As Jimmie Johnson seems all but certain to capture his sixth championship on Sunday in Homestead, there’s at least one individual left in the garage who isn’t wrapped up in what it means.
“So.” The simple yet eloquent reply of Richard Petty, the King, who wasn’t about to be brought into discussions of Johnson being closer to the record seven titles he and Dale Earnhardt amassed during their careers.
“All I can say is Earnhardt did his thing in his time against his competition. I did mine against my competition and he’s doing his thing against his competition,” Petty said.
“We didn’t compete with each other. In other words, he wasn’t there to race against Richard Petty or Earnhardt, and we didn’t have to race against Jimmie Johnson, either. You can’t compare. It’s not apple and apples. It’s apple and oranges.”
Johnson holds an almost insurmountable 28 point lead on Matt Kenseth and 34 on Kevin Harvick entering Sunday’s season finale. The five-time NSCS champion is looking for his sixth title in eight years. Twenty third place or better will secure the accomplishment.
Not since the heyday of Jeff Gordon has a driver earned the attention and accolades of Johnson. And none certainly, were mentioned in terms of catching Petty and Earnhardt or even surpassing the two legends in championships, which according to Petty, the Hendrick Motorsports team is certainly capable of doing.
“They’ve shown that in the past,” Petty stated. “If you look back and look at how long Petty Enterprises lasted and won championships and won races for a lot of years, right now and from the beginning of racing the Hendrick operation is the only one that’s done that good and lasted that long to compete with what they did with Petty Enterprises.”
As Johnson started bringing home titles the words like “greatest” started floating around. The same words Petty and Earnhardt have been associated with. With another title to his name there will be those – who haven’t already – debating who the greatest NASCAR driver is.
That’s normal. Petty understands. Yet, he could care less. Instead noting, he wants to be remembered for the fact that he won more than anyone else ever has. His 200 Cup wins a lifetime away and unreachable in today’s garage.
That’s one thing Johnson won’t take from Petty. Even if everything else he does on the track is a reminder of the past.
“He’s loaded with talent. I look at Jimmie sort of like I look back at Richard Petty,” he said. “Without the equipment he’s just another driver, so, it’s the combination that helps make him and put him up there because without a super good car and stuff there wouldn’t have been a Richard Petty.
“But Jimmie is pretty good and pretty cool about handling different circumstances, although most of the time he’s handling it from the front, even when he gets in the back he’s very conscious of what’s going on and can race with people without getting over aggressive. He knows his ability and he knows the ability of his car, so if he’s having trouble of he’s running and he’s a fifth place car, then he settles for fifth place and goes on down the road.”
Petty knows about a good combination. For those frustrated by the dominance of Johnson and Chad Knaus, they’re just today’s version of Petty and his crew chief, Dale Inman. They were the unbeatable pair back when they ran wild on the NASCAR circuit.
And Knaus plays the part of Inman quite well. A sixth title as crew chief would place him two away from tying Inman for the most in NASCAR history at eight.
Both men are practically from the same mold, as well. Inman and Knaus are students of racing, determined to be better and outsmart everyone else. So as Knaus now guides his driver towards Petty, think of it as a changing of the guard.
The days of Petty STP blue on the 43 are long gone. Now memories of greatness past while the greatness upon us wears Lowe’s Blue with the 48.
Following Sunday, if everything lines up the way Petty expects it to, Johnson will be one step closer to making seven happen. And whenever he does, Petty will be there to welcome him to the club.
As far as eight, nine of even 10 as Petty says Johnson’s liable to get, whenever that may occur, it won’t bring any thoughts of sadness or disappointment for the King. Who knew all along it was just a matter of time.
“No, because he didn’t compete against me. I did my thing in the seventies and he’s doing his stuff in the teens, so there’s no comparison,” Petty said when asked if he’d be upset of being passed.
“It’s like taking somebody from the Olympics in the year 1900 and comparing them to somebody in the year 200. Everything has transferred so much. Everybody is in better shape – the whole deal. They’d blow that record away just because of time and records are made to be broken. About every record that has ever been put up there has been broken or be broken.”