For every sport there is one athlete that people say will "Never be a legend " "They'll never win" or "Has no talent." That's what people thought about Jimmie Johnson. He had a mediocre Xfinity series career with only 1 win, 4 top 5s, and 16 top 10s from 1998-2001. He only ran full time in that series in 2000 and 2001 so it still wasn't the greatest of careers, but when he joined the Cup series for Hendrick Motorsports in 2002 after Jeff Gordon recommend him to Rick Hendrick everyone thought they'd lost their minds. But instantly Johnson maximized the opportunity getting 3 wins and finished 5th in the standings. 2003 and 2004 were both 2nd place points finishes with a total of 14 wins, 40 top 5s, 64 top 10s, and 2,794 laps led. With all of this being said 2005 looked to be the year the 48 would reign up on top. The year started off well from winning the 2005 Budweiser Shootout, but the Gatorade duel provided controversy between Johnson and Kevin Harvick.

Well Jimmie was able to start 2nd in the 500 after his team was able to fix the slight damage on his car. He speed on pit road making his day harder but still ended with a 5th place finish. However he did have controversy with 2002 Cup champion Tony Stewart. On the last lap the two of them made contact racing hard coming to the checkered flag as their sides collided. However the 48 quickly put this behind them and focused on Fontana. Jimmie had a good car but had to recover from a pit call gone wrong with taking just fuel and tires mean a lot a this track. In the final 29 laps Johnson used fresh ones to his advantage to drive his way up from 10th to two tenths short of victory in 2nd. At Las Vegas the Lowes crew had a very interesting race. He started 9th and was slowly moving up against his competition till a caution pitstop when Johnson got up to 3rd and fell to 19th when a rare occurrence happened. During the pitstop a lugnut that came off an old tire bounced off the ground and bounced back onto the lug stud. Yeah that was weird and as Fox reporter Dick Berggren said "That was just rotten luck." Moving on, Johnson recovered to take the lead a few laps past halfway. Then NASCAR saw the right rear fender of his car somehow got into an illegal position where Jimmie got extra downforce and an unfair advantage. So to make it a level playing field they mandated that the 48 get it fixed. Still even that couldn't stop them from winning the race and Johnson really could summarize this, "You guys absolutely rock! I love my job, I love my team! Boy I love seeing victory lane!" After an eventful day the hot streak continued from the end of last year with 9 consecutive top 10s, 8 of them are top 5s, and 5 of them are victories. Plus he became the points leader.........for a short amount of time. Johnson was penalized 25 points for his car not meeting minimum height requirements. Crew chief Chad Knaus was fined $35,000 and suspended for 2 races. Chad stated that the reason this happened was from a part failure and planned to appeal the penalty. However the 25 points would not be recovered, but Knaus wouldn't have to miss any races but the fine had to be paid and he was on a 90 day probation. Now onwards to Atlanta and the 48 was still quick as ever having one of the two dominant cars over the race but the way Atlanta works sometimes like racing will have a nail biting finish.

Well that was a tough way to lose a race after leading 156 of 325 laps. But at least Jimmie was able to actually take the points lead this time. A 6th place in Bristol meant he had a 94 point lead over Greg Biffle. Martinsville was a race that had a tough hill to climb after starting 37th. Early on he had to struggle to stay on the lead lap yet with perfectly timed cautions he was able to stay in the hunt but under an early yellow the 48 car would lose a lap in the pits. About 40 laps later Jimmie got the free pass getting him his lap back. It was a slow climb up through the 500 lap race which included him losing his lap again but in the end he was on the lead lap with an 8th place. A known slogan for Texas is "everything is bigger in Texas" which isn't wrong cause Texas is the 2nd largest state in the USA and one thing that got bigger was Johnson's point lead now being 135 over Biffle and also has a 289 point cushion over 11th place Tony Stewart in regards of making the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup where the 10 best teams and drivers will battle it out for the title in the last 10 races. The Hendrick Motorsports driver is on a hot streak getting his 13th consecutive top 10 finishes. In this span he also got 5 wins and 10 top 5s. Unfortunately the hot streak ended in the hot desert with a 15th place finish at Phoenix. Talladega would not get better for the 29 year old after wrecking late in the race putting him 20th and received criticism from most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr saying Johnson was an idiot for this incident.

Cause Dale Jr out of all people blamed Jimmie for the Big One a target was placed on his back because the Jr fans would REALLY show you how they felt if they felt like Dale was done wrong sometimes it is too extreme. But nothing happened and Johnson was not worried about Talladega saying on a pre-race interview at Darlington thinking that some people need something to talk about and was just going to focus on his job. He did do a good job finishing 7th after at one point pitting under green for a loose wheel and even lead 55 laps. Maintaining a 127 point lead over mentor Jeff Gordon who is a 4 time champ is also a very good job. At Richmond the following week Johnson wrecked on the backstretch basically taking him out of contention for a good finish. And if that wasn't enough something just broke in the left front steering the Lowes car to the left into the wall again knocking him out of the race for good. So after a rough stretch with finishes outside the top 10 with 2 DNFs in 3 of the last 4 races a little bit of positive momentum is needed here and what better place to seek that momentum than Charlotte Motor Speedway or Lowes Motor Speedway as it was known as at the time where Johnson has won 3 of the last 4 races at this track. This was a race to remember, so far as of April 24th 2020 that has the most cautions in a Cup race. 22 cautions shook up the competition throughout the race. If you think that's a lot of cautions an Xfinity race at Hickory had 26 cautions and that's the most in NASCAR period. Anyway the 48 was in position to battle Bobby Labonte the Cup champion of 2000. 

Sweet redemption! After losing Atlanta on the last lap Jimmie Johnson becomes the first and so far only driver to win 3 straight Coca Cola 600s! His 16th career win he now leads the 16 of Greg Biffle by 71. The 48 continued on with their business by finishing 4th at Dover after leading 24 laps, 6th at Pocono by changing 2 tires early on to get and maintain track position but struggled to a 19th in Michigan. The next few races in this time are all unique as summer recently began is when the chase 11 races away where these drivers and teams begin to show who could bring the heat for the championship. First is a road course, Sonoma. A rollercoaster for the 48 team. After starting on the front row Johnson was running well early until he lost 3rd gear, next he only had 3rd a few laps, then miraculously the 48 crew was able to fix his transmission where he had all f his gears. Another good thing about it was that he is still on the lead lap so he can get a good finish right? Sadly that wasn't the case after the getting spun by 1999 champion Dale Jarret. Jimmie was very frustrated with it having a tough day and could have had a top 20 or top 15 which is very respectable with the circumstances he was in but instead a 36th place finish was what Johnson got and it even cost him the points lead now trailing by 22. At the restrictor plate race at Daytona a 6th was enough to rebuild his championship lead by 73 points. The mile and a half track Chicagoland was a 3rd place even after a right rear tire problem from excessive wear brought the 48 into the pits in the middle of the race under green. New Hampshire is a place that is a mile long but races like a short track where Jimmie finished 13th. Has anyone heard of the  triangle? Well Pocono is the tricky triangle that it's 3 turns were based on Trenton, Indianapolis, and Milwaukee. It would be tricky for Johnson who got trapped a lap down in the middle of green flag stops taking him a third of the race to get it back and get a 12th place for his troubles. Still he has a healthy 66 point advantage over new second place driver Tony Stewart. Well Turn 2 in Pocono is based on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, guess what? That's where the Cup grid is going next. This is one of the racetracks that is a crown jewel that all drivers want to win. NASCAR'S crown jewel tracks are Daytona, Bristol, Darlington, Charlotte, and Bristol. Honorable mention to Martinsville as well cause it's the only track on the current schedule today that has been around since NASCAR was founded. Anyway Johnson had a top 10 car and that's where he was early on till the 74th lap when the Lowes Monte Carlo just snapped loose and spun around. No harm no foul just simply got tires and worked his way back up. He'd have to do it again though after removing equipment from his pit box. Still giving up was not in the definition of Johnson and looked like a lot of his point lead was going to be lost but a top 10 is still a very good result after going through the field twice. Unfortunately with 15 to go the right front tire had other plans, Johnson went to a 38th place finish after blowing a tire and hitting the wall hard. It would end up costing Jimmie the points lead to race winner Tony Stewart by 75. The deficit would get worse with Stewart the man known as "Smoke" winning Watkins Glen the road course while Johnson finished 5th now lacking 107 off 1st. Rapid fast Michigan was an up and down weekend. The down was a blown engine, but the up was it was in practice which meant he would have to start at the back but it was all uphill from there so Johnson got P10. So now everyone has a basic idea about some of the drivers who will compete for the championship and despite blowing a motor to a 36th at Bristol the last great colosseum he has now actually clinched his spot in the championship chase. But struggling at the next 2 races with 16th Fontana and 25th Richmond hurt. He now fell to 4th in the points meaning that's where he'll start in the chase 15 points out of the lead. It appeared like for the first time in 2005 the 48 crew would have to play catch up against the competition no longer being the favorite. The favorite is now a red hot Tony Stewart who won 5 races in a 7 race stretch. 10 races remain to decide the champion and that all begins at New Hampshire aka the magic mile. Having a birthday would be something pretty magical which Jimmie Johnson celebrated officially turning 30 a day before the chase officially began. However he left the chase opener losing ground. Jimmie finished 8th which isn't a bad result but it is when 6 of your championship rivals finish ahead of you. Now he is placed in 6th 53 points behind Tony. The hot streak Jimmie at the end of 2004 and began 2005 with has now landed on Tony who now with 13 top 10s in a row. Johnson and company would definitely need to pick up the pace in order to take Stewart on. Next on the championship quest was the Monster mile Dover. Jimmie won both  Cup races at this track in his rookie season and with a 4th earlier in the year he'd love to improve on that result. He would run up towards the front all race and have the superior car at times. But he would have an opportunity to capitalize late in the race but had a green white checkered on his hands.

Very well needed momentum for Jimmie Johnson winning for the first time since the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte. It is also well needed momentum leading the championship standings albeit by 7 points over 89 series champ Rusty Wallace. Still the championship was up in the air with the top 6 being separated by 23 points going to Talladega. The race that was on all of the chasers minds, with the close pack racing they all know anything can happen and they all know their championship hopes could be severely impacted by what happens in this event. The crew chiefs in the hunt and teams probably stress out about this race the most while some of the underdogs or less funded teams see opportunity for a great result or even a win against the big dogs. The craziness for Johnson started off pretty quickly.

Well despite the right side damage Johnson was able to stay on the lead lap however about 12 laps later he had a flat left rear tire ripping off the whole fender. The yellow would fly but Chad Knaus and the Lowes crew was able to repair it. There was concern if the car was able to be competitive in the draft yet with basically an entire left rear of the car missing Johnson was able to get up in the pack mixing it up with the leaders with help from teammates.

But that wreck officially knocked the 48 out of contention for the win and a good finish. Technically the voting pole in the video was right, he got a restrictor plate win before Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth. He won the Daytona 500 in 2006 but that is in the future and this is now, Jimmie finished 32 laps behind in 31st. He left Talladega 4th in the standings 82 points behind Stewart. In Kansas City, Kansas Johnson fell further back in the the points after finishing 6th while Stewart finished 4th now being separated by 92 points in 5th place. The 5th race in the chase marked the end of the first half of the post season. It would take place at Charlotte but with a twist. The track was grinded after the Coke 600 in May to make the surface smoother and faster. However this began a tough storm as championship leader Tony Stewart and fellow contender Greg Biffle blew tires and and wrecked 2 cars. For Johnson it would begin at the back of the pack from changing the motor once again. But tires would prove to be a cause for concern throughout the whole entire race. No green flag run was longer than 28 laps from drivers having flat tires. Also of it wasn't tires it was from tough track conditions. The 48 actually ran in the Xfinity race the previous night and DNFed. You guessed it, from a flat tire. Not wanting to wreck again early on he pitted to keep his car in one piece. The attrition was beginning to take it's toll on the field with drivers like Dale Jr, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and others wrecking out of the race from flat tires. What makes things worse is that they all say they weren't even driving as hard as they could go. They say the were anywhere from 70-80% and STILL blew tires. It almost just luck based knowing a caution is going to come out in at least 20 laps and hope it's not you. Speaking of 20 that's Smoke, the last guy Johnson wants leading or runner up towards the front who has had the best looking tires of everyone with no problems at all and was leading the race but the JGR driver goes around in 3 and hits the wall! The championship leader all of a sudden just spun around like a top! Stewart went from leading and possibly a strong chance at victory has his rear crushed. It was from debris on the track that Tony just ran over and it took him out of contention. Just like that the moment arrived that the championship was up in the air with the leader now struggling. The 48 however still had to make it to the finish line to gain the points however the night was getting even more eventful for Johnson. Him being cautious saved him yet again with the right rear being on the verge of sending him in the fence. Also did I mention that his volts were low? No? Well 100 laps in the race he is having alternator problems which basically is draining power from the battery. So luckily they have a backup battery to use until 158 laps later when the battery gets changed. This is seriously gonna be moments where Johnson and his team get extra gray hairs from, ANOTHER stressing out moment comes when at the start of the run he has a left front tire rub. Out of all times to lose a tire this is the worst time to and with the end in sight he can't back down now! The speed was still there and Johnson drove his way up to the front and actually get himself in winning contention.

Win number 4 in the season makes him the first guy since the Cup champion of 1988, Bill Elliott to win 4 straight races at a specific track over a mile long. And he is now tied with Tony Stewart for the points lead with half of the chase remaining. Next up is Martinsville and short track tempers are flaring and the race hasn't even started yet. Jimmie's crew chief Chad Knaus was talking on the radio during practice trying to pump his crew up believing that they are the superior team against the 20. Well Stewart heard it and in the pre race he told NBC coverage that he told his team including his crew chief Greg Zippideli that when he puts his suit on he felt like he wasn't suiting up for a race, he is suiting up for war and he also stated on air that if he's done giving up points and said Knaus sounded like a junior high plus if he or anyone else wants war than they got one. So... it is on! 5 races left in the year and all 10 chasers are within 142 points which is under race worth of points. The two championship leaders finished 2nd and 3rd, Stewart 2nd and Johnson 3rd meaning the 48 is -15 points behind the 20 car. Atlanta was an ok day for the 48 but it slowly got worse as the handle on his car faded to 16th while Stewart salvaged 9th. A decent blow to the points for Joe now trailing by 43. Texas seemed like another average race for Johnson in 7th but looked like he was going to lose more points to Stewart in 5th with 15 laps to go. However a yellow would shuffle things around with strategy in play. Johnson chose to take 4 tires and restarted 13th but Stewart on 2 tires is 9th. The 4 tires got Johnson in 5th just ahead of Stewart biting 5 points off his lead going to the penultimate race, Phoenix. It might not be a big bite but he's closer than he was before and in his post race interview he mentioned how Carl Edwards was also getting hot and into the mix and needing to be aware about him. Well in Phoenix Johnson started out ahead of his championship rivals but didn't finish ahead of them. Stewart got 4th Edwards finished 6th and Johnson came home 7th and 52 points behind Stewart and Jimmie knew that he needed to finish ahead of Tony to increase his chances of beating him but anything can still happen in the 2005 season finale, Homestead. Johnson arrived the last 2 years in this place 2nd in the standings but in this race he plans on leaving as a champion. But he has to beat Tony Stewart and keep competitors behind. But still they were ready to take on the challenge and see how it ends.

........well that was a big scare! Bullet dodged. Or is it? While avoiding the spinning Wimmer Johnson went below the apron on the track and slightly wrinkled his left front fender. But no tire rubs, however will it affects his handling? So far it doesn't appear to and in fact the handling was starting to go away on Stewart's car and he began to slightly fall back. At 100 of 267 laps in the race Stewart was 13th and Johnson was 9th. As the sun begins to sets and the lights start to illuminate that it's beginning to swing to Jimmie's corner. However after pitstops Stewart got out in 10th ahead of the 13th Johnson heading for the restart. What on earth is happening to the 48? He all of a sudden is fishtailing like crazy! Did someone put a parachute on his car? He's fading fast all the way to 28th! Something has to be seriously wrong with his car to just flip a switch like that. It isn't the motor and nobody knew on the crew what the heck is happening. In fact he is gonna get lapped here in a minute but Johnson crashed into the wall! Championship contender Jimmie Johnson just wrecked out race and the championship fight! The culprits happy to be a flat left rear tire that happened to catch the eye of Greg Biffle's spotter Joel Edmonds who noticed it was low but the 48 spotter Chris Osborne didn't see it and neither did anyone else and just like that in an instant from being in the thick of the fight Johnson's first championship hopes were now gone. When all said and done the 48 would finish 5th in the 2005 championship standings 127 points behind new 2 time champion Tony Stewart. There is light at the end of the tunnel though, after even sometimes beginning to be compared with Mark Martin by being so close so many times to win the championship but could never finish the job he went on in the next 14 seasons to win 7 Cup series championships and 5 of them in a row. However still it makes you wonder, what if Johnson had survived Talladega? What if he hadn't had a mediocre run in Atlanta? What if he had pitted or not blown the left rear at Homestead? Or as the Iceberg said in his video "What if Johnson had sealed the deal a year early? What if Johnson had captured his missing ring?"