Seven times NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson had a major influence on the sport from early in his career that a only a limited of racer ever had. One of the major change he had brought in early was the fitness factor. Before him it wasn’t often the main concern for the racers and seeing JJ’s success, they teams started pushing their stars to be in the right shape.
Recently, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. discussed this Jimmie Johnson factor. He pointed out that he was forced be more fit and stop his wild lifestyle by HMS, when he became the 83-time racer winners’ teammate in 2008. Junior pointed out that the decision wasn’t fruitful for him and e went back to old-guard ways.
Two times NASCAR champion Kyle Busch, who also has been teammates with JJ, was asked about Junior’s opinion in his recent appearance in the Pat McAfee show. He revealed that he was asked to do the same when he started getting a bit fat, and he worked out hard for six months, but it didn’t produce the expected result. Busch believes it proves it’s not just the driver, but also the car that is making the difference.
Jimmie ruined it for a lot of us. Dale isn’t the only one that had the Jimmie Johnson factor that came upon him. I got yelled at from a crew chief. I was getting a little chunky, a little heavy and all that…I spent six months in the gym and working out, slimmed down and lost some pounds and whatnot. The results didn’t change. Nothing happened. It’s all about the horse you are riding. It’s all about the car you got. Kyle Busch said via Pat McAfee show.
Kyle Busch claims Jimmie Johson’s win was mainly because of the car
The former Xfinity Series champion pointed out that Jimmie Johnson, during his dominant years had the fastest cars consistently. He reckons everything worked out for the current Legacy Motor Club owner-driver with the car and that helped him win often.
There’s another driver out there who said ‘You can’t drive a slow car fast. That’s the truth to the matter, and Jimmie was always in a fast car. He also had everything right and was going the right way about it. Kyle Busch said.
Busch has a point that JJ had a dominant car and it helped him to win more races. But that doesn’t mean Johnson’s fitness path isn’t the right one and all the win he had was because of just the car because it didn’t help him. Not every approach is built for everyone and that might have been the case in the scenario.
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