Remarkable Johnson voted NASCAR Driver of Year

NASCAR.COM staff members have chosen their driver of the year for the three national series and now make their choice known for NASCAR Driver of the Year:

Driver of the Year

NASCAR.COM staff votes

	Kyle Busch	Jimmie Johnson
Mark Aumann		x
Jarrod Breeze		x
David Caraviello		x
Duane Cross		x
Bill Kimm	x
Joe Menzer	x
Dave Rodman		x
Chris Stanfield		x
TOTAL	2	6

Voices of Dissent

Bill Kimm on Kyle Busch

Jimmie Johnson and his historic fourth consecutive championship is phenomenal, but this is the NASCAR Driver of the Year and Johnson wasn't the driver we talked about week in and week out. That honor belongs to Kyle Busch, who dominated the Truck and Nationwide series and held his own in a down year on the Cup circuit. Let's start with the Truck Series, where in 15 starts Busch went to Victory Lane seven times. He had 11 top-fives in those starts and led at least 10 laps in all but one race. The Nationwide Series was Busch's playground in '09 with nine wins and records for second-place finishes, laps led, consecutive top-two finishes and most points scored in a season en route to his first national championship. Yes, his Cup effort fell short by missing the Chase for the first time in his career, but he still had four wins -- tied for third-most on the year. On top of all that, Busch became the first driver to win two national series races on the same day in February at Fontana. The bottom line is this -- one driver made headlines each and every week and his name wasn't Jimmie Johnson, it was Kyle Busch.

Joe Menzer on Kyle Busch

No offense intended to Jimmie Johnson, who won an unprecedented fourth consecutive Cup championship in the hardest of NASCAR's three national touring series -- but the overall Driver of the Year award in NASCAR has to go to Kyle Busch. While it's true we'll never know what Johnson or anyone else might have been able to do if they had attempted Busch's ambitious schedule, the fact that he was able to win 20 races in the three series combined trumps the disappointment he had to endure by narrowly missing the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Busch still registered four Cup victories to go along with a series-high seven in just 15 Camping World Truck Series starts and a series-high nine while capturing the Nationwide Series title. That's two years in a row when he's been able to top the 20-win mark overall, a truly remarkable achievement. This year he was able to capture just as many championships as Johnson while winning 13 more races, giving Busch the edge for NASCAR's overall Driver of the Year honors by more than a few car lengths.

Mark Aumann
With all respect to Kyle Busch and his 20 victories covering three series, Jimmie Johnson is still the man. Say what you want about driving for Rick Hendrick's "evil empire," how much of a factor Chad Knaus adds to the equation and how the Chase format (which I personally still despise) has played to his strengths, Johnson has four very large silver bowls in his possession, all with his name engraved as NASCAR champion. Only three other men in the 60-year history of NASCAR can claim to have won at least four Cup championships: Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon. Think about that for just a moment. We're talking three of the greatest drivers ever, and Johnson -- who just turned 34 -- definitely deserves to be a part of that conversation.

Jarrod Breeze
Kyle Busch did some remarkable things this year, most notably in the Nationwide and Truck series. Fiftysomethings Ron Hornaday and Mark Martin pooh-poohed the age thing. Tony Stewart was successful as an owner/driver. Did you know Jeff Gordon led the Cup Series with 25 top-10s and tied for most top-fives with 16? But at the end of the day, at the end of the season, the thing in NASCAR that matters most is the Cup championship. And that title belongs to Jimmie Johnson, the face of NASCAR in 2009. End of discussion.

David Caraviello
Could it really be anyone else? There were other drivers who won more races (Kyle Busch, 20 total in NASCAR's three national series combined) and were more dominant over the competition (Ron Hornaday, who clinched the Camping World Truck title a week early). But there's only one man in NASCAR's long history to win four consecutive championships in the sport's premier series, and that's the once-unassuming native of El Cajon., Calif., who turns into an unstoppable force once he slides behind the wheel of that No. 48 car. Is it the vehicle? The schedule? The Chase? The tactics of crew chief Chad Knaus? The means of owner Rick Hendrick? Who cares. The man who puts it all together is Johnson, who with every passing season further cements his legacy as the greatest driver of his era, an unflappable and near-flawless Roger Federer of the race track. Appreciate him while you can, people. Jimmie Johnson won't drive forever. And drivers of his kind don't come around every day.

Duane Cross
This was a tough decision. I can easily make the case for Kyle Busch; he's the epitome of what so many fans want their favorite driver to be -- but isn't. However, at the end of the year it was Jimmie Johnson who had withstood not only the season-long pressure of trying to become the only driver to win four consecutive Cup Series championships, but he also -- again -- withstood the 10-race pressure cooker that is the Chase. Like it or not, the Chase brings out the best in this driver, and we've never seen anything like Johnson when the pressure is on.

Dave Rodman
Absolutely, positively, definitely there is no other choice but Jimmie Johnson for the NASCAR Driver of the Year for 2009. Johnson has set himself up as a near-lock for driver of the decade as he's won four consecutive Cup championships. And as he continues to march toward 50 career wins in only eight seasons, he's certainly making a mark as one of NASCAR's all-time greats. No matter what detriments have struck him or his team -- physical injuries, wrecks, mechanical failures, personnel suspensions or personal losses -- Johnson and his team have stayed the course and continued to produce at an alarmingly successful rate. And through it all, Johnson retains a pricelessly even, measured demeanor.

Chris Stanfield
At the highest level, against the greatest drivers and with the highest stakes, Jimmie Johnson continued his unprecedented run and claimed a fourth consecutive Cup championship. Many drivers across all three major series had some success this season, but none more than Johnson. It's one thing to win when things are easy, but to overcome adversity [like wrecking early at Texas and working as a team to salvage the race] and maintain consistency throughout a long and grueling season makes this choice a no-brainer.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

Staff writer Raygan Swan is on maternity leave and did not participate in the voting.

Driver of the Year
• Truck Series | Nationwide Series | Cup Series