With the first decade of the Twenty-First Century coming to an end, I believe its time to put NASCAR in this decade in perspective. When thinking of this decade you most definitely have to acknowledge the sudden deaths of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Adam Petty, and Kenny Irwin, Jr. which led to the safety measures that are seen in the sport today. If there was a single driver that you had to pinpoint as far as performance and the prospect of taking the sport to the next level going into the next decade, it would be none other than the driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson. Jimmie Johnson was born September 17, 1975 in El Cajon, California. He started his racing career as young child competing with motorcycles. Then he ventured into offroad racing where he competed in the SODA series becoming their Rookie of the Year and also winning the award in several other offroad affliations. He would end up with 25 career victories in offroad and would eventually become an ontrack reporter for ESPN during their offroad racing coverage. It was during the 1999 season that Johnson made the jump into the NASCAR series. During 1999-2001, Johnson drove in the Busch series in which during the 2001 season he won his only Busch race and would end up 10th in the points. The famous story is that during the 2000 season, Johnson became good friends with Jeff Gordon who would be the catalyst in getting Johnson his ride with Hendrick for the 2002 season and the rest is history. The Hendrick gamble paid off as Jimmie Johnson won the pole for the Daytona 500 and finished 15th. He would become the first rookie to ever sweep both events at Dover International Speedway. Johnson would finish second to Ryan Newman in the Rookie of the Year voting. In 2003, Johnson finished second to Matt Kenseth for the championship points title, a season in which he won the All Star Race and Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte and swept both races at New Hampshire. It was then that people started to notice the talent of Jimmie Johnson. ’04 was known as the first year of the ‘Chase for the Cup’ and Johnson is only one of two drivers to been in the Chase every year. That year was known for the tragic helicopter crash at Martinsville, VA in which Johnson won but the crash claimed the life of his team owners’ son, Rick Hendrick, Jr. ’05 was the year that Johnson won his third straight Coca Cola 600. ’06 gave Jimmie Johnson his first Daytona 500 and Brickyard 500 wins. It was also the first of his back to back championships. ’08 has been good to Jimmie Johnson as he has two victories: at Phoenix and his second Brickyard 500. Again he will be in the Chase for the Cup. Another big thing that Jimmmie Johnson is known for is his Jimmie Johnson Foundation which is closely associated with the Make a Wish Foundation and fellow NASCAR driver Kyle Petty’s organization, The Victory Junciton Gang. The one thing that Jimmie Johnson personifies is class. He is a family man having been married to his wife Chandra Janaway since 2004. He gives back to his hometown of El Cajon and San Diego and is very popular in Southern California. Jimmie Johnson is exactly the kind of person that NASCAR needs to lead them into the twilight of the Twenty First Century. Category:Home › Other • Pomegranates: A newly discovered superfood • Where did the joke why did the chicken cross the road come from and why is it funny? • Can mothers diagnosed with bipolar disorder make good parents? • Spiritual evolution of human consciousness • Tips for getting a college basketball scholarship • Living with Pseudotumor cerebri (PTC) • Caring for the caregiver • Technologys impact on society
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