No. 48 driver would join NASCAR’s elite with a ‘Monster Mile’ victory
DOVER, Del. – With six NASCAR Sprint Cup championships and 73 race victories Jimmie Johnson is the most decorated driver of his era. And yet this Sunday, he still stands to elevate his legacy and join the sport’s greats in another milestone.
Should Johnson, 39, drive his No. 48 Lowe’s Pro Services Chevrolet into Dover International Speedway‘s Victory Lane in Sunday’s FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks, it would he his 10th win at the famed and feared Monster Mile, putting him in elite “double-digit” company.
The last person to win 10 races at a single track was the late seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt at Talladega in 2000.
Only three others have accomplished the feat – NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty (at Daytona; Richmond; Rockingham, North Carolina; Martinsville, Virginia; and North Wilkesboro, North Carolina), Darrell Waltrip (Bristol, Tennessee; Martinsville; and North Wilkesboro) and David Pearson (Darlington, South Carolina).
And if that weren’t impressive enough, Johnson is only 24 laps shy of leading 3,000 laps at Dover. Should he break that threshold he would be one of only seven drivers in history to lead 3,000 miles at a single track. His Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon is the only other active driver to hit that mark (at Martinsville).
In winning this race last year, Johnson led a dominant 272 laps.
“It’s crazy for me to have this reality,” said Johnson, who will start 14th Sunday. “It’s nothing that I thought would happen. I’m certainly enjoying the moment while I’m here.”
Beyond the status in the history books, Johnson has often expressed how genuinely honored he is to have his name alongside the NASCAR legends. He has always spoken reverently about the drivers who came before him and even after all he’s accomplished Johnson still seems to be the one humbled by the company he’s keeping.
“If I was able to accomplish it, I’d just be honored to be in that same situation that had been done by Dale Earnhardt Sr.,” Johnson said. “I never had the chance to race against him. It’s one big empty void that I have in my career. I feel is that I never had a chance to be crashed by him or have a tire mark put on my car, to pass (laughing) or to be passed. That whole experience, I didn’t have that opportunity and I so wish that I did.”
Johnson’s success at the notoriously challenging Dover one-mile concrete oval is especially impressive. The track is nicknamed the”Monster Mile” for a reason – tight, high-banked and physically demanding. There is little room for error on track or on pit road.
And yet Johnson has been good here since day one. Literally.
In his 2002 rookie year, Johnson swept both Cup races. And he has shown a propensity to get on a roll. He’s won back-to-back races three times. He swept the 2009 races at Dover and has won two of the last three here, finishing third to teammate Gordon last fall.
“I go all the way back to my first trip here in an ASA (American Speed Association) car and it was love at first site,” said Johnson, who won the pole and finished eighth in his very first Dover race in 1999.
So why has Johnson been able to master the Monster that has challenged so many others? Interestingly, it’s the difficulty that intrigues Johnson, not that the track is necessarily easy for him.
“I guess to generalize it, it would be the intensity required to run a lap here,” Johnson said. “It’s hard to say that there is one aspect that I enjoy the most, but just the set of corners from straightaway to straightaway. You kind of work up your bravery, you make it through the corner.
“You get it on the next straightaway and you smile like, ‘wow that was pretty cool. I’m going to do it again. Here we go.’ And you fly though turns three and four and you just end up with that mindset around the track. It’s tons of fun.”
Nine trophies no doubt make it more fun.
“There are a few tracks where I’m in a really neat position to chase history,” Johnson said. “Again, it’s not a situation I ever thought I’d find myself in, but now that I’m here it’s certainly in front me.
“It’s on my mind and it’s something I would love to do.”
