October 17, 2011
By Matthew Pizzolato
Matthew Pizzolato
|
During the past half-decade of utter dominance by Jimmie Johnson, some fans have hoped and prayed for a new champion, any champion besides Jimmie Johnson. At first, fans disliked Johnson because they couldn't identify with him.
He's always been cool and composed and rarely displays any emotion. He's been called Superman because of what he's accomplished. Winning five consecutive championships is certainly a superhuman feat. Yet his detractors claimed that he was ruining the sport by dominating it so completely.
Johnson started this year's Chase in a completely different fashion. He posted a couple of poor results that had many people completely writing off his chances. Fans rejoiced because they figured there would finally be a new champion.
Johnson, however, had different ideas. He finished second at Dover and won at Kansas. All of a sudden, he was back in the Championship hunt. It was good for Johnson's next championship, but bad for all the other drivers.
Even Johnson realizes what effect his presence at the front of the field has on his fellow competitors.
"Boy, when we, I don’t know what year it was, but, the year we raced with Carl (Edwards), we finished second at Atlanta, I know in Victory Lane it was told that we finished second and you could tell that shocked him and got to him a little bit," Johnson was quoted as saying in a press conference at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "I think racing with Jeff (Gordon), we won like four or five races in that Chase. We won at Phoenix and he came into Victory Lane with a white towel waving it.
"There are some small moments there that we’ve been able to see it, but it has been after linking together just run after run. So, I don’t know if we have that fortune now. But, if we keep doing what we have over the last two weeks, we might be able to get some of that."
He knows he's not quite at that point during this year's Chase but looks forward to getting there.
"I'm excited. I feel that we're where we need to be. We're in a groove of sorts, but this year it's been tough to stay consistent, not only for ourselves but for all the drivers, and I think it's going to make for an exciting Chase as we go here, and that's why you can't pick a favorite at this point," Johnson said during a NASCAR cam video teleconference. "We're going to have to get three or four more races behind us to kind of see the picture who's going to be racing for the championship."
Recently however, the number of Johnson detractors seems to be shrinking. People aren't as vocal about wanting a new champion.
Are people finally realizing that they are watching history in the making? Or are fans finally able to identify with Johnson? He's been involved in a bit of a feud with Kurt Busch and made his displeasure known on the track, something that he rarely does. He has a Twitter account with over 90,000 followers where his fans can converse with him.
Added to his list of his accomplishments is another impressive feat that only Jeff Gordon has achieved. His win at Kansas was the 20th top-10 finish of the season, making 2011 the tenth consecutive year with at least 20 top-10s. Johnson has been consistent since he started racing in NASCAR's premier division. Winning five championships in a row is simply a byproduct of that consistency and certainly no fluke.
Until another driver is good enough to step up and out race Johnson on the track, there's no limit to the number of championships that he can win. He could very easily bypass the two greatest drivers in NASCAR history, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, who have seven titles a piece.
This weekend at Charlotte, Johnson suffered a very hard crash in the closing laps of the race. With five races remaining, he finds himself in an unfamiliar position, struggling to make up points to claim a title. Usually by now, Johnson has started to build up a lead in the points.
Johnson has already proven this year that its too early to count him out of the Championship. If any driver and team can still win a title, it would be the 48 team. They call him Superman for a reason.
If you would like to learn more about Matthew, please check out his web site at matthew-pizzolato.com.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
You can contact Matthew Pizzolato at ..