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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
PEMBERTON: JJ Jeopardizing Fan Base
What’s good for Jimmie Johnson and the record books isn’t necessarily good for NASCAR...
Randy Pemberton  |  Posted October 21, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Randy Pemberton on SPEED. (Photo: SPEED)
Jimmie Johnson undoubtedly is cruising to his record-setting fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship if someone or something doesn’t derail him in the next five weeks. However, what’s good for Johnson and the record books isn’t necessarily good for NASCAR.

While I have the utmost admiration and respect for what Johnson, his crew chief, Chad Knaus, and car owner, Rick Hendrick, have accomplished and probably will continue to achieve, I don’t think their dominance is beneficial to the sport.

Johnson certainly is one of the best NASCAR drivers in the modern era and rivals Jeff Gordon at this stage in his career. I’ll even go so far as to say Johnson already is among the top-10 drivers of all time.

But with all due respect to his and his team’s unparalleled success in recent years, NASCAR’s fan base is eroding due to the fact Johnson is monopolizing the sport with the same car owner with whom Gordon reigned supreme in the 1990s. Many people are bored watching the No. 48 Chevrolet team mop the floor with the competition and are turning to other sports or entertainment as an alternative.

Hendrick Motorsports has won 8 of the past 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championships. Gordon went on a tear in 1995-1998 when it appeared no one else was going to be able to win a race, let alone a championship, and his preeminence is being repeated by Johnson.

In the same vein, some people nowadays aren’t watching NASCAR races because they assume they already know the outcome. Johnson still could lose the championship but it won’t be due to poor performance because very rarely does the No. 48 team field a 17th or 20th-place car. Other teams do from time to time, including Gordon and the Richard Childress Racing, Roush Fenway Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing camps, but not the Johnson and Knaus duo.

Johnson’s team won’t run badly. They could suffer a flat tire, a dropped lug nut or an inadvertent “tap” from a fellow competitor, but the No. 48 team will not fall on its face. That car qualifies, practices, races and finishes up front almost every week and I am willing to bet they won’t start outside the top five in the final five races. You can add two more wins to that prediction.

The similarities between the current No. 48 team and Gordon and Ray Evernham’s No. 24 team in the 1990s are staggering, but the dilemma is that both came with the same car owner who also has the most money, most resources and perhaps the most talented driver line-up in the garage. Hendrick Motorsports’ strength, combined with Johnson and Knaus’ talents, dominate the sport on a continuous basis, casting an ominous shadow over NASCAR.

For the sake of argument, let’s say Johnson claims 18-percent of the NASCAR fan base. That leaves 82-percent of the fans with a favorite driver who usually doesn’t stand much chance of winning a race, let alone a championship.

So, what can NASCAR do to level the playing field and hopefully reclaim some disenchanted fans? Unfortunately, there’s nothing anyone can or should do to remedy this “problem” except wait it out. The No. 48 team has done nothing wrong. Instead, they have done everything right by capitalizing on their advantages and opportunities. But there is no question their supremacy has hurt the sport’s popularity because there is no mystery as to who will win or run up front anymore.

We talk about how cyclical NASCAR is - if someone is struggling, such as RCR this season, eventually they’ll ride the wave back to the top. However, I don’t anticipate the No. 48 team will fall off the pinnacle and into a valley. The cyclical nature of NASCAR instead will manifest itself with other teams finally catching up to the No. 48 team bit by bit in the future.

But until that day, watching Johnson put on a lesson in dominating and winning is like watching the end of a movie before its beginning. Why watch the movie if you already know how it ends? And unless something out of Johnson’s control occurs, we already know how the 2009 season will conclude.

Go ahead and roll the credits.

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