Somewhere in the future, race fans will sit back in an easy chair relating to a younger generation how they watched one of the best drivers in stock car history in action.
Today, the older generation talks about watching Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Sr., Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, Bobby Allison and Fireball Roberts tear up the competition on a weekly basis.
The current generation will talk about Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace and Kyle Busch. But at the top of that list will be Jimmie Johnson.
How good is Johnson as a driver? His record speaks for itself as he sits on the verge of making NASCAR history with a fourth consecutive championship. Does anyone doubt that the California driver has several more championships waiting in his future?
Even if lightning strikes the Lowe’s Chevrolet team the final week of the season, and Martin wins his first title, Johnson still will be regarded as one of the best ever.
Johnson already has won 47 races at NASCAR’s highest level and ranks 13th on the all-time wins list. By the end of the 2010 season, Johnson easily could have 54 victories, which would move him into the top 10.
His winning percentage is 16.2 percent over eight full seasons, which is the best among active drivers. Only Jeff Gordon has a double-digit winning percentage among those drivers still competing on a regular basis.
That winning percentage ranks Johnson sixth in NASCAR’s record book behind Herb Thomas, Tim Flock, Pearson, Petty and Fred Lorenzen.
As a comparison, fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr., has recorded 18 wins in 362 career starts for a winning percentage of 4.9 percent.
Since joining the powerful Hendrick Motorsports team, Little E has recorded one victory in 2008 and now has gone 56 races without a victory.
In other racing news
The nice thing about the past two weeks is that the rumor mill seems to have quieted down on Danica Patrick running a few NASCAR races in 2010. Patrick didn’t make an appearance at Phoenix and probably won’t travel to Homestead this coming weekend.
The hot rumor a week ago was that Little E was going to put Patrick in his Nationwide car. The last thing Little E needs is further distractions as he wraps up another disappointing season.
Patrick has done nothing to prove that she’s capable of competing in a Craftsman Truck, Nationwide or Sprint Cup stock car at Daytona come February. She has done no testing in a full-bodied race car.
The best thing that could happen is if attention is no longer focused on Patrick until the start of the IZOD Indy Racing League season in March in Brazil.
Contact Ken de la Bastide 454-8580, ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com
Auto Racing
Ken de la Bastide: Johnson one of the best
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Indy 500 in the books, but heat isn't a record
Fans sought shade under the grandstands and beneath umbrellas. Misting stations got a healthy workout. But Sunday's Indianapolis 500 won't go down in the record books as the hottest in the 101-year history of the race.
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Kahne keeps Hendrick success rolling at Charlotte
Kasey Kahne powered to victory in the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night, taking NASCAR's longest race for the third time for his first win with Hendrick Motorsports.
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Quintin Harlan: If you want to honor a fallen driver just keep on racing
There are a myriad of reasons to love the Indianapolis 500. This year’s race was inundated with the emotion from the family, friends and colleagues of two-time Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon.
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This is Indy
Fans of the Indianapolis 500 took time on race day to remember Dan Wheldon, the popular driver who died in a crash last year at Las Vegas Speedway. Wheldon, the 2011 Indy 500 champion, was honored by the thousands of fans who were asked to wear special sunglasses patterned after the shades that he always wore. Fans wore the sunglasses on the pace lap, Lap 26 and Lap 98, which were Wheldon’s car numbers when he won at Indy.
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Franchitti wins his third Indianapolis 500
For the second consecutive year the Indianapolis 500 was decided by a last-lap crash Sunday, but this time Takuma Sato crashed while battling for the win and allowing Dario Franchitti to score his third win.
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Tyler runs away with second Little 500 win
Deuces were wild at the 64th running of the Pay Less Little 500 as Brian Tyler recorded his second win and brought team owner Larry Contos win No. 2 at Anderson Speedway.
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Rick Teverbaugh: Spectacle lacking on local TV
The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, on television, is a myth in its own backyard.
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96th Indy 500 is wide open
Marco Andretti knows how much heartache his family has suffered at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He needs no reminders that IndyCar could use an American superstar, and with his famous last name, he is quite aware of the hope that maybe he can be the one to elevate this attention-starved series.
None of that matters to Andretti as he heads into the Indianapolis 500. -
Junior hopes to end slump
At first Dale Earnhardt Jr. was relieved he didn’t fall further back than seventh at last year’s Coca-Cola 600. Then he realized what he had lost for just about a gallon of gas.
“After a while, you start thinking about, ‘Oh, yeah, we really came close to winning a race,’” Earnhardt said this week. “It was really unfortunate there wasn’t just a little bit more gas in the car.” -
Litt’s gamble pays off
Ryan Litt gambled that track conditions at Anderson Speedway were better on the second day of qualifying for tonight’s running of the Pay Less Little 500 and it paid off in a big way.
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Indy 500 in the books, but heat isn't a record
