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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Ken de la Bastide: Barrichello might move to IndyCar
Although the IZOD IndyCar Series lost its most identifiable driver with the move of Danica Patrick to NASCAR, possible changes could raise the level of competition to new heights. The IZOD IndyCar season starts on March 25 and there is a chance a veteran Formula One driver could be in the mix.
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Ken de la Bastide: Stewart could aid Danica
With the Daytona 500 less than a month away, one of the big unknowns is will Danica Patrick have to race her way into the starting field or will car owner Tony Stewart buy her way in?
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Danica ditches Indy
Danica Patrick became a worldwide sensation as a rookie at the Indianapolis 500, challenging for victory and becoming the first woman to lead laps in the showcase race.
Those Indy days are fading fast.
Patrick’s shift to stock cars is long under way, and her ties to IndyCar were cut even further Monday — she said she won’t run in this year’s Indy 500. -
Ken de la Bastide: Changes looming in July
The race schedule around the Brickyard 400 this coming July will look different than in years past, but there will still be plenty of short track racing action.
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Ken de la Bastide: IndyCar back to the Mile?
Last week I received several comments regarding the lack of oval races on the 2012 IZOD IndyCar schedule.
One reader noted, correctly, that a factor for scheduling races on oval tracks has been a lack of attendance. Another reader also correctly stated that the oval races need to be promoted better to attract fans, and of course sponsorship dollars are a necessity. -
Kirby opens 2012 with Street Stock win
Tight racing through the first half of the EDCO Welding Street Stock feature gave way to leaders mixing it up in Turn 2, with Jimmy Kirby emerging as the leader.
Above normal temperatures and sunny skies on Saturday brought out more than 80 race teams and a healthy crowd of fans for the Aqua System New Year’s Bash presented by EDCO Welding. -
Ken de la Bastide: Indy 500 is top race of 2011
There should be little doubt that the 100th anniversary race of the Indianapolis 500 was the best event of 2011. One could almost make the case that the race has vaulted the “500” back to the top of all motorsports.
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‘Limitless’ racing factor in fatal Vegas wreck
Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s “limitless” racing surface was singled out Thursday as a significant factor in a “perfect storm” of conditions that led to the death of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon.
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Ken de la Bastide: Schmidt receives well-deserved honor
It was heartening to see last week that IZOD IndyCar team owner Sam Schmidt was presented with the 2011 Achievement Award at the International Motorsports Industry Show.
Schmidt was paralyzed in 2000 during testing at the Walt Disney World Speedway and the next year formed Sam Schmidt Motorsports.
The team has found success in Indy Car racing, having won five Indy Lights championships with 46 race wins, and also has fielded cars in the IZOD IndyCar series for the past nine years. -
Ken de la Bastide: Give fans of racing a nice gift
It’s that time of the year for people to scramble to find that perfect Christmas gift for everyone on their shopping list.
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