| | | | | | TWICE IS NICE | Johnson named Driver of the Year for 2nd time running | |
| | By Tom Jensen / SPEEDTV.com For the second consecutive year, and the third time in four years, Jimmie Johnson has been selected the winner of the Richard Petty Driver of the Year award by the National Motorsports Press Association. The announcement was made Sunday during the NMPA’s annual convention in Concord, N.C.
Coming off his second NASCAR Nextel Cup championship, Johnson, driver of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet, received 41 of the 72 votes (56 percent) cast by the NMPA membership.
“To be voted to something like this is the ultimate form of flattery,” Johnson, who won 10 of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series’ 36 races in 2007, said. “To have people see and respect and point out the great things that we’ve done – and it’s not just me, it’s all my guys – is just icing on the cake.”
In addition to his career-best 10 victories, Johnson logged 20 top-five finishes and 24 top-10s en route to becoming the first driver to successfully defend the Cup title since 1998. Johnson won four of the first 10 races of the season, but it was his late charge in The Chase for the Nextel Cup that showed the strength of his Hendrick team.
In the 10-race playoff format, the El Cajon, Calif., native put together a four-race winning stretch that saw him in victory lane at Martinsville, Atlanta, Texas and Phoenix. That late push carried him to the top of the point standings, and by season’s end he held a 77-point advantage over teammate Jeff Gordon. His 5.0 average finishing position in the Chase was the lowest since the implementation of the format in 2004.
Gordon was named on 19 of the votes cast to place second. A four-time series champion, he scored six wins to raise his career total to 81. He moved into sixth place, passing the late Dale Earnhardt, on NASCAR’s all-time win list with win No. 77 at Talladega Superspeedway in April of 2007.
Clint Bowyer parlayed a consistent effort and first career victory (at New Hampshire) into a third-place points finish, and was third in the Driver of the Year voting as well. The Richard Childress Racing driver received seven votes. Others receiving votes included Raybestos Rookie of the Year recipient Juan Pablo Montoya (2); Carl Edwards (2), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2) and Jeff Burton (1).
Determined by vote of the membership, the Richard Petty Driver of the Year award has been presented annually since 1969 to recognize the season’s most outstanding driver. It is named in honor of NASCAR’s all-time leader in Cup victories.
| | Posted January 27, 2008 , 10:04 pm EST
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