With seven Championship to his name, Jimmie Johnson has rightfully earned his place among the greatest Cup Series drivers.
He is frequently talked upon in the same bracket as Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Richard Petty. All three drivers have the same number of championships. However, as for the Hendrick Motorsports driver, he doesn’t see himself as great as the two drivers. He said:
“I spent some time studying up to this night and fortunately could find Dale Earnhardt’s acceptance speech. Dale Sr said, ‘I might have won as many championships as Richard Petty. But he will always be the king’. I completely agree and must say, I might have won as many championships as Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. But I will never be The King or The Intimidator.”
Whether he is the Greatest of All Time or not is up for debate but no active driver is close to the feat that he has achieved in his career.
Set to retire from full-time Cup racing after the 2020 finale at Phoenix Raceway, Johnson will always be fondly remembered as one of the greatest drivers in the sport.
[Read More: NASCAR legend disagrees with Erik Jones taking team orders to aid Denny Hamlin at Martinsville]
Giving all credit to Petty and Earnhardt, NEITHER of them could have won all they won in Jimmie Johnson’s era. For heavens sake, Richard Petty won at least ONE race Laps ahead of the competition. They had ice cream cones during a caution break. No way that could happen today. Same with Earnhardt. If he pulled the shit today as he did back then, he would have been black flagged. Jimmie did all he did without any shady business. Since my hubby was an Earnhardt fan and I was an Elliot fan, we had many discussions. But all in all, if Earnhardt (just like Logano and Keselowski) crashed opponents out, he would never have won> Bill Elliot won without doing such shit so his wins are a lot more deserved!
Love ya JJ
No one can never ever take away the fact you are the best at this sport. 7 champions 5 of those back to back and 83 wins. You were someone to watch. You’re hell of a driver!!
I agree, he is not in the same league as Richard Petty or Dale Earnhardt. He wouldn’t have won 7 Championships in the days that either Petty or Earnhardt won in. Earnhardt was the best driver to get behind the wheel. He could have won in any era. NASCAR isn’t the same sport as it once was and it’s because there are no more of The King or The Intimidator.
Each was great in their own way and excelled in the system in place. Dale was really good at the consistency system; Jimmie was really good at the Chase. It is safe to say that Jimmie wouldn’t have won 7 championships with the Winston format, and also safe to say that Dale wouldn’t have won 7 championships with the Chase/ Playoff format.
Go fast, turn left… the key to victories in nascar is who has the most money to put in to the car. This was reflected in the equipment. It remains so today. money spells wins. as one poster said, there is also the punk way (lagonno) to get there. Jimmy is a good driver that had the best equipment. The past two years have shown and proved that. take away the money and take away the wins… simple math.
Each was great in their own way and excelled in the system in place. Dale was really good at the consistency system; Jimmie was really good at the Chase. It is safe to say that Jimmie wouldn’t have won 7 championships with the Winston format, and also safe to say that Dale wouldn’t have won 7 championships with the Chase/ Playoff format.