(photo courtesy Rusty Garrett/Getty Images)
The photo says it all! Jimmie Johnson is in uncharted land. He is the first driver to win four consecutive championships in the 61 year history of NASCAR!
The Hendrick Motorspsorts #48 Lowe’s Chevy team has just captured its fourth consecutive championship in only its eighth season of existence. Quite a remarkable feat in this era of parity and intense competition. This team has won 47 races in eight season in NASCAR! But more importantly, this team has won 18 of the 60 races in the Chase 6 seasons of the Chase format! That is winning 30% of all Chase races! Here are some comparisons of HMS to other championship organizations.
Hendrick Motorsports Championship Notes:
NINTH TITLE: With Jimmie Johnson’s performance today at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports secured its ninth car owner’s championship in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition [1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009], tying the organization with Petty Enterprises for the all-time lead [All records I see show PE having 10 Cup championships: 1954, 1958, 1959, 1964, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1979. Car owner Rick Hendrick has won nine of the past 15 Sprint Cup titles.
COMPARISONS: In the major American professional sports leagues, Hendrick Motorsports’ nine Sprint Cup owner’s championships are tied for ninth behind only the New York Yankees (27 World Series titles), Montreal Canadiens (24 Stanley Cups), Boston Celtics (17 NBA titles), Los Angeles Lakers (15 NBA titles), Toronto Maple Leafs (13 Stanley Cups), Green Bay Packers (12 NFL championships), Detroit Red Wings (11 Stanley Cups) and St. Louis Cardinals (10 World Series titles). The other teams with nine championships are Petty Enterprises (NASCAR owner’s championships), the Chicago Bears (NFL) and the Oakland Athletics (MLB).
ALL-TIME CHAMPIONSHIPS: The 2009 Sprint Cup car owner’s championship is the 13th [9 Cup, 1 NNS, 3 CWTS] for Hendrick Motorsports across NASCAR’s three national series — a new all-time record. In the car owner category, the organization has won nine titles in the Sprint Cup Series and three in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Hendrick Motorsports also has won a NASCAR Nationwide Series driver championship, which came in 2003.
With the announcement that Rick Hendrick made this past week of signing Jimmie Johnson to a contract extension, and working on a lifetime contract for Chad Knaus, that news can only make the competition break out in a cold sweat!
Workingonmyredneck would like to offer our congratulations to the entire #48 Lowe’s team for accomplishing something that has never been done in the 61 year history of NASCAR!
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
