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SPEED READS: Jimmie Johnson - A Desert Rat’s Race to NASCAR Stardom
Written by: Gregg Leary Charlotte, NC – 11/12/2007
Category:NASCAR -> Sprint Cup
Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are teammates at Hendrick Motorsports. Jeff gave Jimmie his big NASCAR break and owns the #48 car that Jimmie drives. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson sit one and two in points with four races left in the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup to decide the 2007 Champion. One might say that Jeff Gordon is the Mentor and Jimmie Johnson is the Protégé...the Master and the Student. One might be wrong!
They have raced each other 215 times in the Cup Series.
Jimmie has finished better than Jeff in 112 of those meetings. Jeff has been better in 103.
Jimmie has won 30 races. Jeff 23.
Jimmie has 130 Top Tens. Jeff 124.
Jimmie’s Average Finish is 12.1. Jeff’s is 13.2.
Since Jimmie started driving full time in the Cup Series in 2002 he has 1 Cup Championship. Jeff has none. Say What? Jimmie Johnson has somehow snuck in under the radar to be THE dominant driver in NASCAR today. I was shocked at the Gordon/Johnson stats. I HAD to read “Jimmie Johnson: A Desert Rat’s Race to NASCAR Stardom.” I HAD to learn where in the heck this guy came from. I’m glad I did.
“Jimmie Johnson” is an enlightening read with over 230 excellent photographs to supplement the 159 pages of text. The photographs anchor the book. The cover shot shows Jimmie looking contemplatively into the sunset perhaps thinking of his California roots…the frontispiece captures an intense “all business” JJ…and the title page shows Johnson, decked out in his driver’s suit relaxing on the track named for his sponsor…a track that he “owns’ with 5 wins. (4 straight in 2004-05).
Some interesting tidbits from the book:
Won the pole for the first race of his Rookie Cup Season… the Daytona 500.
Won his first race in his 13th Cup Start. (Jeff Gordon won in his 42nd…although Jeff won the non-points Twin 125 in only his 2nd start.)
Won 3 races in his Rookie Season. (Jeff Gordon won 0)
Jimmie began racing 50cc motocross at age 4.
(“I started in motocross but I had one too many broken bones. Dad was a mechanic on a buggy that raced in the Mickey Thompson Stadium Off-Road circuit and he got me into a class called Superlites.”)
At 15 he became the youngest driver in the history of the Mickey Thompson Stadium Off-Road Series, racing a 1,600 cc buggy.
At 16 he ran Grand National Trucks. He caught GM’s global racing boss Herb Fishel’s eye and onboard the Chevy factory team won three straight Mickey Thompson Stadium Off-Road titles from 1992-94.
SCORE (Short –Course Off-Road Enthusiasts) Champion 1994
SODA (Short-Course Off-Road Drivers Association) Winter Series Champion 1996-97
ASA 1997-99 (2 Wins in 1999…Memphis, Orange Co. NC)
Busch (1999-2001) (1 Win in 69 Starts…Chicagoland 2001) Tony Stewart won NO Busch races then became a star in Cup with 2 Championships.
Jimmie took pr and public speaking courses and was TV analyst for the SODA Series.
“In the Baja 1000 in 1995 or 1996…I’m charging hard, I’d been driving for 20 hours and hadn’t slept…I dozed off…I plowed through everything…there was a rock the size of a Volkswagen…I hit the rock and flipped and flipped…there were about a hundred Mexicans at the bottom of the wash, with bonfires and their wives watching the race. A lot of times the people who watch the race like that go out and pull markers down and wait to see a crash. They got to see their crash. I spent two days with them until my crew found me.”
“Ever since then, I’ve been really careful not to tear up my equipment.”
“I really started reflecting on my style…in two more years of off-road I never had the truck upside down again.”
“I try to race with my brain instead of my feet. I tore up a lot of off-road equipment because I was young and wide open. I hope I’ve gotten a lot of that out of my system. I seem to have more control now.”
As a kid Jimmie seriously considered a career in Indy cars.
He was a big fan of Cale Yarborough, who was sponsored at the time by Hardees. “When we traveled and stopped at Hardees, I always expected Cale to be there, but he never was.”
“I think it’s easier for a dirt racer to go race on asphalt than it is the other way around.”
Johnson asked Jeff Gordon for advice before the Busch race at Michigan in August of 2000. (JJ finished sixth to Gordon’s 7th in the race.) JJ signed with Hendrick in September of 2000.
“The timing wasn’t exactly right for us, but we were so impressed with Jimmie we needed to get him before somebody else did. If you wait around when you see a guy who seems to have it all, the whole package, it’s too late.” Rick Hendrick
“I think Jimmie is one of the best, if not the best to come around in a long time.” Rick Hendrick
“I’m just getting all I can every day, every lap and so are Chad Knaus and the entire team. We have a great relationship, great equipment and great sponsors. You hear everyone saying that stuff, but it really is the truth. Our sport is about people. The top teams all have the same equipment. It’s all about people.” JJ
“Would I turn Jeff around to have a position or would I rough him up? No. He’s my teammate, but I’m going to race him as hard as I can.” JJ
“I’m just an average person who has a really cool job.” JJ
“Jimmie Johnson: A Desert Rat’s Race to NASCAR Stardom” is a fun read about the man who may win the 2007 Nextel Cup Championship. It rates 3 out of 5 lug nuts.
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