Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Johnson, uploaded by enterprisenews.com.
If race car drivers were athletes, we’d have to discuss whether Jimmie Johnson is America’s greatest active athlete. Of course, racing isn’t a sport and drivers aren’t athletes. But that doesn’t minimize Johnson’s accomplishments as one of the best NASCAR has ever produced.
Uploaded by wikipedia.org.
As of this writing, he’s on the verge of winning his sixth championship. Only Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty have seven titles. When clutch time comes, Johnson is the man, having won almost 25% of all the Chase races he’s entered. And he’s the only person ever to have won the title for five consecutive years (2006-2010).
But here’s the most interesting fact. Forbes.com named him the Most Influential Athlete in 2011 and again in 2012. Obviously, Forbes doesn’t know athletes, but it sure as heckfire knows money. That’s endorsement power right there. So as long as he makes those left turns faster than anyone, he’ll keep getting big old checks from Lowe’s, Quaker State, and Chevrolet. As Ricky Bobby said, “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS7HHuDCkHY