Comparing Cale Yarborough and Jimmie Johnson is like examining the differences between Southern moonshine and today’s finest bourbon.
Yarborough, the son of a South Carolina tobacco farmer, sneaked into his first Cup race in 1951 and then tried to make his first attempt to drive in a NASCAR race by lying about his age.
He was old-school NASCAR, the sport born by moonshine drivers.
And Johnson? He’s today’s NASCAR, a well-spoken product of the advertising age. The California native is the poster boy for good behavior.
The differences are obvious, but this won’t be the first time Yarborough and Johnson, 33, will be mentioned in the same sentence during the next five weeks.
During that time, Johnson will probably be in the process of winning his third consecutive Cup title, a feat only Yarborough (1976-78) has accomplished.
At the halfway point of the 10-race Chase playoffs, Johnson leads the standings by 69 points over Jeff Burton. Greg Biffle is third, 86 points back, and Carl Edwards is a distant fourth, 168 points behind the two-time defending champion.
Yes, Johnson is beginning to field questions about joining Yarborough in the exclusive threepeat club.
“It means that I’m in the hunt, and I have a shot at doing this,” Johnson said in Tuesday’s national teleconference. “So I’m excited about what these final races hold for the team. If it does take place, it would be a very special thing. I’ve been able to accomplish a lot more in this sport than I ever thought I would. To find my name in the record books and hopefully have it in a situation — to be in the company of Cale in such an elite situation would mean the world to me.
“But there is a lot of racing left. We’re only halfway through this thing. We’ve watched guys lose a lot of points in the first five, and that means it could still go either way, or any way, in these final five.”
History is on Johnson’s side. In the final five races of 2007 and 2008, Johnson didn’t finish outside the top 10. In those 10 races, he won five times and finished second three times.
In the past two season finales, he finished ninth in 2006 and seventh last year while simply protecting his lead.
At this time in the past two years at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, site of this week’s race, Johnson has driven to victory. His win a year ago began his current streak of 10 straight top-10 finishes in Chase races.
“I’m excited about the possibilities,” Johnson said. “I feel like I’m focusing on the right things. And the team has been doing a great job calling the race, preparing cars, pit stops. I feel like I’m doing a good job driving the car. We’re hitting on all eight cylinders and looking good.”
