Jimmie Johnson has officially announced his retirement, instantly going from one of the most hated NASCAR drivers to the most loved.
Jimmie Jonson has confirmed that 2020 will be his last season in NASCAR as a full-time driver. With a name as synonymous to the sport of NASCAR as almost any other, Johnson has driven for Hendrick Motorsports since 2001 and has competed in over 650 races.
#Chasing8 one final time pic.twitter.com/ZoldabKy9M
— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) November 20, 2019
As one of the most decorated drivers in NASCAR history, Johnson is one of only three drivers to win seven championships. He sits among the ranks of Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt yet he is the only driver to win five consecutive titles in a row. Johnson also ranks 6th for all-time wins at 83 – well above the next current driver, Kyle Busch. For these reasons, everyone used to hate Jimmie Johnson. That is, until he announced his retirement.
Rough End to a Remarkable Career
In fairness, it’s been so long since Jimmie Johnson has actually competed for anything that many fans have probably forgotten why they even hated him to begin with. To be more brutally specific, Johnson is currently on a 95-race winless streak. To put that into perspective, here are a few guys that have won a cup series race during that time: Austin Dillon, Aric Almirola, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth and Justin Haley. Two of those drivers have been retired since 2017.
Nevertheless, no one can be that great for that long without making plenty of enemies. To make matters worse, his off-track personality is about as fun and charismatic as a college lecture on 13th century English literature. As I mentioned in a previous article about the most hated NASCAR drivers;
“If his success on the track wasn’t enough to irritate fans of other drivers, his personality is that of a wet blanket. Strikingly similar to the character, Dayton White, from the film, Logan Lucky. No one likes the seemingly perfect guy that constantly wins, especially in NASCAR.”
Jimmie Johnson Legacy
Now that 2020 will officially mark the end of the Jimmie Johnson era in NASCAR – even though we’ve all mentally placed that at 2017 already anyway – the entire NASCAR community has suddenly become fans of his. It’s hard to blame them. Even though these fans of other drivers had to suffer through roughly 16 years of coming in second place, it’s hard not to appreciate the greatness we have all witnessed.
Jimmie Johnson is one of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all time. Like Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, a truly remarkable champion only comes around once in a generation – if you’re lucky. It’s great that NASCAR fans have set aside their hate to appreciate what the sport is losing. Now, I just can’t wait for the responses when Kyle Busch decides to retire.
