This is an update to:
Unless Jimmie Johnson Stops Being Jimmie Johnson, The NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase Will Remain Boring
You know by now that Cale Yarborough is the only NASCAR driver in history to win three consecutive Cup titles. He did it in 1976, 1977 and 1978. That means that the two greatest drivers in NASCAR history - Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt - may have won seven titles apiece but could never string together three in a row.
It’s a given that to win two titles in a row it takes an incredible driver coupled with a great crew chief and a team owner with great vision. It takes a chemistry that can survive a wide variety of obstacles ranging from losing team members to overcoming NASCAR’s ever-changing rules. That was true of the other six drivers and teams that have won back-to-back titles.
To win three, however, requires entering an almost supernatural state. To win three requires all of the above plus a twilight zone venture into a realm where a driver and team go three seasons somehow dodging all of the things that can cripple a team during an incredibly long 108-race period.
Johnson appears to be the gifted one in that respect. For three seasons now fans have witnessed Johnson’s uncanny ability to avoid the pitfalls that sideline so many other drivers.
Want proof? Watch the replay of the final big wreck at Talladega a few weeks ago. There is Johnson with cars wrecking in front of him and both sides. Houdini couldn’t have gotten out of that. Johnson emerged without a scratch.
Johnson is on the brink of an incredible feat in sports history. If he pulls it off it will be a combination of many things, not the least of which will be incredible luck.
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