View How Good is Jimmie Johnson
Hail to the Champion! Hail Yes!
How Good is Jimmie Johnson?
By Gregg Leary
Category:NASCAR -> Sprint Cup
Much has been written about Jimmie Johnson tying Cale Yarborough’s “Three Peat” of NASCAR Cup Championships. Jimmie topped the triple thirty years after Cale did the deed. But Johnson nearly won four of the last five Championships. Had he won the Homestead finale in 2004 instead of finishing second, he would have won the Title. In 2003 JJ was also runner up in points. Had he finished only one position better in each race of the 2003 season he would have been Champ. In seven full seasons, Johnson has won three Titles, been runner-up twice and finished fifth on two occasions. How does he stack up with the other greats in the sport who have won three or more titles in a similar time frame?
Dale Earnhardt won four Championships in five years from 1990-94 finishing with 7 Titles. Richard Petty won 4 of 5 Titles from 1971-75 ending his career with 7 Crowns. Jeff Gordon captured 4 Championships in 7 years from 1995-2001. David Pearson won 3 Championships from 1966-69. Darrell Waltrip nailed a trio of Titles from 1981-85. Lee Petty won 3 Titles from 1954-59. That’s the “short list” of NASCAR legends who have won three or more Cup Championships.
Richard Petty: 7
Dale Earnhardt: 7
Jeff Gordon: 4
Jimmie Johnson: 3
Cale Yarborough: 3
Darrell Waltrip: 3
David Pearson 3
Lee Petty : 3
What’s frightening is that Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are the only active drivers on the list and both drive for the powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports, so more Championships seem very likely.
So how good is Jimmie?
Winning % of 15.7% is best of Active Drivers. (8th All Time.)
Average Finish of 11.7 is best of Active Drivers. (15th All Time.)
Top Five % of 40% is second to Jeff Gordon’s 45% among Active Drivers. (20th All Time.)
Top Ten % of 61% is second to Jeff Gordon’s 62% among Active Drivers. (13th All Time.)
3 Championships ties him for 4th All Time.
40 Wins are 15th All Time. (3rd among Active Drivers, behind Jeff Gordon’s 81 and Bill Elliott’s 44.)
Only 28 drivers have won one or more NASCAR Cup Championships. Only 15 Drivers have won more than one title. Only 8 have won three or more. Jimmie joins that Elite Eight.
What ifs?
If Jimmie started as many races as Richard Petty (1,184), Jimmie would have 185 wins.
If Jimmie’s Career were as long as Richard Petty’s (35 years), Jimmie COULD win 15 Championships. (JJ has won 3 Titles in 7 full seasons.) Johnson has enjoyed so many highs in his career. The only “Lowe” is the sponsor on his car. (Thanks to Racing-Reference for their invaluable stats.)