One for the Record Books

Team 48’s incredible fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship is the most talked about title in the history of the sport.  Racing legends, business leaders and the top analysts in the sport weigh in on what it means to win four in a row.

“It’s awful tough to do. It’s tough to win three and tougher to win four,” said Cale Yarborough, three-time consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion and Johnson’s childhood racing hero. “You’ve got realize he won his under a different format than I did. He deserves it. He’s a great racecar driver and has a great team behind him.  I’m sure he’s going to break some more records down the road.  If they keep going like they’re going there’s a good possibility.  He could very well win five or six in a row.”

Four-time champion Jeff Gordon, who also is Jimmie Johnson’s team owner, was amazed by the feat. "I never ever thought I'd see it done, to be honest with you,” Gordon said. “I think it's absolutely incredible and I think it's something that I don't know if I'll see in my lifetime ever happening again. But they've shown that it's possible and they've also shown just how good they are and that's why they're where they're at. It's quite a feat."

Hendrick teammate Mark Martin was Johnson’s closest competition in the race for the title.

“We made history in multiple ways tonight at Hendrick Motorsports, and for me it's just incredible, just incredible to have had a chance at it,” said Martin. “We were the only team in the garage that had earned a chance in the last race at it, and that's quite an accomplishment. I wanted to see him and Chad and all those guys who did a superior job. It's incredible. What they've done is incredible.  Ask anybody trying to beat them.”

For Bobby Allison, who set his own record as the oldest NASCAR champion in 1983, is in awe of the accomplishment.

“Three in a row was ridiculous, but four in a row? Competition is so good that nobody should get three in a row,” Allison offered. “Cale shouldn’t have gotten it with Junior Johnson and Jimmie sure shouldn’t have gotten it with Hendrick, but he did. Then to come on and get a fourth in a row, it’s phenomenal.”

The King, seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty, said Jimmie is head and shoulders above his competition. “All of us played our game in our time,” said Petty, whose 200 victories still hold the record for most wins. “Jimmie is playing his game in his time against his competition. Right now he is head and shoulders above the competition. Just like Earnhardt came through, he was above the competition. Jeff Gordon has been there. Darrell Waltrip. When Yarborough won he was a notch above. That’s where Jimmie is now. He just happened to put it in four years together instead of like Earnhardt and I did, you win two years, have a bad year and win two more.  Jimmie’s luck and fate and stuff is he didn’t have more of the deals like he did at Texas.  Every time they played a card it was the right card. Like sitting down and playing poker.”

Johnson’s sponsor also shared their pride in the moment.

"It's an incredible honor to be a part of this historical moment, said Robert Niblock, chairman and CEO, Lowe’s Home Improvement.  “Lowe's could not be more proud of Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus and all of the No. 48 Lowe's team. What they have achieved is a testament to their hard work, unwavering commitment and will to win. Jimmie is truly a champion of this sport."

Mike Joy, NASCAR Analyst for Fox/Speed, weighed in what history like this means to the media. “The success of Jimmie, Chad and Rick is going to be viewed as one of the greatest team accomplishments NASCAR's 60 year history,” said Joy. “While four straight championships is unprecedented, what the Lowe's Chevrolet team has done in today's ultra-competitive closely regulated environment is remarkable.   “Further, this four-peat required Jimmie's mastery of two very different chassis platforms, the traditional Monte Carlo and the ‘Car of Tomorrow’ Impala.  This transition continues to baffle several top drivers and teams, but Jimmie has adapted and thrived with the new car, and Chad continues to be the brightest mind on pit road. Is Jimmie Johnson NASCAR's Driver of the Decade?  Without a doubt.”

Ray Evernham said that Team 48’s performance continues to set new standards for the sport.

“These guys continue to raise the bar,” noted Evernham.  “They continue to raise their own bar. Every time somebody gets close to them they step up. I don’t know that I can put that in perspective because I don’t think we’ve seen anything like this in NASCAR.”

Awesome Bill Elliott credited Johnson as an awesome driver for repeating the feat four times.

“He’s in such a different class than everybody else. It’s like David and Goliath,” said Elliott, the 1988 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion. “He’s up there with Richard Petty and David Pearson and Dale Earnhardt. There’s no doubt that he has definitely earned himself a mark. I just won one championship. To come back and win four in a row, that says a lot for everything involved and everybody that is involved with you.”

Team owner Richard Childress, who won six championships with Dale Earnhardt, said the fourth title is the stuff dreams are make of.

“He’s just making history,” said Childress. “It speaks for that whole organization. They’re really strong and Jimmie knows how to tighten down when it comes to the championship.  The fourth consecutive title has to rank right at the very top. It’s just unheard of. Nobody ever dreamed of that.”

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., said Johnson is one of the best drivers the sport has ever seen.

“You’ve got to put Jimmie up there in the top of our sport,” offered Earnhardt. “He was kind of already there. This definitely cements him as one of the best drivers that this sport has seen.  You’ve got to give Jimmie his credit. He really has earned the respect that we should give him. He’s a helluva person. He doesn’t cause any trouble. He’s not too vanilla. If you get to know Jimmie you understand he’s the guy. He’s got a great personality. He doesn’t cause any trouble. He’s great for representing the sport. I hope that this championship and his deal with HBO will get him to a new level in the public eye in a way of how people look at Jimmie as a racecar driver, how he stacks up to all the other greats in the sport.  Four in a row, man. Why can’t they go for five? That team is that good.”