Why Claims That Jimmie Johnson Let Dale Earnhardt Jr Win at Talladega Are Absurd

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson just can’t seem to win—even when they win.

Earnhardt won this past Sunday’s Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. But in addition to celebrating his victory, he was met with comments on social media from some of his supposed “fans” that his Hendrick Motorsports teammate—as in Johnson—“let” or “helped” Junior win.

"(The social media reaction) was more about, 'You owed us, thanks for letting Junior win,' " Johnson told Jeff Gluck of USA Today on Tuesday. "I'm like, 'For one, I didn't owe you. Two, you're taking away what your driver did. He won the race! You're acting like I just let him win the race."

Johnson rarely loses his temper. To that end, he’s been accused at various times of being too vanilla or too blah. So when Johnson gets irked, it’s out of character. And accusing him of letting his HMS teammate win for whatever reason is not only enough to set Johnson off, it’s also ludicrous at its very foundation.

NASCAR has become a sport of conspiracy theories over the years, with things such as phantom cautions, phantom debris on the race track and even the belief by some that races—and their outcomes—are scripted just like in professional wrestling.

I pretty much ignore those conspiracy theorists in total. I’ve yet to find credible proof that NASCAR would intentionally fix a race outcome or let a certain driver win because he was the favored son or daughter that particular week.

But with this new and latest so-called “conspiracy,” let’s look at something that everybody seems to conveniently forget.

I don’t care how many teammates you have, be it one, two or three. The fact of the matter is pretty simple: No matter how many teammates you have, ONLY ONE CAN WIN AT ANY GIVEN TIME.

How many times have we had critics claim Jeff Gordon or Kasey Kahne—or, yes, even Dale Earnhardt Jr.—let Johnson win a race?

Or how many times has Gordon won a race because Johnson or Kahne or Junior “let” him win?

Sure, Earnhardt has had somewhat of an up-and-down season thus far in 2015. He started strong, but more recently—prior to Sunday’s win—he’s had some struggles.

We all know that by virtue of Sunday’s win, Earnhardt is all but likely to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

If Johnson or Gordon or Kahne were ever to intentionally take a dive to allow Earnhardt to win, and proof of such a scumbag move were to get out, the sport of NASCAR would never be the same.

Sure, NASCAR has been built on somewhat of a platform that it ain’t cheating unless you get caught, or that gray areas and rule interpretations are just those—gray and interpretative.

To think any member of the NASCAR oversight group—chairman/CEO Brian France, president Mike Helton or any other sanctioning body official—would authorize anything underhanded, particularly with what would be at risk and the ultimate price that would be paid not just for a single incident, but for the integrity of the whole sport, is ludicrous.

That’s like saying NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is a closet Green Bay Packers fan and if the Packers were to reach the Super Bowl, that Goodell would pass the word to his underlings to let the guys in green and gold win.

I get it that teammates can and should help their fellow teammates on the race track. Be it blocking someone from getting past to challenge the leader, or what have you, there is most definitely a place for teammates and what they can do to help their fellow ‘mates—provided that it’s legal and clean.

As I typically do, I’ve watched Sunday’s race three times now. There’s absolutely zero evidence to me that Johnson did anything amiss, got off the gas or failed to give it less than 100 percent. If anything, the only "crime" Johnson committed is he lost the draft late in the race and trailed off somewhat.

Junior won Sunday for several basic reasons: He had the better car at the right time. He was fast throughout the race, he didn’t come out of nowhere with two laps left to go and he didn’t have any nefarious additions to his car to help him win, such as nitrous oxide (which boosts performance in an engine) or the like.

"You'd think they would stand up and be like, 'My guy kicked butt today and he won the race,'" Johnson told Gluck. "Instead, there's been a lot of, 'Oh, well you let him win.'"

Johnson added later, “I was doing everything in my power to set up a pass for the win."

Sure, Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus have had their share of run-ins with NASCAR for rules violations or interpretations that have resulted in fines, penalties and even lengthy suspensions.

But those infractions were typically done to make Johnson win, not one of his teammates.

Think about it: Would NASCAR or Hendrick Motorsports or Jimmie Johnson or anyone else think it was THAT important for Junior to win a specific race (Geico 500) at a specific race track (Talladega) and be willing to risk their lives, businesses and careers just to see Earnhardt and the No. 88 cross the finish line first?

After all, it was just one of 36 races on the schedule, no more important than any other race.

I know it’s easy for critics to throw accusations around as if they’re blowing bubbles.

But give the sport, Earnhardt and Johnson some credit for one thing that most of those critics don’t seem to have any of: credibility.

Junior won Sunday fair and square, and JJ had nothing to gain by “letting” his teammate win.

To think anything less is unconscionable.

Follow me on Twitter @JerryBonkowski