Nascar Tickets - Johnson Era Should Be Applauded, Not Masked

Tiger Woods' takeover on the PGA Tour has brought nationwide attention to the sport

of golf like never before, and (despite his recent faux pas) Woods' decade-long winning streak has marked an era in the sport that has yet to be matched. Jimmie Johnson has achieved similar milestones on the NASCAR circuit, yet his domination in the sport of stock car racing has largely been blamed for the sport's declining viewer ratings instead of No. 48 being celebrated as a one-of-a-kind athlete.

After the third Sprint Cup Series race of the 2010 season, Jimmie Johnson has already snagged two victories. He's currently on the prowl for his fifth consecutive series championship, making No. 48 the go-to guy on the racetrack week after week. While JJ has certainly carved out a niche in the Cup Series over the last several years, he's more likely to garner sighs than applause when he zooms into Victory Lane. His dominance in the Cup Series has led to mutterings that NASCAR is becoming entirely too predictable, and slipping attendance numbers at races over the past couple years are actually pointing fingers at Johnson for making stock car racing seem boring.

Despite negativity thrust in his direction, however, Jimmie Johnson continues to do what it is he does best: win races. He's been accused of being so lucky he has a horseshoe stuck in a certain crevice of his body by Kevin Harvick, who he passed to win the race in Fontana (okay, so the early pit was lucky, but his running at the top of the pack wasn't), but Johnson insists that no matter how many knocks he takes, he'll continue giving his all to his famed sport.

Telling Yahoo! Sports that his persistence overrides disheartening blows he's been dealt by racing fans, Johnson said, "If people are trying to find a way not to accept the quality of the race team we have, that's cool. We'll just come back this week and take the trophy again." There's no denying his 49 Cup Series wins in 294 career starts have made him an absolute force to be reckoned with in NASCAR, and perhaps a fifth championship title will give Jimmie Johnson the bragging rights it takes for his career to finally be shed into a positive light.

After all, it's not all winning for No. 48. Jimmie Johnson is human, and he's not immune to fiery crashes and mechanical problems. In fact, Johnson started the 2010 Sprint Cup Series off on the wrong foot, with his car succumbing to a rear axle problem and finishing only 185 of 208 laps at the Daytona 500 on Feb. 14, 2010. Racing fans with NASCAR tickets can expect Jimmie Johnson to run toward the front of the pack in almost every race, but the nature of stock car racing makes consistent wins a phenomenon in itself worth watching.

As the 2010 Sprint Cup Series gets well underway, the top 10 in series standings continues to shuffle and sift through the ranks of the top stock car drivers. Jimmie Johnson is on the move as he currently sits at No. 5 (as of March 5) overall, and Kevin Harvick is the Cup Series driver to chase down as races in Atlanta (March 7), Bristol (March 21) and Martinsville (March 28) bring racing season into the spring.

by: Pat Smith

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