Johnson cashes in on great year
NEW YORK — Jimmie Johnson believes his NASCAR Nextel Cup championship is something special, and not just because it came after several frustrating near misses.
Before stepping on stage at the historic Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Friday night to collect a record-setting $15,770,125, including $6,785,982 from the series sponsor's points fund, Johnson reflected on a season in which he won the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and three other races, as well as coming back to take the title after stumbling out of the blocks in the 10-race Chase for the championship.
"In general, I think it's one of the best seasons ever," said Johnson, who has earned more than $44 million in his five-year Cup career. "I'm really proud of what this team accomplished this season, especially with the things we had to overcome."
The other nine drivers in the Chase also were given big checks Friday night, along with 11th-place finisher Tony Stewart and rookie of the year Denny Hamlin.
Runner-up Matt Kenseth got a points fund check for $2,841,047 and finished the year with a total of $9,524,966, while 10th-place Kyle Busch, last year's top rookie, received $1,256,244 for a total of $5,537,337. Two-time champion Stewart, who missed the Chase by just 16 points a year after winning the championship, totaled $8,739,169, including $1,143,888 from the points fund, a $250,000 bonus for finishing 11th and $310,000 in sponsor contingency prizes. That's a far cry from the $13,578,168 Stewart collected last year, which set also set a season record, but still the third highest in 2006.
Hamlin, who also finished third in the points, got a points fund check of $2,168,710 to push his grand total to $6,607,932.
In all, checks were handed out on stage Friday for more than $22 million, the largest top 10 point fund payout in series history.
But, more than the money, Johnson was proudest of joining Lee Petty, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon as the only drivers in the sport's history to win both the Daytona race — NASCAR's Super Bowl — and the title in the same year.
"I can't even tell you what an honor that is," Johnson said. "It's historic and mind- boggling."
The No. 48 Chevrolet team started 2006 without crew chief Chad Knaus, suspended for the first four races for cheating in preparing the car for Daytona qualifying. Johnson not only won the opener at Daytona, he added another win, a second and a sixth while Knaus was away.
Gordon, a four-time Cup champion who is also co-owner of Johnson's car with team owner Rick Hendrick, acknowledges he thought "Here we go again" when Johnson got off to a bad start in the Chase and found himself eighth, trailing then-leader Jeff Burton by 165 points, after the first three races of the playoffs.
But Johnson and the team charged back into contention and eventually to the top.
"This championship came just at the right time. We needed to learn some lessons," Johnson said.
