Remember the old commercials where the striking model pleads, "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful"?
The same could be said for Jimmie Johnson — and his wife Chandra, for that matter. The Johnsons appear to be NASCAR's perfect couple.
For some race fans, however, Johnson's perfection is a turn-off.
Even with his latest accomplishment — a record-breaking fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup title — Johnson simply doesn't receive the recognition he deserves.
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Johnson has all the attributes to be a legend in the making. Compared to the other three champions who have amassed four or more NASCAR Cup titles — Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon — Johnson had the most consistent platform to achieve this accomplishment. Johnson has had the same team, the same crew chief and drove for the same car brand. He finished in the top five in point standing each of his eight seasons on the tour.
No other driver has come close to Johnson's numbers.
Petty's first four of seven titles came in 12 seasons. But in 11 seasons, Petty earned six titles and raced only one full season before the sanctioning body cut the schedule dramatically to 31 races in 1972.
Earnhardt raced for several different owners in a variety of cars before capturing his first four titles in 11 seasons. But once he settled in with Richard Childress for the second time in 1984, he went on to win six championships in 11 seasons in the revered No. 3 Chevrolet.
As the championship torch was passed to Gordon, Johnson's co-owner, the new kid in NASCAR raced nine full seasons before he earned the nickname "Four-time." While Gordon had the remarkable resources of Hendrick Motorsports behind him, that fourth title came under the direction of crew chief Robby Loomis after the Ray Evernham era had ended.
Johnson, however, accomplished the four-title feat in 291 races compared to Gordon reaching the same goal in 293 events. And in those 291 races that Johnson and Gordon have competed in together, the numbers are staggering. Johnson has bested his boss in 160 races with 47 wins, 117 top fives and 180 top 10 finishes. In that same period, Gordon has gathered 24 wins, 116 top fives and 172 top 10 finishes. Overall, Johnson's average finish was 11.7 compared to Gordon's 12.9.
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While current NASCAR fans don't always give the current champ his due, HBO Sports found Johnson's accomplishments on and off the track enticing enough to feature him in its Emmy-Award winning series 24/7. HBO Sports will break away from its traditional boxing platform with "24/7 Jimmie Johnson: Race to Daytona."
Johnson admits the access the HBO crews were granted is unlike any he or Team 48 has been exposed to since his NASCAR days began.
"This is something we've never really allowed with our race team before, an all-access look into how we operate," Johnson said. "We've had some people that have followed us around on a limited basis, but no one has ever had the access like HBO will have.
"Personally, I'm really looking forward to it. This is a great chance for the fans to really see me and the race team and what makes us tick, especially away from the track."
For the pundits that have pegged J.J. as boring, Ross Greenburg, the president of HBO Sports, found his two-day experience with Johnson to be anything but vanilla. Viewers will get a true behind-the-scenes look of what it takes a team to prepare physically, mentally and strategically for NASCAR's season opener.
"He's animated, talkative, cheerful and respectful and fun to be around," Greenburg said. "For us, we're dealing with fighters all the time that don't even speak our language much separate from the boxing arena. We dealt with other athletes like Chad Ochocinco in Hard Knocks who there's a total misconception of being totally self-centered character and he turned out to be an amiable cheerful, teammate.
"I expect this to be a dawning of a new understanding of who Jimmie Johnson is. Plus, when you add to the mix the characters that surround him like Chad (crew chief Knaus), Chandra, (team owner) Rick Hendrick and the pit crews, it will show the American public what it's like to be a race car driver and prep for the biggest race of the year — the Daytona 500. This will be a different experience for our viewer. It's compelling television."
The 24/7 Jimmie Johnson series will debut on HBO on Jan. 26 and continue each following Tuesday for four continuous weeks concluding on Feb. 16 following the Daytona 500.
Teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. agrees with Greenburg's analysis of Johnson. Despite Earnhardt's tremendous popularity, his on-track performance has been eclipsed by what Johnson has been able to accomplish in the last eight seasons. Earnhardt believes that the HBO Sports special will change the public's perception of Johnson.
"I've always been amazed how it's different for Jimmie," Earnhardt told Performance Racing Network. "He's a teammate of mine now, but I said it before we were working together, he's a super guy. Everybody here knows that. He just seems like he would be perfect because he's not vanilla. He's got a great personality but he doesn't get into trouble. He's not a pushover. He's tough. He stands up for what he believes in. He doesn't cause a lot of (crap). You don't see him carrying on and arguing or doing anything wrong.
"He's just perfect. Maybe this is a hurdle for him. He has this HBO thing coming which could be huge for him marketing to a broader audience and for people to accept him."
