Somewhere in the future race fans will sit back in an easy chair relating to a younger generation how they enjoyed watching one of the best drivers in stock car history.
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 twice in the final three weeks of the season and Johnson doesn’t finish 25th or better giving Martin his first title, Johnson will still be regarded as one of the best ever.
Johnson has already won 47 races at NASCAR’s highest level and currently ranks 13th on the all-time wins list. By the end of the 2010 season Johnson could easily 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 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 has now gone 56 races without a victory.
Other racing news
The nice thing about the past two weeks is that the rumor mill seems to have quieted 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 next March in Brazil.
Sports
DE LA BASTIDE: Johnson is simply one of the best — of all time
Racer is closing in on his 4th straight title.
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Fritz, other friends help carry on Gabriel’s vision
Tony Gabriel was an easy pick for the Howard County Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. He was a four-sport standout at Taylor High School and later a seven-time state racquetball champion in singles and doubles.
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Comets making progress
Much like any coach would expect in his first season leading a young team, Eastern baseball coach Nick Sale has helped his team deal with the growing pains that come with regime and philosophy changes.
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Tipton survives M-G, savors softball sectional 3-peat
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Schubert wraps up standout collegiate track career
Megan Schubert could easily lament lost opportunities and think about ‘what if’ scenarios looking back at her track and field career at the University of Louisville.
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Comets, Kats, Panthers sending athletes to state
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New Western basketball coach is right at home
Bart Miller’s passion for Western basketball runs deep.
Miller, like his father and brother before him, played for the Panthers. He started and was the third-leading scorer on the Panthers’ 1990 Kokomo Sectional championship squad.
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Tipton, Madison-Grant reach final of Eastern Sectional
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Beeler, Hurst pitch Panthers into title game
Western softball pitchers Erika Beeler and Madi Hurst are getting their first meaningful postseason innings in the circle in this year’s Class 3A Twin Lakes Sectional, but unknowing spectators would never know.
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Raiders hold off Wildkats
Kokomo and Harrison each had three hits after two innings of their Class 4A Lafayette Jeff Sectional game on Wednesday in Loeb Stadium.
Control problems for Kokomo starting pitcher Chase Hatfield allowed the Raiders to turn their three hits into four runs and they used those runs to earn a 6-5 win.
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Benton C. turns back N’western
Northwestern’s baseball team saw an early lead disappear in a 7-5 loss to Benton Central in a Class 3A West Lafayette Sectional game Wednesday.
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