Is Jimmie Johnson ruining NASCAR?
One really has to feel bad for Denny Hamlin. Denny went out and won a NASCAR Sprint Cup race, which isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do, and he was even able to beat Jimmie Johnson which is a near impossible thing to do, and yet all those accomplishments are being swept aside since Denny has nearly no chance to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup title. Even after winning Sunday’s race Denny is 352 points behind point’s leader Jimmie Johnson. The most points that a driver can make up in one race is 165 so technically he is not mathematically out of it, but there is virtually no way for Hamlin to make up that difference.
The problem for Denny is Johnson has yet to finish outside the top ten in any of the six NASCAR playoff races. In fact Johnson has won 10 of the last 20 playoff races run by NASCAR, and it so dominating the NASCAR Chase for the Championship that NASCAR may have to change the rules to keep Johnson and his #48 team from such domination.
Johnson is averaging a third place finish in the first six 2009 Chase races, and there seems to be no end in sight for his dominance over this sport. While it is great to see a team rise to the occasion of a championship over, and over again, one has to wonder if Johnson’s domination of this sports, especially its playoff system, is the cause of the NASCAR sickness.
