October 20, 2008
By Matthew Pizzolato
Matthew Pizzolato
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By the end of the season, Jimmie Johnson will have accomplished something only one other man has done or will join the ranks of the many who have come agonizingly close.
Cale Yarborough is the only driver to have won three consecutive Cup championships, which he did from ’76 to ’78. A lot of NASCAR greats have won back-to-back championships: Richard Petty, David Pearson, Dale Earnhardt, and Jeff Gordon, just to name a few. Dale Earnhardt is the only driver to have won consecutive titles three separate times.
The Silver Fox David Pearson won three championships in the four seasons he ran a full schedule, competing on a part time basis most often, which has caused many to wonder what the record books would look like if Pearson had run more races. He finished 1-2 with Richard Petty 63 times, holding a slight edge with 33 victories to Petty’s 30. Pearson also had a slightly higher winning percentage than Petty based on the number of races he competed in.
Still, Pearson won 105 races during his career, second only to Richard Petty who won 200.
In a career that spanned four decades, Cale Yarborough won 83 races, placing him fifth on the all time win list. He won the Daytona 500 four times and the Southern 500 five times. Yarborough’s five consecutive wins in 1976 still stands as a single season record.
But with a certain amount of luck, Jimmie Johnson is in a position to immortalize himself and join the ranks of NASCAR’s elite by accomplishing something that not even Dale Earnhardt or Richard Petty could. Johnson wins races when they count the most and has an average finish of 2.7 over the last five races of the season during the last two years.
In a Nate Adams article on usatoday.com, Johnson said, "In the past I've really felt (the pressure). This year, though, I feel myself and this team is much stronger. We are really enjoying being a leader, and we have a lot of confidence we can win this championship.”
And many are already awarding the Championship to Johnson at this point in the season as they did to Kyle Busch earlier on, who won eight races but fizzled out when the Chase started. Johnson on the other hand peaked at the right moment.
However, Johnson does have a significant lead and barring some serious calamity in the remaining few races, should have the title wrapped up. His third consecutive championship has become his title to lose, and apparently Greg Biffle agrees.
"He's in the catbird seat," Biffle was quoted as saying in the same article.
There is no need to prematurely award Johnson the title, as there is still a lot of racing left before the final points are tallied and any number of things can happen.
But in order to gain any points on him, his competitors will need to finish ahead of Johnson in the upcoming races and Johnson needs to have a little bad luck. Something that is possible but unlikely given Johnson’s charmed life of late.
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