NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship Weekend: Three takeaways
By Ted Fleming
1.Yes folks, Jimmie Johnson belongs with the legends
It didn’t take long for the haters to come out of the woodwork attempting to steal Jimmy Johnson’s thunder after he tied legends Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt with seven championships after the Ford EcoBoost 400 Sunday evening.
Petty and Earnhardt were very much involved in the day-to-day operations of their respective teams like engine building, car setups, etc. In today’s NASCAR, drivers take on a whole different set of responsibilities. To diminish what Johnson has accomplished because the sport is a very different than it was “back in the day” is not being fair.
Technology has taken over the sport and it would be hard to imagine drivers from 20 or more years ago having to deal with these advancements. The days of building what goes into a car then going out on the track to go fast are gone. Today it is all about going fast, for sure, but now it has become managing all that technology with track and racing conditions while still trying to finish first.
Johnson has won seven championships in seven different technologically built cars. He has adapted to each of the changes NASCAR has instituted better than anyone and that should be what defines his legacy.
He won five in a row which has never been done before. You have to go back to 1997-98 to find anyone who went back-to-back and that was Jeff Gordon. The last time someone did three consecutive? Cale Yarborough from 1976-78 and that was the era of build car, go fast.
Johnson deserves his place next to Petty and Earnhardt.