By: DJ DeSpain

As of Kansas, Jimmie Johnson is second in total points, 18 points behind Mark Martin, and there are 7 races remaining in the season. Johnson’s three-in-a-row championship feat last year ties Cale Yarborough’s record set back in 1978. 30 years it took for a driver to catch up with Yarborough’s record, and now Johnson is on the verge of setting a new record if he wins his 4^th championship trophy in November.

Several people think that Johnson shouldn’t win 4 in a row. They think the races are starting to get boring if someone keeps winning all the time. If he wins too much, then it is time to change the points system again, others are exclaiming.

Some non-Johnson fans suspect Johnson must be getting special treatment if he is winning so much. When Johnson’s winning car was inspected after the Dover race, NASCAR officials said that car and Mark Martin’s car were closer to measurement tolerances than usual. Nothing illegal about that because they were within tolerances but the story became the biggest one prior to Kansas with the word “conspiracy” rearing its ugly head.

So what is a driver to do? He gets chastised for not winning at all, like Earnhardt Jr., or he gets nailed for winning too much, like Johnson.

Racing is always about records to be made and broken. Wins, speed, money, popularity, you name it. The first organized combustible engine automobile competition, a reliability test in 1894 from Paris to Rouen, France, a distance of about 50 miles, was won with an average speed of 10.2 mph. Bill Elliott has the record for the fastest qualifying speed at 212.809 mph set at Talladega in 1987. Almost 100 years and as cars got better and faster, records came and went; some within days, others have taken years.

Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt share the record for total championships at 7. Jeff Gordon currently has 4, and much has been written this year about his “drive for five” season.

But even Johnson has stated that he believes another driver getting 7 or more championships to be almost impossible. At a recent ceremony at Lowes Motor Speedway honoring Johnson and Richard Petty, Johnson said “With what Richard did and what Earnhardt Sr. did, I just don’t think seven is a number you are going to get to. It’s tough. You look at Jeff, trying to get his fifth, and all the success he’s had, I think they’re safe up there with seven. I hope to prove them wrong, I’m not saying I don’t want to try, but we’re at three.”

When asked by reporters about Jimmie’s chances on catching his record, Petty responded “He could win seven in a row, anything is possible, and there’s no record that’s ever been set that can’t be broken, but like Jimmie said, it’s not likely.”

Well, maybe 7 total championships might be hard to obtain these days or anytime soon, but it is still a record that any driver would want to beat.

Earnhardt was given flack in his day for attempting to tie Richard Petty’s 7 championships. In his last season, he came close to beating the record when he finished 2^nd in 2000. Much was said prior to the 2001 season that he was poised to take the record eventually before he retired from the sport. The possibility of that happening made even non-Earnhardt fans rooting him on to do it.

Unfortunately, it did not happen, and he may have been the last chance of anyone coming that close again. Competition is getting tighter these days with better cars, better drivers, and a larger pool of talent than years past.

There is a big problem with trying to beat records.  There are those who will attempt to put asterisks, exceptions, comparisons, etc., in order to weaken a person’s accomplishment in breaking a record. Arguments like Petty’s 200 wins came about with the help of long race seasons in the early years. Elliott’s qualifying record was prior to restrictor plates. Johnson’s three-in-a-row is due to the Chase format.

Whatever.

Get over it, folks. As even Tony Stewart said in the post-race interview at Kansas, “Why are we talking about the old system? In case you didn’t know, we haven’t used that system for five years now. Who cares?”

I agree. Who cares?  The points system today is different than five years ago. The system five years ago was different than the one that existed prior to 1972. Up to 1971, Richard Petty had only 3 championships. But even today, people will point out that with the race seasons shortened from 48 to 31, this made it easier for Petty to get his 4 other championships between 1972 and 1978. Always something.  Win or lose, drivers are going to get smacked around.

So Johnson is really just getting the latest flavor of complaints. But, as with any driver asked, his focus is on winning, setting a new record is just a bonus.

Let him get 4, then let us watch the scramble over the next 30 years of drivers chasing the record. As we watch, we get to argue, complain, and nag as race fans have been doing since 1894.

If Johnson makes it to 4-in-a-row, then the next superstar driver that attempts to beat his record better be prepared for the criticism that will surely come. Though, at that point in the future, the cars might not even have wheels and another round of “but that was then, this is now” comparison will happen again.

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