It is November 2010, NASCAR opened the Hall of Fame in May. The season just ended at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Jimmie Johnson just won his 5th NASCAR Cup Series Championship in a row. Johnson made NASCAR history and seemingly sealed his place in that Hall of Fame when his career ended.
In the first four years of Johnson's career he was already a contender for wins and championship. From his rookie season in 2002 through 2005 Johnson won at least three races every season, with a high of eight wins in 2004. In that four year stretch Johnson scored 18 wins, 53 top 5's and 86 top 10's.
While that four year stretch was great, it does not even compare to the run he had from 2006 through 2010. Johnson had the most dominant stretch in the modern era. Johnson won 35 races, and scored 81 top 5s, and 117 top 10s.
In 2006 Johnson rose from championship contender to NASCAR Cup Series Champion. Johnson started the era perfectly, winning the Daytona 500. His season would slow down for the next couple of races until the series came to Talladega, where he would score his second superspeedway win, and third of the season.
The season would be full of top 5s and top 10s, including an incredible drive to get his fourth win of the season when the series came to Indianapolis. He had a tire failure that almost destroyed his front left fender. It was one of many drives of determination to recover and score valuable points.
All through the season Johnson scored good points over his rivals, comfortably getting to the season finale. When the NASCAR Cup Series got to the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway a ninth place finish would clinch Johnson his first series championship.
As the calendar turned to 2007, NASCAR made slight changes to the Chase format, the field expanded from 10 to 12, and the drivers points would be even going into the Chase, and drivers were given 10 bonus points for each race won in the first 26 races.
Johnson came into the season looking to defend his championship and this season would be a season even more dominant. He would score an outstanding 10 wins, 20 top 5s, and 24 top 10s.
Johnson would hit his stride at just the right moment, as he would win the 4 races going into Homestead-Miami, finishing 7th at Homestead-Miami secured his second championship. He beat teammate Jeff Gordon, in a season that was the most dominant since Gordon's 1998 season, where Gordon won 13 races.
For the 2008 season Johnson could tie Cale Yarborough as the only drivers to win three NASCAR Cup Series Championships in a row. While 2008 was not as dominant as the previous season, Johnson won 7 races, scored 15 top 5s, and 22 top 10s. This year also saw him win his second Brickyard 400, and with only a 15th place finish, he would secure his third championship. Despite Carl Edwards winning more races and having more top 5's and top 10's, Johnson did what he had to do. Johnson secured the championship over Edwards, history was tied.
Entering the 2009 season Johnson had a shot to break the record he tied in the previous season.
This fourth championship season was one that was very similar to 2008, as he recorded 7 wins, 16 top 5s and 22 top 10s. This year he won his third Brickyard 400, and once again he won the penultimate race at Phoenix in the Chase. Johnson was able to secure yet another championship with a solid 5th place finish at Homestead-Miami.
When the calendar turned to 2010 people were wondering who would be able to stop Johnson. Johnson had the opportunity to rewrite the history books. If Johnson was to win a fifth championship he would have the third most in NASCAR Cup Series history, behind just Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty.
Early in the season it looked as if Johnson finally had a threat to him, Denny Hamlin. Hamlin was knocking off wins early in the season; it looked as if NASCAR found a new champion. During the Chase it looked as if it was going to be an intense battle between Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, and long shot Kevin Harvick.
The Chase is where the championship fully swung in Johnson's favor. Other than a twenty fifth place finish at New Hampshire, Johnson never finished lower than ninth. While Hamlin won two races, compared to none for Johnson, Hamlin had three finishes outside of the top 10, including the final two races.
He had done it, Johnson rewrote the history books. While the 2010 season had actually been his worst overall since 2006, Johnson stepped up when he needed to. He secured his fifth championship over Hamlin by 39 points, with Harvick a further two back.
This stretch of five seasons saw the incredible combination of Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus. It also saw the pair be incredibly good, and in some cases incredible luck. In racing, unlike many other sports luck plays a huge factor, whether that is avoiding a wreck or having an engine not fail.
At the end of the day he did it, through all the different challengers and championship formats Johnson made history. He became the first driver in NASCAR history to win five championships in a row, a feat that will likely never happen again thanks to the NASCAR Playoff system. He did it the year the NASCAR Hall of Fame opened and now 13 years later he and Chad Knaus, his championship crew chief, will enter the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2024.
No comments:
Post a Comment