Jimmie Johnson: Where Title Number 6 Stacks Up
Anybody can form a formidable argument that Jimmie Johnson only has three championships, but the history books will always reveal that Johnson is “Mr. 6 Time”, and probably soon to be “7 Time”.
After a decent run at Homestead and avoiding calamity on a restart, Johnson ended up finishing 9th to secure his 6th title by a 19 point margin over Matt Kenseth. Overall, it was an incredible season for the No.48, but where does this championship season rank against his five other championship seasons? Just how amazing was the No.48 team in 2013?
Let’s rank their greatest championship seasons, starting from number six, and working our way down to number one.
6) 2006: Championship Number 1
It only seems fitting that Johnson’s first championship would be one of his “worst” season performances. And by worst, I mean having 5 wins, 13 top 5s, and 24 top 10s, and a career-best average finish of 9.7. Reminiscent of 2013, he held off Matt Kenseth by 56 points to start his streak of five titles in a row. By no means was this a bad season for the No.48 team, who ended up winning the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400, and The All-Star Race all in the same year.
5) 2013: Championship Number 6
Coming in at number five on the list, it’s championship number six for “Mr. 6-Time”. As always, it was still a stellar performance by the No.48 team, posting 6 victories, 16 top 5s, 24 top 10s, and an average finish of 10.7. He also won swept the races at Daytona, almost won the Brickyard 400, and won his 4th All-Star Race. Overall, it was a formidable season for the No.48, but it wasn’t his best.
4) 2010: Championship Number 5
In a season where Johnson became known as “5-Time”, it didn’t come without an epic fight between himself and Denny Hamlin, who ultimately lost the race do to a wreck at Homestead. Johnson cruised to his 5th title by 39 points over Hamlin, and ended up scoring 6 wins, 17 top 5s, 23 top 10s, with an average finish of 12.2. Some fans may argue that this is actually his worst championship season, due to Johnson having four DNFs on the year.
3) 2008: Championship Number 3
This was the year where everyone’s jaws dropped to the floor when they waved the checkered flag at Homestead. Nobody thought that Cale Yarborough’s record of three titles in a row was ever going to be matched, and sure enough in 2008, Johnson did just that. And with 7 victories, 15 top 5s, and 22 top 10s, his performance backed it up. He also scored another Brickyard 400 victory to add to his immaculate resume.
2) 2009: Championship Number 4
One year later, Cale Yarborough’s record was broken. Johnson had won an amazing four championships in a row. Wow was this even possible? You could say the chase had something to do with it, but I believe his 7 victories, 16 top 5s, and 24 top 10s also had something to do with it.
1) 2007: Championship Number 2
You can argue where I placed Championship’s 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6, but it will be very hard to argue against putting 2007 at the number one spot. Take his 10 wins for starters, including four wins in a row and the end of the year. Not to mention, he also scored a colossal 20 top 5s, and 24 top 10s. I think it’s safe to say, this was the best championship-winning season by the No.48 team.
Where Kligerman Could Go
Following his seventh place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Parker Kligerman was informed that Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) would be shutting down their one car program in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS).
The main reason that team owner Busch had to shut down the KBM Nationwide team was due to lack of sponsorship. KBM will now release Kligerman into the NASCAR free agency pool and turn their focus on Darrell Wallace Jr. and Erik Jones in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS).
Kligerman and the NASCAR community was first exposed to the fact a few races ago that KBM could be concluding their NNS team after the season finale. That hint gave Kligerman time to prepare his options for next season. His options aren’t very broad, but there is still some hope for Kligerman to race in 2014.
Kligerman has given us a hint as well after starting two races with Swan Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) this year. I’ve came up with three places the 22-year-old driver could possibly sign with.
3. Joe Gibbs Racing: Brian Vickers won’t return to the No. 20 Toyota at Joe Gibbs in 2014, he’ll head full-time to the Sprint Cup Series. After racing with KBM, who are partners with JGR, Kligerman could very well be in the driver’s seat to precede his career on in the No. 20 at Gibbs. But, Gibbs could possibly be leaning towards their development driver Drew Herring to pilot the car instead of Kligerman.
2. Roush Fenway Racing: After Travis Pastrana announced his departing from NASCAR, Roush Fenway Racing has been left with a hole to fill on the NNS side of things. Kligerman’s never driven a Ford in the NASCAR ranks but change won’t hurt. Roush Fenway doesn’t have any development drivers heading through the lower division of NASCAR so this could easily work out. RFF will have to support a three car program if they’d like to bring Kligerman to the team with Ryan Reed and Trevor Bayne as teammates.
1. Swan Racing: Finishing 17th in his Sprint Cup debut has left many people to believe Kligerman will be driving for this Swan Racing team in 2014. To reassure that statement, Kligerman finished 25th at Homestead-Miami Speedway putting him one step closer to signing a deal to drive the No. 30 Toyota. David Stremme is the other driver that Swan Racing could be looking into; Stremme currently holds the team’s best finish.
Wherever Kligerman may wind up you can guarantee he’ll continue to impress. He finished ninth in points this year in the NNS ranks and posted an outstanding 13 top-10 finishes.
