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Sprint Cup
CUP: Yes, Jimmie Johnson Is NASCAR’s Best Ever
As of Sunday, Nov. 21, 2010, Jimmie Johnson is the best that the sport of NASCAR has ever seen...
Jimmie Johnson raises the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion's trophy after clinching his fifth straight title at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
The argument is raging like a presidential debate.
Is Jimmie Johnson, now a five-time Cup champion, the greatest driver in NASCAR history?
It’s the question everyone in the motorsports world is asking, and everyone is taking sides. The arguments are as heated as a political campaign, and there is more fence straddling than at a championship rodeo.
His detractors in the grandstands flatly refuse to acknowledge Johnson as the best ever, demonstrating their discontent with his five-year dominance and their pure hatred for the driver who – gasp! – is not named Petty or Earnhardt.
Most pundits concede that he’s one of the greatest, but not yet the best. He’s top-five, for sure, they say, but not quite equal to all-time greats Richard Petty, David Pearson and Dale Earnhardt. Not until he wins more than 100 races like Petty and Pearson or seven championships like Petty and Earnhardt.
Some don’t even give him that much credit, saying that he won’t crack the Cale Yarborough-Bobby Allison-Darrell Waltrip-Jeff Gordon category until he wins more races.
Such arguments are narrow-minded drivel that understates Johnson’s mind-boggling accomplishments.
I’ll say what most know but for some reason have a hard time accepting or admitting.
Yes, Jimmie Johnson is the greatest ever.
Not in a few years, after he wins his seventh title, and not years down the road when he has accumulated 80 victories, but right now.
As of Sunday, Nov. 21, 2010, he is the best the sport has ever seen.
Johnson’s five straight championships is the greatest feat in NASCAR history – greater even than the seven championships won by Petty and Earnhardt.
Tony Stewart, a two-time Cup champion who has a keen knowledge of NASCAR history and a close relationship with many of its legends, admits that Johnson is the best. And that takes some humility for a guy who rarely concedes anything to anybody.
“He’s the best that’s ever been,” Stewart said Sunday night. “Five straight championships, in this era, that proves it.”
Johnson’s five straight titles in NASCAR’s most competitive era trump seven won over a lengthy career.
Petty and Earnhardt both ruled the sport for long periods of time, but neither won more than two titles in a row. Both won four in five years, but each had an off year during that stretch.
Petty stumbled to fifth in the standings in 1973 and won just six races, a paltry sum for his lofty standards in that era. Earnhardt won just one race and slumped to 12th in the standings in 1992, one of just two seasons when he finished outside the top 10 in his 22-year career.
Johnson has yet to have an off year. In nine full seasons, he has finished first or second in points seven times. His worst points finish is fifth, including his rookie season.
Neither Petty nor Earnhardt raced against the depth of competition that Johnson has faced and neither won championships in a tense, pressure-packed playoff atmosphere like the Chase.
Though old-timers and die-hards hate to hear it, Petty won most of his titles against inferior competition in an era when few drivers ran the full schedule.
Is Jimmie Johnson, now a five-time Cup champion, the greatest driver in NASCAR history?
It’s the question everyone in the motorsports world is asking, and everyone is taking sides. The arguments are as heated as a political campaign, and there is more fence straddling than at a championship rodeo.
His detractors in the grandstands flatly refuse to acknowledge Johnson as the best ever, demonstrating their discontent with his five-year dominance and their pure hatred for the driver who – gasp! – is not named Petty or Earnhardt.
Most pundits concede that he’s one of the greatest, but not yet the best. He’s top-five, for sure, they say, but not quite equal to all-time greats Richard Petty, David Pearson and Dale Earnhardt. Not until he wins more than 100 races like Petty and Pearson or seven championships like Petty and Earnhardt.
Some don’t even give him that much credit, saying that he won’t crack the Cale Yarborough-Bobby Allison-Darrell Waltrip-Jeff Gordon category until he wins more races.
Such arguments are narrow-minded drivel that understates Johnson’s mind-boggling accomplishments.
I’ll say what most know but for some reason have a hard time accepting or admitting.
Yes, Jimmie Johnson is the greatest ever.
Not in a few years, after he wins his seventh title, and not years down the road when he has accumulated 80 victories, but right now.
As of Sunday, Nov. 21, 2010, he is the best the sport has ever seen.
Johnson’s five straight championships is the greatest feat in NASCAR history – greater even than the seven championships won by Petty and Earnhardt.
Tony Stewart, a two-time Cup champion who has a keen knowledge of NASCAR history and a close relationship with many of its legends, admits that Johnson is the best. And that takes some humility for a guy who rarely concedes anything to anybody.
“He’s the best that’s ever been,” Stewart said Sunday night. “Five straight championships, in this era, that proves it.”
Johnson’s five straight titles in NASCAR’s most competitive era trump seven won over a lengthy career.
Petty and Earnhardt both ruled the sport for long periods of time, but neither won more than two titles in a row. Both won four in five years, but each had an off year during that stretch.
Petty stumbled to fifth in the standings in 1973 and won just six races, a paltry sum for his lofty standards in that era. Earnhardt won just one race and slumped to 12th in the standings in 1992, one of just two seasons when he finished outside the top 10 in his 22-year career.
Johnson has yet to have an off year. In nine full seasons, he has finished first or second in points seven times. His worst points finish is fifth, including his rookie season.
Neither Petty nor Earnhardt raced against the depth of competition that Johnson has faced and neither won championships in a tense, pressure-packed playoff atmosphere like the Chase.
Though old-timers and die-hards hate to hear it, Petty won most of his titles against inferior competition in an era when few drivers ran the full schedule.
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