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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
SHEHEEN: Give Credit Where Due
.The stats speak for themselves. Jimmie Johnson is an automatic first ballot Hall of Famer...
Ralph Sheheen  |  Posted December 09, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Ralph Sheheen is a veteran motorsports broadcaster who covers Supercross, AMA Road Racing, Moto GP and hosts The SPEED Report on SPEED. (Photo: SPEED)
.The stats speak for themselves. Jimmie Johnson is an automatic first ballot Hall of Famer. The only question now is how much he will pad the numbers. How many wins, poles and titles?

I realize that whether you cheer for Jimmie, Tony Stewart or Greg Biffle is a subjective call on your part. As a ticket-buying fan you have every right to decide who to root for and who to boo. I just hope race fans understand what we witnessing right now out of Johnson and his 48 team is a very rare sight.

There is every reason to believe, given the manner in which these guys are performing, that they might rack up quite a few more wins, poles and even a couple more Sprint Cup championships before they are through. Then again, they might not. That's how tough it is to win a race, let alone a Sprint Cup championship, in NASCAR. Four in a row is just incredible.

Think about how many great drivers haven't won the title over the same four years that Jimmie won four straight. It's not like he's just lucky at playing the lottery. He has beaten arguably 42 of the greatest race car drivers on the planet for four consecutive years. He has out-thought, out-driven, out-battled and completely befuddled them along the way. Heck, the two guys who finished directly behind him in the points have the exact same team, chassis and engines as he, and are two of the greatest wheelmen this sport has ever seen. And he still beat them by the largest points margin ever in the history of The Chase!

You have to give plenty of credit to crew chief Chad Knaus and his crew, as well. Those guys have been every bit as impressive as Jimmie. They have come up with an extremely successful game plan and have worked it to perfection. They don't make mistakes and pounce on those that do. In the language of stick and ball sports, that translates to good clock management and not a lot of turnovers.

I know race fans want to see their favorite driver win races and championships. That's normal. But what Jimmie and his team have been doing is anything but normal and that's why we all need to soak it in - even if you don't wear a bunch of 48 gear to the track. We will never see Michael Jordon float over the hardwood with his tongue out again. We never will see the amazing stride of Secretariat and we never will see Mario and AJ go at it at Indy. Has a Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day football game ever really sounded all that interesting since Barry Sanders retired?

I promise you that 10, 15 maybe 20 years from now when Jimmie finally does retire, we all will be talking about how he might be the greatest driver ever in the history of NASCAR. Crazy statement? Bold prediction? Maybe, maybe not. He's right on pace with The King and The Intimidator to win seven championships and is younger than both when they won their fourth titles.

But of course, it could all come to a screeching halt. What if he never wins again? Cale Yarborough won three consecutive championships and then never won another. It could happen. Whether it stops today or Jimmie keeps on winning, history has been made and we were all fortunate enough to witness it.

I didn't get to see Babe Ruth hit a baseball or Jim Brown break one loose for a touchdown. Nor did I ever see Lee Petty, Ralph Earnhardt, Ned Jarrett or Junior Johnson ever wheel a race car in person. I wish I had. So don't pass up the chance to say you saw Jimmie Johnson.

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

Ralph Sheheen is a veteran motorsports broadcaster who currently covers Supercross, AMA Road Racing and Moto GP for SPEED. Sheheen also hosts The SPEED Report and served as the play-by-play announcer for TNT in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, as well as a pit road reporter for select races. He also focuses on the Knoxville Nationals and Star Mazda. In his storied career, Sheheen has covered virtually every form of racing for numerous networks, including everything from Swamp Buggies to Formula One and NASCAR
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