Jimmie Johnson's Three-peat Not NASCAR's Biggest Story

Now that Jimmie Johnson has won his third in a row, we can finally move on. Despite making history, JJ’s three-peat is not the biggest news, but maybe the brightest spot, amongst a strange season.

NASCAR, Welcome to Free Agency!

Quote me as saying; NASCAR has finally been bit by the bug!

Think about it, now that Dale Jr. has opened the flood gates, it’s going to hell in a hand basket really fast. Ok, Dale Jr. isn’t the first, nor the first high profile to change teams over the years, but he set a precedent.

Or maybe it was Kyle Busch who started it? He whined and complained enough that his porridge was too cold, so much, that Rick Hendrick, Mr. Man Himself, finally got tired of it, and let him out of his contract, allowing the way to be paved for Dale Jr. to take part in the “stable.”

What has happened to good ole NASCAR? Gone are the days of loyalty and respect. Gone are the days of Dale Earnhardt Sr. driving for Richard Childress Racing and owning his own teams at DEI, with no conflict.

He was Richard’s Driver of that infamous black No. 3. No if’s, and’s, or but’s. Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, and Bill Elliot were in Fords, nothing else.

So what happened? Years of money, and lots of it, now, not so much. Sponsors who would pump millions each year into a team, simply cannot, or will not afford it.

Shop testing equipment is getting more expensive. The C.O.T. threw some people for a loop, because instead of using a car from three years ago, they have had to build all these new cars.

Yes, they build multiple cars for each year anyways, however, when a team tore up a car prior to last year, they could simply bring back that Daytona winner from three years ago. OK, maybe not Daytona since they go in the museum, but you get what I mean.

After Dale Sr.’s passing, DEI went downhill real quick. Dale Jr. had the “old school” in him, as he ran without a contract for roughly three or four years. Then when he did get a contract, it was not as good as he should have gotten, then the equipment started being subpar.

Richard Childress Racing has gone downhill. Kevin Harvick, Dale Sr.’s replacement in the GM GoodWrench car, is about as whiny as Kyle Busch. Amongst many other teams going downhill, Penske, Rousch, Woods Bros., to name a few.

On to the present.

We all knew that Smoke would somehow get back to a Chevy, and the sooner the better, since ALL other races he sponsors, runs in, shows up at, are all Chevy. I mean Dude might as well change his name to Chevy.

Tony Stewart has had the money to buy out his contract, from the sponsorships for all of the tracks he owns in Indiana, series he runs in those tracks, and what he makes in the Cup, and sponsorships there. It was just a matter of when.

Joe Gibbs made a halfway great business decision moving to Toyota. Toyota after a losing, more so embarrassing losing season in their first year in Cup, Gibbs already had the knowledge, and Toyota was ready to spend on the parts to make it work, and it has, except for Smoke.

Yes he won one, but Kyle Busch was the star, and really I think the move to Toyota demotivated Tony. So, I say to Coach Gibbs, you made an OK call, but alienated your quarterback; your rookie ain’t ready yet. 

I think Mark Martin going to Hendrick is actually more of a shock than When Dale Jr. went. I think Mark got ticked at himself for running a limited schedule, since when he was running the #8 Army Chevy, he was winning, well at least finishing top 10.

Dale’s was more of a need for reliable equipment and somewhere he could have a place he could have the best chance to win. Especially after his step-mother, Theresa Earnhardt, would not give up a controlling interest.

She should have given up controlling interest, because he would have then had the motivation to invest his own money he makes with the personal sponsors. Now it is Earnhardt-Ganassi, with Childress engines. Say what? Three teams, working together. Hello, economy.

With the change of names, Winston, Nextel, Sprint Cup, and the Busch Series Now Nationwide, and whatever the Truck Series is next year, Make up your mind!

I know this has been random, and a lot in a short time, while leaving out many other transgressions this year, however, that’s the point, where does it start, and when does it end?

Now you have teams of five drivers (being scaled back to four, per NASCAR), only the strong will survive. Drivers need to take heed, soon you will be disposable, just like last year's flavor of the month relief pitcher.

Oh yeah, and Jimmie Johnson won his third championship in a row, and Chad Knause became only the first Crew Chief to win three in a row.