Deal With It, or Learn How to Love Jimmie Johnson and History in the Making

(Jimmie Johnson returns to the garage after signing autographs for fans during a 2007 test session at Gateway International Raceway. Photo by Brandon W. Mudd)

Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway, four-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson won his first race at the half-mile bullring. His third of the 2010 season. His 22nd of the COT Era. His 50th overall.

Enough already.

Not of him winning; enough of fans complaining about his winning. NASCAR fans are getting to see history in the making and should sit back and enjoy the show because Johnson isn't going to stop anytime soon. And he sure as heck isn't going to stop because fans and competitors are tired of seeing him in Victory Lane.

I'm not going to make the analogies comparing Johnson and his No. 48 team to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, or Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees, or Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers. It's apples and oranges; racing ain't stick-and-ball.

What I will compare his run to is Jeff Gordon and Ray Evernham, Dale Earnhardt and Richard Childress, Darrell Waltrip and Junior Johnson, Cale Yarbrough and Junior Johnson, Richard Petty and Dale Inman. If you look really carefully, you'll recognize that each of those pairings pretty much covers every generation of NASCAR racing going back to the mid-1960s. What Jimmie and Chad are doing isn't new, they're just doing it more than those guys did and they're doing it right now.

We as sports fans tend to romanticize the past. The NASCAR faithful talk about Earnhardt now and how great it was to see him dominate the tracks and the drivers back in the day. But what some of them aren't saying is how much they absolutely hated him in the late 80s, early 90s. Want the truth? Go ask some Rusty Wallace fans their thoughts on the Intimidator. Their view isn't quite as skewed.

Richard Petty is one of the most beloved figures in the sport as well he should be. You won't find a nicer man in the NASCAR garage or in any sport for that matter. He'll never turn down a fan or blow off media or have a rude word for anyone. Most fans talk about his 200 wins, his seven Daytona 500 victories, and his seven Cup Series titles with reverance and respect. But if you find a Bobby Allison fan or David Pearson fan from back in the late 60s through the 70s, you're going to hear a different story. And most of today's fans remember when Gordon and Evernham dominated, winning titles three out of four seasons between 1995-1998. So as you can see, it's been done. Johnson's just the latest to do it.

Another complaint about Johnson is that he's boring. He's vanilla. He's too goody-goody. Since when is having a respectable champion and representative of the sport you love a bad thing? Do you want Tiger Woods? Do you want Michael Jordan and his fidelity issues and gambling issues? Do you want T.O. or Barry Bonds?

Johnson does his talking in his car which leads to doing some more talking in Victory Lane, where he held court for the 50th time on Sunday. You think he's going to back down because fans and other drivers are tired of seeing his rear bumper? His comments after the race don't indicate that.

"Well, we have a lot of racing left, there is no doubt about it," he said immediately following the race. "But when we are winning at tracks we aren't supposed to, the boys better look. Even that No. 2 car (Kurt Busch) that doesn't want the No. 48 to win."

Finally, what's wrong with having a fan-friendly driver as a champion? In October of 2007, Johnson tested at Gateway International Raceway in preparation for the fall race at Phoenix (where he won). We had media scheduled for that day and he was fine with it. He just asked that photographers give them a little space in the garage area. His media availability was only supposed to be 10 minutes. He did 30 without a complaint. He even asked if anyone else needed anything from him.

His final act at GIR, though, is the one that will always stick with me. Fans were able to watch him turn laps around the track that day, a cold and rainy one. When Johnson and his team finally shut it down around 6:30 that evening, he started to walk towards the start-finish line where fans had gathered on the other side of the fence taking pictures. One of his crewmembers said they need to hurry up and go because they had a team meeting scheduled.

Johnson looked at him and said, "Man, those guys have been sitting there all day in the cold just watching me driving in circles. I can't let them just stand there. They deserve to have something signed if they want."

So Johnson, who already had a title under his belt and would go on to win three more, hopped across the pit wall and spent another 20 minutes signing items for the fans, talking with them, and allowing them to take pictures. For those fans, it was a day they'll never forget. For Johnson, it was taking a page out of Petty's playbook and giving back to the people who watch him on Sundays and support his sponsors.

So you really don't want this guy to represent your sport? If nothing else, bear through it so in 20 years, you can say that you saw one of the best ever. Your grandkids don't have to know you complained about it every Sunday while you were watching him.

It'll be our little secret.