Superman Does It Again

Superman? that may still be debatable but they may be in the same class. Mark Martin seems to think so. Martin’s Hendrick Racing teammate, Jimmie Johnson, once again proved why he is the 3 time defending NASCAR Sprint/Nextel/Winston Cup Series (or whatever the official sponsor is right now) Champion. At the storied Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis it was a familiar name at the end of the day atop of the leader board. Jimmie became the first driver to go back to back at the Brickyard 400. Yet another chapter in the novel that Johnson is writing on the track in attempt to become one of the best of all time - The Legacy and the Legend.


Johnson, even without the beard that he has been sporting for the better part of the year, grabbed an improbable victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when a speeding penalty to Juan Pablo Montoya ruined the day for the most dominant car in the field. Juan Pablo was so upset during the next caution that he told his crew chief...and anyone else who was monitoring his radio "I swear on my children and my wife that I was not speeding!" he shouted over his radio. "There is no way! Thank you NASCAR for screwing my day." Sounds to me like someone who was pretty sure that he thought he was in the right but I guess he misread his tachometer . Not only did that miscue cost him near certain victory but it also dinged him in the pocket book which probably hurts nearly as much. At $223,953. It was the most expensive speeding ticket in NASCAR history: Jimmie earned $448,001 for the victory, while Montoya, who fell to 11th-place had to settle for a mere $224,048. Yeah I know it is all relative, 200k is nothing to shake a stick, but even in NASCAR world that is still a big loss.

You almost get the sense that Jimmie won’t get the true recognition that he deserves until after he is done driving. It seems like he doesn’t get the respect that he deserves as a driver nor does Chad Knaus get as his crew chief. With the records and resume that both these guys are putting together you would think that they would get more national publicity. Maybe it is because it is a NASCAR thing. Tennis has Federer, Golf has Tiger still just isn’t the same recognition for Jimmie.