No Asterisk For Jimmie Johnson, Just a Great Deal of Respect
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Right after Jimmie Johnson won his third consecutive Sprint Cup championship last year, I wrote a column asking a simple question:
In the minds of most fans, will Johnson forever have an asterisk behind his name because his three titles came in a format unlike that which guys like Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon all won championships in their own respective careers?
It was a very innocent question, but boy, did I ever hear from fans … or more specifically, Johnson fans. They took me to task for asking what I felt – and still feel – was a very legitimate question. Believe me, I had to look over my back for a few weeks afterward, just in case an over-zealous fan might want to disagree with me in-person.
Honestly, I didn’t mean any harm or umbrage against their favorite driver. It’s just that by winning three championships under the Chase format, one has to wonder how other drivers like the ones I just mentioned would have fared if there was a similar format during their prime racing years.
Could Petty or Earnhardt each have gone on to win, say, 10 or more titles if there was a format like the current Chase? Could Gordon have won seven titles, equaling Petty and Earnhardt’s career mark, by now if the Chase existed from his first full season in Cup racing in 1993?
After Sunday’s race, I’m not going to ask if Johnson’s name still needs an asterisk after it in the NASCAR history books once he wins his fourth title – provided he doesn’t wreck or suffer early mechanical failure.
No, I’m simply going to applaud Johnson, crew chief Chad Knaus and the rest of the No. 48 team for a job well done.
But one has to wonder if others will still want to see an asterisk behind Johnson’s name following his fourth straight title. And, what happens if he keeps things going and wins a fifth, sixth and even seventh title – or more, in a row? What happens if Jimmie becomes the most dominating driver in NASCAR history, thanks mostly to his uncanny ability in the 10-race Chase?
He certainly deserves the plaudits for finding a way to win the Chase year after year while other drivers can’t. And even though many have said at least some of those championships have been tainted by cheating or bending the rules by Knaus, the fact remains that JJ and CK won last year and will likely do so again this year with nary a hint of tainting or allegations of cheating.
Rather, they went out and proved you don’t have to cheat or, stretch the envelope or work in the gray area too much to win a championship.
And one other thing that most people haven’t even started talking about – or maybe haven’t even realized yet – is the fact that if he wins title No. 4 on Sunday, Johnson will tie Gordon for third on NASCAR’s all-time championship list.
That’s right, Petty and the late Earnhardt are at the top of the list with seven titles each, and then comes Gordon and Johnson, tied for third (if JJ clinches Sunday).
That’s stout, my friends, very, very stout.
But at the same time, is there really ever going to be a way that Johnson could erase any doubt about his place in NASCAR history as one of its all-time greats? Is there any way he can make people forget that he rises to his best in the Chase, using the first 26 races as simply warming up for yet another fantastic finish?
Sure there is, but JJ fans are not going to like my thought, just like they didn’t like it when I asked last year whether there should be an asterisk behind his name in the record book.
The only way Johnson will ever prove to the doubters that he’s a true champion, and not just someone who does his best in a 10-race format, is for NASCAR to simply take the format away completely – and then see how he fares.
That’s right, if NASCAR were to decide to eliminate the Chase in the next few years – and Johnson would continue to win championships and extend his current title streak – only then will the doubters and haters be able to see if Johnson truly is the champ that most of us already know he is.
Posted by on 11/18 at 11:34 PMJohnson would have won the championship under either system in ‘06. If necessary, he could have won it last year, too, when he would have “lost” to Carl by 16 points because he would have raced differently, and that’s the whole point. It’s impossible to judge and completely unfair to even suggest an asterisk. Perhaps it’s all the champions who have come before who should have the asterisk because they won their championships in formats that weren’t nearly as difficult.
I’d love for them to take away the Chase and have the 48 team wrap it up much earlier in the season - which they undoubtedly could. They’re the best in the final 10 races because those are the races that matter. If you change that, you’re crazy if you don’t believe they’d change their approach, too.
Jimmie would not have won the championship under the old system [facts are avaiable] and until NASCAR reloads the chase with a track from each category to make the chase better guys like JJ and crew chief are going to spend there time on the chase tracks and just enough the first twentysix to get in .after JJ it’ll be someone else.Its relly to the point now that just take the top 13 drivers and let them race ten times a year and one becomes winner until you change the tracks to include all the types JJ will still win
