The NASCAR Question of the Day is…
The NASCAR Question of the Day is… courtesy of a decidedly non gearhead Mike Lopresti.
“Those who won four of anything in a row —John Wooden’s NCAA championships, Roger Federer’s Wimbledons, the great Yankee and Celtic dynasties, et. al. — are considered deities of their sport.
Should not Jimmie Johnson now join the club?”
Well, esteemed readership, is Jimmie Johnson on par with those other dynasties?
I think after only 8 full seasons that includes 4 Sprint Cups he is undoubtedly the best driver, with the best crew, of this decade. There is no argument.
Oh some do, some make the claim J.J. is only the best Chase driver and that the 10 race series is tailor made for the 48.
If one tosses out the Chase points system Johnson won this years Cup by 66 points over Jeff Gordon. This years bridesmade, a perennial one I might add, Mark Martin would have finished in fifth -394. And BTW, Jimmie claimed his first Cup in 2006 under the old points when he topped Matt Kenseth by a scant 4 points.
So at best their claim is only good for two of his four Cups.
Now if you want to argue, just for the sake of it, compare Johnson’s 8 year record with any driver in NASCAR’s 60 plus year history.
The only streak close would be Dale Earnhardt’s string of seven Cups in nine years (1986/1994). Johnson has a way to go to approach that record string but the question going into 2010 is who will stop him.
I’ve seen several articles anointing Denny Hamlin and he could be on the cusp of a breakout year but the same can be said of others. Jeff Gordon and Martin will be there as will Tony Stewart and several others.
Lopresti, whose normal beat is college and pro football and other stick and ball sports not auto racing, makes the case why it should be easy to knock Johnson off his thrown.
“How does one man and his team — all the race strategists, wrench wielders, tire changers, gas pumpers and business types behind him — beat so many odds, four years running?”
And yet that amazing conglomeration of people have yet to falter in four straight years.
Whether you like him or not Johnson and his team have produced an astounding feat the last four years.
Marc wrote: “Oh some do, some make the claim J.J. is only the best Chase driver and that the 10 race series is tailor made for the 48.”
Actually, JJ and his team have found the winning strategy of how to win under the current rules package. Nothing wrong with that. Further evidence of that is his two teammates finishing 2 and 3, no doubt due to sharing strategic info.
My only question is “What the hell is wrong with Junior?” How much longer will Hendrick carry him until he gives up on the guy? He has the resources to subsidize his poor performances for quite a while, and he is loyal to a fault to his drivers, but everything has a limit.
I forgot. My answer to the question is “Yes, he is.”
Simply due to the fact that I think it’s a lot harder to dominate in the current field than it was 10-20-30 years ago. All the teams, possibly with the exception of the bottom 10, are way more competitive now compared to then.