Jimmie Johnson could join Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty in exclusive club

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Richard Childress had every reason to defer or hedge, but he didn’t hesitate with the answer.

One of the closest surrogates possible for the late Dale Earnhardt, the team owner for six of his co-record seven Sprint Cup championships, Childress said he knows how his friend would feel about the prospect of Jimmie Johnson joining his very exclusive club of Earnhardt and Richard Petty.

“Dale always had the highest respect for anybody that puts in as much as he does to win and win championships,” Childress told USA TODAY Sports. “Dale worked so hard for many years, and that’s the way Jimmie is.”

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And as for himself, “I think it would be great to have him join those other two.”

Johnson’s potential tying of one of NASCAR’s most hallowed records will undoubtedly spark debate over his place in the pantheon of its greatest drivers.

He will eventually enter the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, but even that will not sufficiently quantify his cumulative excellence. There will be the comparison of eras, the formative period in which Petty often raced multiple times weekly against fields of often lesser talent and equipment, a burgeoning period of a national sport when Earnhardt raged, or the modern period of marked parity in which Johnson has dominated since 2004.

Acceptance came begrudgingly for Johnson from fans even as he won consecutive championships from 2006-10. He was ‘vanilla,’ he just was a product of the ultra successful Hendrick Motorsports machine, he was this misconception or that, so went various ill-informed notions. At 41, after winning only one championship in the last five seasons, Johnson seems to have be presented a softening sentiment. He feels he has always been respected, but being booed less worries him some, he joked.

Team owners Roger Penske and Joe Gibbs, who also have drivers eligible for championships this weekend, expressed admiration for their foe on Friday.

“To me, people don't like to see someone win all the time,” said Penske, who could win his second Sprint Cup title Sunday with Joey Logano. “Well, I love to win all the time, so I'm sure (team owner) Rick (Hendrick) does and I know (team owner) Joe (Gibbs) does, so to me, I take my hat off, and I wish I had my driver going for the seventh championship.  Rick, you don't have to … no apologies for that guy.  I think he's the best.”

Petty and Earnhardt won all of their championships under season-long points-accumulation systems while all of Johnson’s have come in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. This would be his first in the elimination format, which Petty equated to “like rolling dice.”

“It’s one of them deals where I did my thing in my time, Earnhardt done his thing in his time. Jimmie’s doing his thing in his time,” Petty said. “So we never competed with each other. We won ours against who we were playing against. Earnhardt won his and Jimmie’s winning against the people he’s running against, so there’s no way to compare it. It’s just a number.”

But it may be a number never to be reached again. Of course, that theory has been refuted with scores of records in a myriad of sports. But in this seemingly dynasty-mitigating format, seven would be a chore. After Johnson, Tony Stewart has the next-most championships (three) but is retiring after Sunday. No other active drivers has won more than one championship, although Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch could repeat this weekend.

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“I think everybody felt when Petty did it, it would never be done,” Johnson said. “And then Earnhardt did it. And then I’ve been able to do it. So it is possible, absolutely. Maybe not probable, but definitely possible.”

Petty isn’t sure, saying of Johnson’s embracing of the pursuit by utilizing a helmet with a “Chasing 7” logo, “He better. He’s liable not never get another chance at it.”

Childress believes Johnson will exploit this chance.

“Jimmie, I think he’ll win here,” he said. “If nothing goes wrong, they don’t beat themselves, he’ll be a seven-time champion when he leaves here.”

Follow James on Twitter @brantjames