Johnson chasing Petty's record for five consecutive
No driver in modern era has more than four wins in a row
By Raygan Swan, NASCAR.COM
November 16, 2007
08:10 PM EST
type size: + -MIAMI -- The New York Yankees claimed five consecutive World Series titles from 1949-54. Loyal Chicago fans would argue the Bulls would have undoubtedly grabbed a five-peat if their star player Michael Jordan hadn't taken a hiatus in 1994 and 1995.
Wimbledon champion Roger Federer beat Rafael Nadal this summer to win his fifth consecutive championship at the All England Club, tying only Bjorn Borg in the feat.
Richard Petty
1971 Season
Race Track Start Finish Led
29. Albany 1 1 181
30. Islip 1 1 230
31. Trenton 2 1 128
32. Nashville 1 1 400
33. Atlanta 3 1 181
And now Hendrick Motorsports is on the verge of five consecutive Cup wins at the hands of Jimmie Johnson -- a feat no driver in the modern era (1972-present) has done. In fact, the last Cup driver to reel off five in a row was The King himself in the 1971 season.
Petty began his streak on July 14, 1971, at Albany-Saratoga (N.Y.) Speedway with a victory by two laps over Dave Marcis. The next day he won at Islip (N.Y.) Speedway, again by two laps. The third victory was on July 18 at Trenton (N.J.) Speedway, followed a week later by a win at Nashville Speedway and finally on Aug. 1 at Atlanta International Raceway.
Before Petty, it was Bobby Allison who pulled off five consecutive wins in the same year.
Not since then, 36 years later, has anyone been able to do it again. And Johnson is in position to pull it off.
Petty thinks he can do it. Johnson: Ambivalent.
As much as a fifth consecutive win would be a nice accolade for the record books, Johnson will race in big-picture fashion; he'll race to win the championship with his 86-point lead on teammate Jeff Gordon heading into the Ford 400 at Homestead. He has nothing to prove.
After winning the pole position for Sunday's final race of the season, Johnson said he is going to keep the race simple.
"I'm going to try not to do anything stupid, run in the top three or top five to win the championship," he said. "I'm going to drive comfortable. I'm hoping that we can leave here winning a fifth race in a row, but we've got to take the race as it comes and be realistic."
Petty, who in the same year he won five in a row also won the championship, said racing is streaky.
"You get on these rolls. Jimmie Johnson is on one of those rolls and when you get on them, even if you make mistakes, you still seem to win," he said. "It's like fate."
Referring to his hot streak, Petty said it's nice at the time but once you exit the car, you're thinking about the next race.
"Yeah I just won five in a row, but I've got five to go," Petty said of the mindset. "You always have more ahead of you to win."
In 1967, Petty also won 10 consecutive races.
Johnson doesn't take his position for granted nor does he flaunt his success. He is, however, still surprised to be contending for a second consecutive championship and five consecutive race wins in the same event.
"Every championship battle I've been in, the final race, there's always been some type of drama, and we're trying to prepare for that," Johnson said. "I never in my life thought that I would be in this situation."
