Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Ron Hornaday have been selected as NASCAR.COM's inaugural driver of the decade for the Cup, Nationwide and Truck series.

In a decade defined by the death of Dale Earnhardt on Feb. 18, 2001, the past 10 years have been as a "traumatic transformation from a series seen as lacking in the safety arena to one that is now widely viewed as an industry leader," said David Caraviello, a senior writer for NASCAR.COM.
• Top stories of the decade closely defined by Dale

To bookend the decade, Johnson was named The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, a first for a race-car driver in the award's 78-year history.

Johnson's selection also validated the belief of Bill France Sr. that NASCAR drivers are indeed "athletes," an assertion the late NASCAR founder said was crucial in further developing the sport.

In a recent letter to Johnson, Jim France -- NASCAR vice chairman and executive vice president and Bill Sr.'s son -- said the recognition by the AP cemented the fact that drivers are athletes.

"Over 60 years ago, my father set out to make NASCAR part of the traditional American sports landscape," Jim France wrote. "He believed the recognition of drivers as athletes was a key element in validating motor racing as a legitimate sport.

"I have lived my entire life listening to cynics who have said that race drivers were not athletes," France added. "You have ended that debate. As my father knew from having been a race driver, race drivers are athletes, and now we have a race driver who is the 'Male Athlete of the Year.'

"So, thank you, Jimmie, for helping accomplish something that my father set out to do so long ago."

Johnson's rise in the Cup Series has coincided with Turner Sports overseeing NASCAR's interactive rights. Turner Sports became the exclusive producer of NASCAR.COM in January 2001. The official online destination of NASCAR, the site consistently ranks among the top three sport league sites on the Internet.

"As we look back on the decade, which was arguably one of the most exciting in NASCAR's history, it is clear that all three of these drivers accomplished amazing things on the track and deserve to be honored," said David Levy, president of ad sales, distribution and sports, Turner Broadcasting System Inc.

"To have achieved so much success during a period of great growth for their sport is a huge feat. Congratulations to each of them."

Sprint Cup Series
Jimmie Johnson led three of the four statistical categories used to help calculate the top drivers of the 2000s. To determine the award, drivers were ranked by winning percentage, percent of races with top-five and top-10 finishes and average finish.

Johnson

Championship seasons also were a factor. Each title-winning driver received five points for each championship.

During the decade, Johnson had the Cup Series' top winning percentage (.1615) and also led in top-10 percentage (.6186) as well as average finish (11.660). He was second in top-five percentage.

Johnson made his Cup Series debut on Oct. 7, 2001, at Charlotte, where he finished 39th. He finished fifth in points in 2002, his first full season, and recorded his first victory on April 28 at Fontana.

During the decade, Johnson totaled a series-best 47 wins and also had 117 top-five finishes and 180 top-10s in 291 starts. In eight full seasons he did not finish outside the top five in points.

Johnson ended the decade with a series-record four consecutive titles. He became only the fourth driver in NASCAR's top division to win at least four championships, joining Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon.

Nationwide Series
After the death of Dale Earnhardt on Feb. 18, 2001, Kevin Harvick took the wheel of RCR's No. 29 in the Cup Series but continued to compete full time in the then-Busch Series.

Harvick

In only his second full season, Harvick posted five wins and 24 top-10 finishes in 33 starts to capture his first NASCAR championship.

Harvick made his NASCAR debut in the Truck Series' Spears Manufacturing 200 on Oct. 15, 1995 at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif. He started and finished 27th.

His first stock car race was four years later -- the Busch Series' Kmart 200 on Oct. 23, 1999, at Rockingham, N.C. He started 24th and finished 42nd.

During the decade, Harvick won two championships -- 2001 and 2005 -- and led the series in wins (34), top-five finishes (120), top-10s (168) and average finish (8.711).

"Congratulations to Jimmie, Kevin and Ron for tremendous seasons and for being selected as the top drivers of the decade in their respective series," said Lenny Daniels, executive vice president, chief operating officer, Turner Sports.

"To be able to document this exciting decade for the sport on NASCAR.COM and on television is our honor and one we look forward to chronicling into the next decade."

Camping World Truck Series
Ron Hornaday has seen it all during his NASCAR career. He has run races in each of the three national series for at least 10 seasons. He's finished in the top five in points three times in the Nationwide Series. But nothing surpasses the success Hornaday has enjoyed in the Truck Series.

Hornaday

Hornaday won two series championships in the 1990s -- 1996 and 1998 -- and then moved to the Nationwide Series in 2000 and then full time in the Cup Series in 2001. He continued to race in the Nationwide Series from 2002-04 before returning to the Truck Series full time in '05.

He's been among the cream of the crop ever since, finishing fourth, seventh, first, second and first in points the past five seasons.

Despite making only three starts in the Truck Series from 2000-04, Hornaday still ranked among the series' elite for the decade:

• Series-best 20 wins;
• Sixth-most top-five finishes (58);
• Ninth-most top-10 finishes (86);
• Series-high 4,038 laps led.

Hornaday's fourth championship also ties him with Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson for the most all time in NASCAR's three national series.

"In a sport which has seen so many dramatic moments, outstanding performances and world-class athletes in the past ten years, it's hard to narrow the field to just one driver from each circuit. That said, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Ron Hornaday truly deserve the 'Driver of the Decade' distinction, as each of them consistently performed at the highest level while also embodying the characteristics of true sportsmen," said Matthew Hong, senior vice president and general manager of sports operations for Turner Sports.

"It was a pleasure to follow these three men as they represented the sport so well during this decade, and we're proud that NASCAR.COM was there every step of the way."