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Jimmie and Cale have a lot in common
That's the same thing with Jimmie Johnson right now. He's driving for the premier owner in Rick Hendrick. They have an awesome sponsor, great cars, motors, crew — just everything. Obviously, Jimmie is at the top of his game too, or else he wouldn't be on the verge of his third consecutive Cup title.
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I also like the fact that their championships match up 30 years apart. Again, Cale's were '76, '77 and '78 and Jimmie's championships have been '06, '07 and, probably in a few weeks, '08. So that's pretty neat. They have a lot of similarities when it comes to circumstances, but when it comes to driving styles, there is no comparison.
Cale Yarborough was tenacious. Cale was like a junkyard dog. When he latched onto you, he wouldn't let go. That's the way he drove his race car. He manhandled a car. He was a wheel man. You'd have smoke coming off all five of his wheels — four on the track and the one inside the car. That's just the way he drove. He didn't know a lot about a car and didn't really care, but man, could he get a car around a race track. He drove by the seat of his pants and Cale was a hard man to beat.
When we got to tracks where the conditions were tough like Bristol, Darlington, Dover, Nashville — some of those hot July and August races Cale was one tough cat to beat. Cale and Ryan Newman look a lot alike. They have no neck. Cale's head just sat right on top of his shoulders and he never got tired. He was just so tough.
Now fast forward 30 years and Jimmie Johnson is totally the opposite.
Jimmie is very smooth and calculating. He is a risk/reward kind of driver. He doesn't take anymore risk than he has to and he tries to get the maximum amount of reward. Jimmie is smooth as silk. He has the great ability to be able to drive the car right up to the edge but never go over the edge. Jimmie is a really smart driver too. He takes care of his equipment, but when it's time to go, he will put the whip to it.
Cale had the tendency to drive harder than he should sometimes. So he would get himself into trouble that way occasionally. Jimmie seems to have better self control and composure. So what's interesting is that Jimmie goes at it completely different than Cale did but they get the same result. Cale was dominant — Jimmie is dominant.
The other thing they both have in common is confidence. Jimmie is confident and Cale was a very confident driver. In fact, Cale was so confident that he was cocky. Jimmie, on the other hand, is so confident that he is humble. So personality-wise they are totally opposite, but performance-wise they are identical. Each has dominated the sport during their era.
I was privileged to race against Cale when he was at his finest. I regret never being able to rub fenders with Jimmie. I like Jimmie a lot. He is fine young man and complete gentleman. I've always said he is the nicest, most polite, kindest race car driver I ever knew. He reminds me of Benny Parsons. When he puts that helmet on, buddy, his personality changes dramatically and then you have a guy on top of his pit box in Chad Knaus that is as aggressive as they come. When you combine those two guys and an owner like Rick Hendrick, that folks is a definite winning combination.
We have two tough races coming up. Atlanta and Texas are both 500-milers that are hard on engines. But when it comes to mistakes, Cale made very few as a driver and neither does Jimmie and that's how come they end up as NASCAR champions every year.
Oh by the way
This qualifying thing has fallen into Jimmie's lap. Having them given to you week in and week out due to rain outs is a huge benefit because it allows Jimmie as the point leader to always get the best pit stall. These rainouts are also a benefit to Jeff Burton, Greg Biffle and even Carl Edwards. Sometimes they struggle in qualifying so these rainouts help them start up front with Jimmie and also get a great pit selection. It helps keep those other guys in the hunt to try and keep up with Jimmie as well.
Oh by the way II
The light sheet metal thing on the No. 83 car has been going on forever. It's something we have been doing as much as possible where we could legally back in the day. The reason it is such a big deal with this new COT car is because of the weight advantage it gives you. These new cars are very top heavy so anything you can do to lighten that top weight is a plus. So it's nothing new and it's been done for over 100 years. But I have to snicker about this part.
Isn't it ironic that they picked the No. 83 car for a random check and it had something wrong with it? Wow, folks that is just bad luck right there!
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