Because they came from different eras and raced different generations of race cars, there’s no way to know how Jimmie Johnson and the late Dale Earnhardt would stack up in a head-to-head battle. They never even got to be on the track together in a race.
Earnhardt died on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 and Johnson didn’t make his Cup debut until later that year.
But they’ve compiled similar records and Johnson’s win in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway tied him with Earnhardt on the Sprint Cup career win list with 76 victories, seventh all time.
Johnson, who leads all active drivers in wins at AMS with five, said tying Earnhardt, who tops the all-time AMS list with nine wins, was a special moment.
“There’s been a big void in my mind that I was not able to race against [Earnhardt] …” Johnson said. “So to tie him, for myself personally … it’s a little bit of attachment to the great Dale Earnhardt and something I’m very proud of.”
In a finishing order that had a storybook feel, Dale Earnhardt Jr., the son of the late Intimidator and a teammate of Johnson, surged from fifth place on the final restart to finish second in a milestone event he said was overdue.
“I’m glad if [Johnson’s] going to win and tie that record, I’m certainly glad that I got to run second,” said Earnhardt, who said earlier this month that he was surprised Johnson’s achievement hadn’t come sooner, given his abilities.
Earnhardt said that his father and Johnson had their own driving styles and although they’re not similar, they both produce big results.
“Dad was real rough and pushing people around,” Earnhardt said, adding that from Johnson’s earliest days driving off-road trucks, he has won races by having tremendous car control. “He drives that style that you see those guys run those trucks out West. … You never hear Jimmie complaining about his car not turning. They always have that thing loose and he just hangs on and makes it work.”
Rick Hendrick, Johnson’s car owner, agreed that Earnhardt and Johnson had greatly different styles.
“Dale was more aggressive,” Hendrick said. “He didn’t get that Intimidator title by being nice to everybody. …
“Jimmie doesn’t put a fender on anybody. He races them clean.”
Sunday’s win was typical of many of Johnson’s victories over the years. His No. 48 team, led by crew chief Chad Knaus, worked on his car all race and put him in position to outrun Kevin Harvick, who led the most laps and appeared to have the fastest car.
As the laps wound down, Knaus called Johnson to pit road earlier than usual, stopping seven laps sooner than Harvick and the rest of the leaders. In doing so, when that round of green-flag stops was over, Johnson had cycled into a lead of more than 13 seconds over Harvick.
It appeared that he would be able to maintain that lead to the finish in a race that had seen just one caution flag to that point. But a blown tire and a spin by Ryan Newman with three scheduled laps remaining set up an overtime finish.
All of the eight drivers on the lead lap stopped for four fresh tires with Johnson leaving pit road with the lead.
He held the lead for the final lap, while Earnhardt Jr. earned the runner-up spot over pole-sitter Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards.
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