gordon as one of only two four-time champs. Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt are the only two Cup drivers with more than four titles.

Given all that, Johnson’s name unquestionably deserves to be mentioned with the sport’s all-time greats. The only question is where.

Ask Johnson’s team owner Rick Hendrick about how good Johnson and his team are, and he shudders. “I’m glad we don’t have race against them,” said Hendrick.

If Hendrick wanted to understand just how difficult a prospect racing against Johnson, crew chief
Chad Knaus and the rest of the No. 48 team really is, he doesn’t have to go far — just move a few haulers down in the Sprint Cup garage and have a chat with Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

Edwards, it should be noted, finished second to Johnson in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings last year, when he won three of the last four races of the season and a series-high nine overall in 2008.

“It’s really amazing. I wouldn’t have the respect for what the 48 team has done if I wasn’t going through this over the last four years and understanding how tough it is, so I don’t know if I can convey how amazing that is to me,” said Edwards, who is winless this season.

And he admitted to being baffled as to why Johnson is almost unbeatable at clutch time. “I don’t know if it’s something mechanically on the cars – a way of doing things there – or if it’s a way of managing people,” Edwards said. “I don’t know where exactly their advantage lies. It could be both of those places, but I’d say that that’s the team you want to emulate and figure out what they’re doing, but I don’t know the answer. I don’t know what they’re doing, but whatever it is, it’s good.”

The numbers back up the words.


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