Jimmy Johnson did not come from a family racing background as many other top-notch drivers that race in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series. His parents were middle-class blue-collar workers. Johnson’s mother Cathy drove the local school bus and his father worked as a heavy machinery operator, but as long as Jimmie Johnson can remember he loved to race.
The six-time NASCAR Champion began his competitive racing career when he was just knee high to a grasshopper. At the tender age of four, Johnson began racing motorcycles in his home town of El Cajon, California. From that time on, the talented youngster climbed the competitive racing ladder collecting trophies all along the way.
Jimmie Johnson moved from motorcycles to buggies (Volkswagen Beetles or off-road Bugs) by the time he was a young teenager in the 1980’s and began driving in the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group Stadium Racing Series where it was business as usual. The dedicated teen won several awards for his performances there and was no slouch behind the wheel of off-road trucks either.
By the 1990’s Jimmie Johnson was a regular in the Soda 8 Series, a series that emphasized two-wheel drive trucks that generated over 800 horsepower around a short course dirt track. When all was said and done, Johnson had amassed over 25 victories, 100 top threes and six championships throughout his childhood. It was clear as day that Johnson was on his way up the racing ladder at light speed.
When Jimmie Johnson reached 21, he decided to move away from California and pursue a racing career in the south. He landed in racing-rich Charlotte, North Carolina, and attempted to build relationships with local race teams.”I would go to places where I knew crew guys ate lunch and I’d sit there all through lunch just trying to meet people,” Johnson told Sports Illustrated ‘s Lars Anderson.
In 1998, his move across the country finally paid off. Jimmie Johnson would finally get his chance to prove himself on paved ovals by racing in the American Speed Association as well as a fill-in driver in NASCAR’s Busch Series. As a rookie in the American Speed Association, Johnson got back to his winning ways and was awarded the ASA Pat Schauer Memorial Rookie of the Year award. The talented youngster won twice that year and finished third in the standings.
Jimmie Johnson was rewarded for his performance in the ASA and as a part-timer in the Busch Series by landing the full time spot with Herzog Motorsports in the Busch Series the following year. In 2000, Johnson finished tenth in the series and a year later he collected his first Busch Series win at Chicagoland Speedway. The two-year performance was all the NASCAR legendary team owner Rick Hendrick needed to see. Hendrick hired Johnson to drive for the famed Hendrick Motorsports in NASCAR’s top series in the #48 Chevrolet sponsored by Lowes.
Johnson had finally made it, but there was still a drive in the rookie racer that pushed him to become something more than just a NASCAR speedster. In 2002, he proved just that by winning his first pole position at the Daytona 500 and collecting his first victory in the Winston Cup Series at Auto Club Speedway in his home state. Johnson didn’t stop there. The rookie driver from El Cajon, California went on to sweep both races at Dover and collected three more pole positions. By the time the smoke had cleared, Johnson had racked up five top 5’s and twenty top 10 finishes, finishing fifth in points for the season.
It was in 2006 that all the hard work and uncertain times paid of in spades. Jimmie Johnson was full of confidence over his performances over the last two years and had a season for the ages. The amazing run started in the first race of the season when Johnson took the checkered flag at the famed Daytona 500.
Jimmie Johnson didn’t stop there and went on to win at Indianapolis Speedway in the Brickyard 400. Johnson raced to two more victories at the shortest track on the circuit, Martinsville Speedway and then at Talladega, the series longest speedway. He finished the 2006 season with 13 top fives and 20 top 10’s on his way to his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship. He was awarded the Associated Press’s 2006 Driver of the Year.
The amazing story of Jimmie Johnson’s rise to the pinnacle of NASCAR racing could’ve been considered amazing with what he had already accomplished, but it was only the beginning. Johnson went on to win the championship the following year and was the first racing driver to be named the Associated Press’s Male Athlete of the Year.
Why stop there? During the 2008 regular season Jimmie Johnson went on to win seven races, six poles, 15 top five’s and 22 top 10’s. During the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the phenom won a total of 14 races, which was eight better than the next closest driver, and collected a third straight Sprint Cup Championship. Johnson earned an ESPY Award as Racing’s best driver from ESPN for his amazing feat.
In 2009, Jimmie Johnson became the only NASCAR driver to ever win four straight championships. On his way to the history books he collected another seven wins, four poles, 16 top five’s and 24 top 10’s. For his efforts that year, Johnson received his second ESPY Award as the top racing performer and won the Associated Press’s Driver of the Year for third time. Only Jeff Gordon, Mario Andretti and Darryl Waltrip ever accomplished that achievement.
Jimmie Johnson topped off his magical four year run by reeling off a fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship in 2010. The future Hall of Famer pulled in another six victories that year and climbed to tenth on NASCAR’s all-time win list. The Associated Press once again named the #48 Lowes Chevrolet’s captain a fourth Driver of the Year Award, only Jeff Gordon can say he accomplished that.
After a two-year lull, some experts thought that Jimmie Johnson had used up his racing legs. Johnson once again proved that they couldn’t be more wrong. The five-time champion went on to become the six time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion, sweeping both races at Daytona International Speedway and reaffirming his spot as NASCAR’s top driver.
Jimmie Johnson has continued racking up victories since 2013 and has recorded two already this year. NASCAR’s best driver sits third in points and is showing no sign of letting up. He is the most recent winner in the Sprint Cup Series, passing Kevin Harvick on the final lap of last Sunday’s event, to take home the glory at the Auto Club 400 at his home track in Fontana, California. Johnson is the favorite to win it all again this year and, considering his racing resume, there’s a great chance he will finish the 2016 season as NASCAR’s seven time Sprint Cup Champion.
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