Jimmie Johnson's Greatest Rival?

Jimmie Johnson's Greatest Rival

  • Jeff Gordon

    Votes: 8 42.1%

  • Kurt Busch

    Votes: 2 10.5%

  • Kyle Busch

    Votes: 4 21.1%

  • Other (Please Specify)

    Votes: 5 26.3%
  • Total voters
    19
Everyone needs a rival, because you need someone to beat.

Jimmie Johnson, "I dont think we'll see anyone win 85. I think he is fighting for sole possession of third forever".

Jimmie has 64 cup wins between 2002 and 2013. 11 years.

Jeff has 87 cup wins between 1994 and 2013. 19 years.

If JJ continues his current performance (and his crew stays up to snuff, this meaning Knaus stays with him his whole career) of dominating the sport, he may just blow by 85 wins well before he retires. Although performance varies with age, just ask Jeff Gordon. Very interesting to watch his career unfold.
 
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ChexOrWrex said:
Yeah, but he is driving the loose care between 15th and 20th. Jimmie will take a car that is on the verge of spinning out every corner and take it to victory lane. Anytime you hear of Gordon complaining of a "too loose" of a race car he is no where in contention for a win.
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JJ did did a nice job wrecking Chads primary car today in practice. :dunce:
 
Sidewayz said:
JJ did did a nice job wrecking Chads primary car today in practice. :dunce:
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Pffft, didn't ya hear? Chad obviously told Jimmie to wreck that car so that the cheated-up backup car could get onto the track with less inspection ;)
 
Regardless of what we think about a particular driver they are all human, I think we forget that Jimmie is too. I dont know if this fits the topic but I just can't think of a better place to paste it (the following paste came from one of the checkerd flag threads on this very website).


http://www.nascar.com/2002/news/headlines/...nson/index.html

A year later, Johnson still affected by Alexander
By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive October 10, 2002
3:47 PM EDT (1947 GMT)

CONCORD, N.C. -- It's always there, an abstract tribute to a fallen comrade drawn in black permanent marker.

If you look close enough, you'll see the handcrafted flame just under the driver's side headlight of every blue and silver Lowe's Chevrolet in the Hendrick Motorsports stable.

Jimmie Johnson will accept nothing less.

"It means a lot to me that Blaise has a presence on the front of my car," Johnson said of his dear friend Blaise Alexander, killed a year ago in the ARCA series race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

"That way, every time I cross the finish line, he'll always finish ahead of me."

For Johnson, that small banner of remembrance is as important as his HANS device, his seatbelts and his helmet. It's a visual safety net, a calming influence from a concerned co-pilot.

"I met Blaise when I moved to the North Carolina area," Johnson said. "It took a little while to get to know him. But once you spent some time and got to know him, you found he was such a neat person with a carefree spirit.

"Everyone liked him. I formed a friendship with him and his family and his brothers. There was some comfort with him. I enjoyed being around him. He was a lot of fun and I miss him dearly."

Alexander was battling Kerry Earnhardt door-to-door for the win and as the two drivers entered the double-dogleg on the final lap they touched, sending Alexander head-on into the outside wall and flipping Earnhardt over on his roof.

Alexander was killed on impact. He was just 25 years old.

A year later, the sting is still there. Every day. At every track. In every race. Alexander was Johnson's best friend, someone to lean on, a guaranteed laugh no matter the problem. He doesn't want to let that memory fade.

"Some days or weeks I think about him a lot more than others," Johnson said. "Sometimes, you just feel him there. In my house I still have pictures of him everywhere. So I see him every day. He's on my race cars, so I see him at the racetrack. It's comforting for me."

Acceptance hasn't come easily. Alexander's car wasn't outfitted with proper safety equipment. It had no head-and-neck restraint and a rickety seat. For Johnson, that was a huge wake-up call. Every driver took heed in the wake of Dale Earnhardt's passing. But for Johnson, Alexander's death had a more profound effect.

"When you lose somebody that close to you, it's a big reality check," he said. "I think the loss of (Dale) Earnhardt really woke everyone up. But still, when it doesn't hit close to home -- because I didn't know him -- it's different. But the next month, it was really hard on me."

The morning after Alexander's fatal accident, Johnson took the track in his NASCAR Busch Series machine. There was no hesitation, only grief. Each time he circled the track, he zoomed past the marks left on the wall from Alexander's impact. To carry on, he had to build a mental barricade.

"Going down the frontstretch and seeing his marks where he hit the wall and seeing where the car came to a stop in the grass was really tough the first couple of times through there," Johnson said.

"I found myself just blocking it out. Luckily, by race time I had been able to build a mental wall tall enough that I couldn't pay too much attention to it. I found my way through the weekend."

And he's managed to find his way through a year, arguably the greatest year of his life. He's enjoyed the best rookie season in Winston Cup history with three wins, five poles and for a time, the points lead.

No rookie had ever been the points leader before, and only one rookie, Tony Stewart, had ever won as many as three races in his inaugural campaign.

"I think about him all the time -- especially with how good we are running," Johnson said. "He would be loving every minute of it.

"As good of friends as we were, I remember how bad he always wanted to beat me on the racetrack. I've been very lucky throughout my career and he would always remind me of how lucky I was in certain situations. With that in mind, I've got him on the front of every single one of my race cars.

"There's a little thing (where) one of my friends at the shop writes in his name and puts some flames on it on the bumper of the car. Every time we're out there on the racetrack, he beats me across the finish line. It's kind of a little thing that ties it all together there."
Oct 10, 2002



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    CiggieGuest
    Does anyone have a picture of the 48 car w/ the Blaise decal on it? Such a fitting tribute. Hopefully Jimmie can win this weekend.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
Everyone needs a rival, because you need someone to beat.

Jimmie Johnson, "I dont think we'll see anyone win 85. I think he is fighting for sole possession of third forever".

Jimmie has 64 cup wins between 2002 and 2013. 11 years.

Jeff has 87 cup wins between 1994 and 2013. 19 years.

If JJ continues his current performance (and his crew stays up to snuff, this meaning Knaus stays with him his whole career) of dominating the sport, he may just blow by 85 wins well before he retires. Although performance varies with age, just ask Jeff Gordon. Very interesting to watch his career unfold.
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That's what we all said once upon a time about Gordon.

During the 90s there was no stopping him. When he won 10+ races in back to back years everyone thought he'd break David Pearson record in no time. 20 years later and Gordon has stalled out.

I think Jimmie breaks Gordon record and maybe, just maybe Pearson as well but we'll see. At some point he too will inevitably hit a wall.

The King said it best. No one stays on top forever in this sport.
 
last year and this year, Gordon hit the wall really hard. You come home, look at your family, got these aches and pains that aren't going away and subconsciously you don't want to hit the wall anymore. It gets harder and harder to drive on the edge. I watch a lot of young upstarts after they have a really bad crash, I'm watching Dillon and Larson. Larson had a bad one at Daytona pushing to win. He hasn't done that since, he is driving ok but he isn't pushing like he did at Daytona. I haven't seen Dillon have a bad one yet.
 
People always say how competitive this sport is and how it's harder to win now than ever, then I look at a team like JJ's or Kyle Busch's and I think "if they're calling it competitive now, I'd hate to have seen it 20-30 years ago". There's certain teams that are contending for wins every Sunday and have been for years, but the sport is supposed to be much harder to dominate now? Don't know which story to believe.
 
StandOnIt said:
last year and this year, Gordon hit the wall really hard. You come home, look at your family, got these aches and pains that aren't going away and subconsciously you don't want to hit the wall anymore. It gets harder and harder to drive on the edge. I watch a lot of young upstarts after they have a really bad crash, I'm watching Dillon and Larson. Larson had a bad one at Daytona pushing to win. He hasn't done that since, he is driving ok but he isn't pushing like he did at Daytona. I haven't seen Dillon have a bad one yet.
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my thoughts too. tho i think a single guy like larson still has that edge.
when ya got wife/kids......is when it gets mental....fear a' dyin hits home harder.
dw even mentioned that earlier this weekend.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
People always say how competitive this sport is and how it's harder to win now than ever, then I look at a team like JJ's or Kyle Busch's and I think "if they're calling it competitive now, I'd hate to have seen it 20-30 years ago". There's certain teams that are contending for wins every Sunday and have been for years, but the sport is supposed to be much harder to dominate now? Don't know which story to believe.
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30 years ago it wasn't uncommon for the winner to be a lap ahead, or two or three cars to be so. People squawk now days if the winner is a straight a way ahead.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
People always say how competitive this sport is and how it's harder to win now than ever, then I look at a team like JJ's or Kyle Busch's and I think "if they're calling it competitive now, I'd hate to have seen it 20-30 years ago". There's certain teams that are contending for wins every Sunday and have been for years, but the sport is supposed to be much harder to dominate now? Don't know which story to believe.
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Well Ive seen 70's and 80's drivers say it was easier back then because there were only 5-6 competitive teams that could win any week.. now theres about 25-30...
 
StandOnIt said:
30 years ago it wasn't uncommon for the winner to be a lap ahead, or two or three cars to be so. People squawk now days if the winner is a straight a way ahead.
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I wasn't alive for most of the decade, but I can't imagine the racing in the 70's was too thrilling. Looking back at the stats, you don't see many races where Petty, Pearson, Yarborough, or B. Allison was not the winner.

To anyone who thinks "the same drivers win every week" now, go back and look at the 1974 Winston Cup season. In a 30 race season that year, there were only 5 different winners: Petty and Yarborough won 10 races each, Pearson won 7, Bobby Allison won 2 and Earl Ross (who I'm not real familiar with) managed to get 1 win.
 
ToyYoda said:
I wasn't alive for most of the decade, but I can't imagine the racing in the 70's was too thrilling. Looking back at the stats, you don't see many races where Petty, Pearson, Yarborough, or B. Allison was not the winner.

To anyone who thinks "the same drivers win every week" now, go back and look at the 1974 Winston Cup season. In a 30 race season that year, there were only 5 different winners: Petty and Yarborough won 10 races each, Pearson won 7, Bobby Allison won 2 and Earl Ross (who I'm not real familiar with) managed to get 1 win.
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I guess you just had to be there. The field wasnt as tight for sure, the point system in those days was as much about sustaining car counts as crowning a champ.

But it was exciting, the cars were more crude, and watching a skilled driver manipulate them was a thing a beauty.
Driver input may have been more meaningful or core as well. No constant microphones and PR to distract. When you had a driver like Bobby Allison, you had a chassis expert an engine man as well as a great driver. When he drove for Penske he was also a teacher showing the Captain how to run Grand National cars . Petty also earned his first stripes setting up his dads cars.

So when I look at the 70s or 80s I see stronger drivers (note I am very sentimental, very nerd on what I think the facts were and full of shieet, so you mileage may vary).
 
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