Three wins and a title short of Dale Sr., Jimmie on verge of milestones
Jimmie Johnson could wind up at the end of the 2015 season with two very noteworthy accomplishments in the world of stock car racing.
Neither is a given. In fact, a year from now we could be sitting here in front of our keyboards — or mobile devices, if you choose — pondering the same situation.
Yet with each passing week, the Hendrick Motorsports driver seems to inch closer to a level few have attained in NASCAR.
His latest victory, No. 73, came just this past weekend at Kansas Speedway.
Now eighth on NASCAR’s all-time win list, he’s long been ahead of NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace, who checked in at No. 9 with 55 career wins when he checked out back in 2005.
Just ahead, perhaps a straightaway in racing terminology, is Dale Earnhardt. The Intimidator. One of the greatest — some say THE greatest — racers the world of NASCAR has ever known.
Only three wins separate the two.
Three wins. Johnson already has three wins this year and the season’s less than one-third complete.
Johnson, 39, said earlier this year that catching Earnhardt hasn’t been on his mind. That was after he won at Atlanta, if memory serves, and only two races into the season few teams know which direction their year will go.
The picture seems much clearer today.
All three of the No. 48 team’s wins this year have come on 1.5-mile tracks — Atlanta, Texas and now Kansas. If you’re going to be tough to beat on one particular type of track, the mile-and-a-halves are a good choice. The series’ 36-race schedule is littered with them.
Charlotte’s up next and in case you were wondering, it’s a mile-and-a-half as well. Seven of Johnson’s 73 wins have come at CMS, and he’s the defending champion of the track’s annual Coca-Cola 600, scheduled for a week from Sunday.
Teammate Jeff Gordon matched Earnhardt’s victory total nearly a decade ago and then went sailing on ahead. A four-time champion with 92 career wins, Gordon has passed NASCAR Hall of Famers Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison in the years since. He’ll hang it up at year’s end and his final win total will be just that.
But success isn’t measured only in victories. Championships cement a driver’s status long after he’s gone.
It’s been that way for Richard Petty, the first to win seven titles, and for Earnhardt, the second.
Gordon notched four and seemed a sure bet to be the next, but then the Chase came along and while he’s been close (finishing second in ’07 and third in ’09), close doesn’t take home the trophy.
Johnson won two titles almost before folks knew he spelled his first name with an “ie.” All six of his championships have come under the Chase format (which debuted in ’04), and that’s a knock in some folks’ eyes.
It shouldn’t be. A driver and team have to be good enough through a 26-race stretch to qualify for the Chase, then better than anyone else in the final 10.
Everyone plays and through the course of the season the cream eventually rises to the top. More often than not, Johnson and the No. 48 group have done just that.
He could catch Earnhardt this year and not win the championship. He could win the championship and not catch Earnhardt.
He could do both or he could do neither.
But at the rate Johnson and his team are performing today, both are certainly possible.