Who's going to be Jimmie's biggest rival next year?

buckaroo

buckaroo

Here kitty, kitty, kitty
Joined
Nov 14, 2002
Messages
10,767
Points
513
Location
Winston Salem, NC
I'm sure Jimmie will head into next season as the driver to beat and with good reason. But who will be his biggest rival? Will they continue on from the end of this season? Very seldom as one season been a carry over from the previous season. Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin have been the bride" maid the last five years. The year after Matt finished 2nd, he finished lower...4th while Jeff Gordon finished 2nd. The following year Jeff finished lower...7th while Carl Edwards finished 2nd. The following year Carl finished lower...11th while Mark Martin finished 2nd. The following year Mark finished out of the chase...13th and Denny Hamlin finished 2nd.

Interesting fact. Jimmie has only finished the season once out of the top five and that year he drove in 3 races. The following year as a rookie, he placed 5th. He has another 5th and two 2nd to go along with his five titles. He's amazing.
 
Honestly I'd see Carl Edwards as being Johnson's rival in 2011. I'm still not sure about Hamlin.
 
I think its going to be Harvick. I think hes going to be real hungry for a championship next year because of what happened.
 
There's at least one driver that could actually give Johnson a run and if he evers grows up - look out!
 
#17D500winner said:
There's at least one driver that could actually give Johnson a run and if he evers grows up - look out!
Click to expand...

IF he grows up. Seems like the drivers who were in The Chase this year thought they were on the set of WWE instead of NASCAR. Maybe if they'd put a stop to the melodramatic bull****, they'd actually win Championships. But I guess they are giving the fans what they want. Wrasslin' at 200mph. :rolleyes:
 
wilson89 said:
Kyle Busch. If he can remain calm (I know im asking alot here :p) he would definitly be Jimmie biggest challenge.
Click to expand...
without a doubt my pick also IF he can contain his temper on the track. no problem with what he does off the track.
 
I am a big Kyle Bush fan, and I don't see him contending. In order to be NASCAR champion, you have to be boring. You must consider the first 26 races to be little more than extended testing sessions for the "real" season (the chase races).

Kyle cares too much about winning races to be a Champ.
 
All depends on who gets the handle on the new COT first.
Edwards with the new furd engine finished strong, can't say the same for the rest of roush crew. Not going to count out RCR with Happy,Burton and Boyer.
Shrub and hambone aren't mature enough to run for and become champ.
Hendrick,,,,I don't think having a champ win 5 straight does the sport any good. Too many conspiracy theories. 6 straight will drive all but 48 fans, away.

Wild card is Penske.
 
Over the last few years we have saw several folks come up and challenge Johnson, Edwards, Gordon, Martin, Hamlin and Harvick are all guys who have put pressure on the 48 team. However, most of these guys can not sustain into the next year the way the 48 team does. (Obviously we will have to see about Harvick and Hamlin) but I think they will follow the same path as the others.

There are several people I think have what it takes to challenge Johnson. Kyle Busch I think tops the list in a lot of ways. If Kyle can control himself and pulll it together in the Cup series the way he does in the Truck and Nationwide series, he would be able to top the 48 I think.

People will say I am being biased here but I still say that Gordon could do it, IF, (and it is a bigeif) he and his team could pull their act together. He has one of the best pit crews out there, however, the cars they are brining to the track lost alot of speed over the course of the year. Jeff, also has to learn how to man double file restarts and to get more aggressive.

I think Harvick could also be a front runner. He showed this year that he has the consistency that it would take, he just needs to put together more wins in the middle of all the top 10 finishes.

Edwards also looked really strong at the end of this year. If that carries into next year,look out!

Overall I think there are guys out there that could get the job done. They all have suffered from different problems that have cost them in the past. I think next year could be really interesting to say the least.
 
The way to beat Johnson is to ensure he doesn't make the top 12, after 26.
Lock him out, and there will be a new champ. Let him in, and it'll be another rerun.
 
wilson89 said:
Kyle Busch. If he can remain calm (I know im asking alot here :p) he would definitly be Jimmie biggest challenge.
Click to expand...

Lagono will win at Gibbs before Busch does.

Hamlin and Edwards will battle each other next year. No way JJ wins 6 in row...
 
Gordon_Fan24 said:
People will say I am being biased here but I still say that Gordon could do it, IF, (and it is a bigeif) he and his team could pull their act together. He has one of the best pit crews out there, however, the cars they are brining to the track lost alot of speed over the course of the year. Jeff, also has to learn how to man double file restarts and to get more aggressive.
Click to expand...

I think if Gordon can get an early win and basically get that monkey off his back that he could go on a real roll. Its certainly starting to get to him that he hasn't won in awhile.
 
I think Knauss will take all the key players from the rest of the Hendrick teams and keep them out of contention. Wonder who will set at the big table at Vegas, the pit crew that got Johnson to the front all year and botched a few pit stops or the Gordons crew that botched the pit stops in the last race.
 
dirtguru said:
I think Knauss will take all the key players from the rest of the Hendrick teams and keep them out of contention. Wonder who will set at the big table at Vegas, the pit crew that got Johnson to the front all year and botched a few pit stops or the Gordons crew that botched the pit stops in the last race.
Click to expand...

Here's who will sit at the "big table:" Car owner, driver and crew cheif. Crews all sit up in the balcony.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom