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fastfordfan
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I Don't Like Him But It's Time
I For One Can Never See This Equilled
For the first time in the eight seasons of Chase history, Jimmie Johnson will go to the final event of the year without a chance of winning the championship.
Just think about that for a second. For seven consecutive seasons, Johnson had a shot at winning the Sprint Cup title in the final race. And he won the last five of them.
Pick any sport and any champion (individual or team) of any era. Johnson's run ranks with the best of the best. It is long past time to give the man his due.
Even in defeat, Johnson went down swinging. He wasn't eliminated officially until his 14th-place finish Sunday at Phoenix.
"There's definitely disappointment," Johnson said Sunday after the race. "I think that will be the emotion I deal with first. We won't be able to go to Homestead and race for our sixth [consecutive title], but that's motorsports. It's a very tough business.
"Over the offseason, I'm sure it will kick in some and [I will] reflect. What we did over the last five years was absolutely spectacular."
His entire Cup career has been spectacular. Johnson has finished first or second in the standings in seven of his nine Cup seasons. He has finished in the top five in all nine and has a chance to continue that with a good finish Sunday at Homestead (4 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and WatchESPN).
Johnson is fifth in the Chase standings, two points ahead of Matt Kenseth and only 13 points behind third-place Kevin Harvick.
It's a decade of excellence that may never be equaled.
"I've got to thank Hendrick Motorsports, [crew chief] Chad Knaus and this whole race team for giving me everything they have these 10 years," Johnson said. "We're going to go to Homestead and try to have our best race down there that we can and finish as high as we can in the points.
"To a certain degree, being on top for as long as we have been takes a lot out of you. So this winter it will be nice to unplug and relax and really look internally and dissect the different areas of the race team and what we do and come back stronger. I've always learned more from tougher moments, but by no means is this a tough moment."
Consider this comparison. In his first 10 full seasons, Richard Petty won two Cup championships and had an average points position of 2.8.
If Johnson maintains his No. 5 position after the race this weekend, he will have five championships in 10 seasons and an average points position of 2.4.
Dale Earnhardt had three titles in his first 10 seasons and an average spot in the standings of 5.2. Jeff Gordon won all four of his championships in his first 10 seasons with an average points spot of 4.7.
By any standard of measurement, Johnson deserves mention with the all-time greats. For the first time in a long time, he will go to South Florida with only one concern -- trying to win the race. I wouldn't count him out.
"Yeah, I'll definitely have more fun and get a lot of sleep going in there," Johnson said. "I'll bet you the 99 [Carl Edwards] and the 14 [Tony Stewart] won't."
Edwards leads Stewart by three points in a Chase finale that NASCAR officials always wanted -- two of the biggest stars of the sport having to beat each other on the final day to win the title.
But before that happens, when Johnson walks on that stage for the prerace introductions, every person in the grandstands should stand, cheer and applaud with gusto. Being thankful to have witnessed such a phenomenal achievement.
"I haven't won two in a row, much less five," Stewart said Sunday about Johnson's championship run. "I don't see anybody doing it again. I think it's been absolutely remarkable.
"I know this year hasn't ended up the way he wanted. But Jimmie can go to Las Vegas [the season awards ceremony] and hold his head up high knowing what they've accomplished. There's a real good possibility in the history of the sport for eternity that it will never happen again."
As the saying goes, records are made to be broken. I'm betting Johnson's achievement is one of those rare exceptions.
It's time to give the man his due.
http://espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/notebook/_/page/MondayRundown/nascar-time-give-jimmie-johnson-due
I For One Can Never See This Equilled
For the first time in the eight seasons of Chase history, Jimmie Johnson will go to the final event of the year without a chance of winning the championship.
Just think about that for a second. For seven consecutive seasons, Johnson had a shot at winning the Sprint Cup title in the final race. And he won the last five of them.
Pick any sport and any champion (individual or team) of any era. Johnson's run ranks with the best of the best. It is long past time to give the man his due.
Even in defeat, Johnson went down swinging. He wasn't eliminated officially until his 14th-place finish Sunday at Phoenix.
"There's definitely disappointment," Johnson said Sunday after the race. "I think that will be the emotion I deal with first. We won't be able to go to Homestead and race for our sixth [consecutive title], but that's motorsports. It's a very tough business.
"Over the offseason, I'm sure it will kick in some and [I will] reflect. What we did over the last five years was absolutely spectacular."
His entire Cup career has been spectacular. Johnson has finished first or second in the standings in seven of his nine Cup seasons. He has finished in the top five in all nine and has a chance to continue that with a good finish Sunday at Homestead (4 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and WatchESPN).
Johnson is fifth in the Chase standings, two points ahead of Matt Kenseth and only 13 points behind third-place Kevin Harvick.
It's a decade of excellence that may never be equaled.
"I've got to thank Hendrick Motorsports, [crew chief] Chad Knaus and this whole race team for giving me everything they have these 10 years," Johnson said. "We're going to go to Homestead and try to have our best race down there that we can and finish as high as we can in the points.
"To a certain degree, being on top for as long as we have been takes a lot out of you. So this winter it will be nice to unplug and relax and really look internally and dissect the different areas of the race team and what we do and come back stronger. I've always learned more from tougher moments, but by no means is this a tough moment."
Consider this comparison. In his first 10 full seasons, Richard Petty won two Cup championships and had an average points position of 2.8.
If Johnson maintains his No. 5 position after the race this weekend, he will have five championships in 10 seasons and an average points position of 2.4.
Dale Earnhardt had three titles in his first 10 seasons and an average spot in the standings of 5.2. Jeff Gordon won all four of his championships in his first 10 seasons with an average points spot of 4.7.
By any standard of measurement, Johnson deserves mention with the all-time greats. For the first time in a long time, he will go to South Florida with only one concern -- trying to win the race. I wouldn't count him out.
"Yeah, I'll definitely have more fun and get a lot of sleep going in there," Johnson said. "I'll bet you the 99 [Carl Edwards] and the 14 [Tony Stewart] won't."
Edwards leads Stewart by three points in a Chase finale that NASCAR officials always wanted -- two of the biggest stars of the sport having to beat each other on the final day to win the title.
But before that happens, when Johnson walks on that stage for the prerace introductions, every person in the grandstands should stand, cheer and applaud with gusto. Being thankful to have witnessed such a phenomenal achievement.
"I haven't won two in a row, much less five," Stewart said Sunday about Johnson's championship run. "I don't see anybody doing it again. I think it's been absolutely remarkable.
"I know this year hasn't ended up the way he wanted. But Jimmie can go to Las Vegas [the season awards ceremony] and hold his head up high knowing what they've accomplished. There's a real good possibility in the history of the sport for eternity that it will never happen again."
As the saying goes, records are made to be broken. I'm betting Johnson's achievement is one of those rare exceptions.
It's time to give the man his due.
http://espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/notebook/_/page/MondayRundown/nascar-time-give-jimmie-johnson-due
