December 13, 2008
By Brian Watkins
Brian Watkins
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NASCAR did it’s annual poll of the media to determine the biggest story of 2008. I didn’t participate, but that matters not. The winning story of the poll was Jimmie Johnson’s third consecutive championship.
The previous week NASCAR Scene’s cover story was on how Johnson’s third championship affected his wife. Really? I’m not saying that she isn’t important to him and to her friends and family, but is it really NASCAR news? I guess it could be a nice profile piece, but the cover? Once again, I’m not knocking her -- I just find it odd that one of the biggest NASCAR publications could find nothing more newsworthy than that for its cover. But I’m wandering from my point.
The fact that the media rated Johnson’s championship as the biggest story of the year makes sense of course, because it’s only the second time it’s happened. The fact that he pulled it off after a lackluster regular season is a story in and of itself -- a story of course that is another argument against the chase. But complaining about the chase isn’t my purpose this week. This week my purpose is to ask “Where are the Jimmie Johnson fans?”
I know he has them.
Even the worst most arrogant drivers have fans. This guy’s a champion -- he’s got fans. But have you seen them? I see Jeff Gordon fans all over the place. Junior of course still has fans slowly swapping out their old stickers and car flags for new ones. After all these years, Dale, Sr. still has legions of fans.
I see Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman stickers and license plates in the parking lots. But I rarely see anything touting a car owners pride in Jimmie Johnson.
When I worked at the Pentagon a lot of famous folks came through. The year they started the AmericaSupportsYou.mil
campaign for the troops, they had a concert in the center court yard. Craig Morgan headlined and put on a really good show. Part of the way through the concert, Jimmie Johnson appeared via satellite and with Don Rumsfeld’s help, unveiled a show car with the AmericaSupportsYou.mil logo on the deck lid.
As a soldier it was great to see the support of a big name sport like NASCAR.
As a fan, it was kind of a let down that Jimmie Johnson was the driver chosen. I mean no disrespect to Mr. Johnson. He is obviously a talented driver and a good guy. But in a sport full of personalities and tension and controversy, he seems out of place. He doesn’t come off as arrogant or rude… I can’t put my finger on it really… From a fan’s perspective, I guess you could say he’s just kind of “there”.
I’m sure I’ll get several emails letting me know that the sender is indeed a Jimmie Johnson fan, and that there are millions more just like him or her out there. Well to those millions, I say show yourselves!
Of course, this could be one of those oh-so-rare occasions when I’m completely off my rocker. It could be that I’m the only one that seems to have missed the throngs of folks decked out in Lowe’s regalia. Somehow, it could be that I have been looking the wrong direction when the folks with the #48 hats and can cozy’s sauntered by on the way to their seats.
In a way I hope I’m just blind or stupid, or both and that I’ve been missing the Johnson fans all this time. But I know a lot of folks -- and a lot of the folks I know are NASCAR fans. The drivers preferred by the folks I know, run the gamut from Kyle Busch to Kyle Petty and almost everywhere in between. I say almost, because out of everyone I know that’s into NASCAR, not one of them is a Jimmie Johnson fan.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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