NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR champ Johnson honored by commander in chief

Published Jun. 25, 2014 3:18 p.m. ET

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Jared Turner

Last week, Jimmie Johnson was honored in his hometown of El Cajon, Calif., where the town's mayor proclaimed it "Jimmie Johnson Day" and presented the reigning and six-time Sprint Cup champion with a No. 48 Taylor guitar.

On Wednesday, Johnson was honored by a much more well-known figure -- namely, United States President Barack Obama, who invited Johnson, team owner Rick Hendrick, crew chief Chad Knaus and members of the No. 48 team to the White House to recognize Johnson for winning the 2013 Sprint Cup title.

This, of course, wasn't Johnson's first meeting with the current commander in chief, who traditionally invites the past year's Sprint Cup champion and fellow Chase participants to his sprawling abode at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Johnson, who last November claimed his sixth top series NASCAR title in eight years, was joined on stage during Obama's remarks by Hendrick and Knaus.

"Everybody knows I'm a Chicago guy and usually when we do these sports events I make some crack about how the football team's not as good as the '85 (Chicago) Bears, the basketball team's not as good as the Bulls, but today I can't really say anything because Jimmie Johnson's pretty much the Michael Jordan of NASCAR," Obama said. "Like Mike, Jimmie has won six championships in eight years. He won a few titles, took a two-year break and decided, you know what, it's not that interesting, and then got back to winning again.

"Now, opposing drivers are saying things like, 'Unfortunately, we're driving during the Jimmie Johnson era. He's the best there ever was.'

"So these days we've got a lot of kids across the country who want to be like Jimmie, and why shouldn't they?"

Obama highlighted the importance of teamwork -- and particularly the contributions of Knaus -- to Johnson's amazing success.

"While sometimes the two might sound like an old married couple sniping at each other over the radio, Jimmie knows that without Chad and Rick and the entire team at Hendrick Motorsports, he'd be just another mortal making left turns," Obama said. "And that's why Jimmie brought along the over-the-wall guys from his pit crew to share in today's celebration."

Turning more serious, the president noted some of Johnson's philanthropic efforts, including the Jimmie Johnson Foundation that Obama said has donated amost $7 million toward grants and resources for public schools and charities since 2006.

Obama concluded his remarks by suggesting that Johnson -- the Sprint Cup Series' only three-time race winner in 2014 -- would likely be back at the White House again.

"Maybe we should make it easier on everybody and give the No. 48 car a permanent White House pass," Obama said. "Don't take my parking spot and no burnouts in the Portico."

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