Remembering Jimmie Johnson ~ Through the Wrecks
|
|
I
knew Jimmie Johnson’s retirement was coming, just didn’t know when. I knew he had more laps behind him than
ahead. Just didn’t know that 2020 was
going to be it.
Since
the announcement the NASCAR Nation has been 24/7 Jimmie Johnson... as it should
be. I do wonder how that makes 2019
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kyle Busch feel being moved from
front and center of the NASCAR limelight?
But then again, it’s not every day that a seven-time Cup Champion
announces when they will end their full-time racing career.
As
everyone is doing their reflections on Jimmie and his outstanding career, we’ve
read or heard story after story of his wins, his championships and his
off-track activities. It is through this
tapestry of sharing we get a fuller picture of the man, the driver and the mark
he has made on the sport.
I
tend to look at things a bit differently though. It’s the wrecks that will be what I remember.
Jimmie
Johnson caught my eye early on when he entered the Busch now Xfinity
Series. There have been few drivers who
came along who caught my eye like he did but from the start he was one. I rarely say, “Watch this guy”, but Jimmie
was one I felt I could. And I said it...
a lot, to anyone who would listen and some who wouldn’t. Back then there were so many more people who
wanted to talk racing.
It
was the 2000 wreck at Watkins Glen that the folks I had told saw what I was
talking about. It was his 23rd Busch
Series start of his career, the 17th of the season when on lap 47, Johnson screamed down the long front
straightaway and was overtaking another car when he lost the brakes at the
worst place possible.
The
car broke right avoiding the other car, left the track to the inside, crossed
the track becoming airborne in a jump that would have made the Duke boys proud,
bouncing once in the gravel pit before slamming head-on into a bank of
fortuitously placed Styrofoam blocks.
The blocks exploding on impact was scary impressive. The stop scary abrupt. The harrowing, four second ride launched him
into the racing forefront.
He
handled it and the aftermath in a cool calm that was his manner. He gave it the necessary attention, but he
didn’t get overly torn up about it. As
dramatic as it was, we learned it wasn’t the worst wreck in his young
career. He explained that wrecking in an
off-road desert race, having an injured co-driver and not being found for 24
hours was worse, putting things in perspective.
That
wreck caught everyone’s eye and he built on that. It wasn’t long before a Cup ride entered the
picture and the wins started coming... followed by more wins... followed by a
championship... followed by more championships.
As
much as the Watkins Glen wreck caught attention and made impressions, it was a
wreck-strewn, 13 caution flag-one red flag 2005 UAW-GM Quality 500 win that I
saw first-hand what made him different.
Humpy
Wheeler had levigated the Charlotte track before the 600, grinding down the
surface of 1.5-mile track to eliminate the bumps drivers were complaining
about. That created major tire issues
during the longest race in May. The
solution was to levigate it some more before the October race. Now silky smooth, the track was even more
crazy fast- speeds and tire heat was more than the Goodyears could handle. In a scary, almost predictable frequency,
tire explosion after tire explosion slammed driver after unfortunate driver
into the wall, ending their race or hampering their chance for a win.
Writer
Ed Hinton of the Orlando Sentinel reported 42 of the 43 cars had tire
issues that race. He never identified
the one who didn’t, but he didn’t have to.
It was the driver who had won the “Levigation 600” here back in
May-Jimmie Johnson. I finally got to see
in person what I had only seen on TV as Johnson sliced unscathed through the
unintended mayhem, avoiding wreck after wreck while driving to the edge of the
limits of car, tires and track to become the 34th leader of the race and lead
the final 12 laps for the win.
In
retrospect, it was quite a drive.
Not
only did he take flag, the trophy and the winner’s purse in this his 18th Cup
win, but he made up a 92-point deficit to jump from fifth to a tie for first
with a furious Tony Stewart. Tony would
go on to win the 2005 Championship, but Jimmie would get the next
Championship... and the next and next and next and next before Tony could best
him again.
The
race is often ranked in the Top Ten, in some circles the Top Five worst NASCAR
Cup races ever, but looking back, the 18th wreck-strewn win (19 if you count by
using the Kyle Busch fan method) in his young career may have been one of his
best. It was the last one before
becoming a Champion. Seeing it in person
reinforced my impression of him and his driving.
Fast
forward to Pocono 2017. Jimmie entered
the race as 2016 Cup Champion, his seventh.
In the first 13 races of the 2017 season, Jimmie had won three,
including back to back wins at Texas and Bristol, along with a win the previous
week at Dover. He was the winningest
driver to date, followed by Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski with two
each.
On
lap 97, like at Watkins Glen so many years before, Johnson got to the end of
the long straightaway, applied the brakes to negotiate Turn One. At
200 MPH the pedal went to the floor and Jimmie was in for another harrowing
ride, this time into steel-fronted Styrofoam, SAFER barrier. (Thanks to
nascargavin8 for the video and MRN mix).
It
was a hard hit, first right rear, the impact whipping the car and slamming the
right front into the barrier, followed by a long slide along the barrier. Jamie McMurray followed, slamming the wall
behind Johnson. He continued around the track until he had to stop and exit the
car as flames engulfed it.
Everyone
watching held their collective breaths until the window net dropped and Johnson
finally crawled out of the car and leaned against it to collect himself. He would later move to the front of the car
and rest against the SAFER barrier trying to recover from what MRN’s Dave Moody
described as a “vicious hit.”
Ryan
Blaney went on to win the race, his first. Johnson would finish 36th. Jimmie would go on to finish the season make
It into the Playoffs, into the Round of Eight, before finishing 10th in the
2017 Points. Sandwiched between these
two wrecks-the 2000 Watkins Glen Busch Series brake failure and the 2017 Pocono
brake failure were seven Cup Championships-five in a row along with 83 Cup
wins. A stellar run by any standard.
But
the most telling wreck of his career, the one that says it all when I think of
Jimmie Johnson was not one of his but one of his competitor’s - Brad
Keselowski. And it wasn’t in a race but
in an August 2011 test session. Brad
tells the story of that day and what Jimmie Johnson did and he means to him in
this interview with Graham Bensinger.
“The
most balanced race car driver we have ever seen in the sport. I’m trying to measure my words here (pause)
He’s good in every category... every category-physical strength, mental
strength, talent, (pause) leadership qualities... in all those things... and
on. He’s good in all those
categories. He’s the most balanced
driver the sport has ever seen.”
Brad’s
words are deliberate and carefully chosen.
Clearly not meant for just any driver.
But more than those words, his description of Jimmie’s actions that day
were those of a Champion, a true Champion and that’s what I’ll remember most
about Jimmie Johnson.
Best
wishes on a safe and successful 2020.
It’s been a heck of a ride. Thank
you.