I recommend that you all watch the 4 part HBO series called 24/7 Jimmie Johnson: Race to Daytona.

For NASCAR fans, it gives us a glimpse into the psyche of Jimmie Johnson & Chad Knaus.  Until Dale Earnhardt Jr joined Hendrick Motorsports, I viewed Jimmie as an arrogant driver with way too much good luck.  He still has way too much good luck but I must say that after 4 NASCAR Sprint Cup championships in a row, his & Chad’s arrogance was confidence in what they could obviously accomplish.  (They need to get with Junior and pass on at least a bit of a confidence.  I guess that’s for another entry, though.)

For non-NASCAR fans, it gives you a glimpse at the world behind “racing in circles”.  Let me be the first to say that, if all NASCAR was was watching cars go round and round in circles, I’d be bored out of my mind and would not be a fan.  The goings on behind the scenes at the track and off the track are sometimes much more interesting than who is leading the race.  This series is giving a behind the scenes view of Hendrick Motorsports, Jimmie Johnson, & Chad Knaus as they prepare for the Daytona 500 (which is 2 weeks from today!).  Folks try to explain away NASCAR as not being a sport.  Just watching the first episode demonstrated that the drivers & the crew members work out a lot to prepare for the hard work that is driving a car for 3-4 hours during a race and also accomplishing 12 second pit stops.  Not many sports make a team member lose up to 10 pounds a game/race/etc.  That fact has always made me say Wow! when thinking of a driver’s stamina to race.

By the way…I loved the milk & cookies re-enactment with Rick Hendrick!  Rick always has the best stories to tell.

You can watch the series on Tuesdays at 9pm CST and on re-runs.  There are 3 new episodes left.

Here is the website for the show where you can see several clips of the show.

Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus, Hendrick Motorsports, & Lowe’s on their 4th championship in a row!

From Marty Smith (ESPN) on Twitter:

Just asked Johnson to be honest with me about where he stacks up among the greatest ever: “This puts us up there. No doubt.”

Hendrick teammates Mark Martin & Jeff Gordon finished the season in 2nd & 3rd, respectively.

Dale Earnhardt Jr finished the season 25th.  This season has been a bumpy season for Junior & team.  Lance McGrew was finally named the official crew chief (removing the interim designation) a while back.  I really think Lance, Junior, & the 88 team can do great things together.  I’m very optimistic about 2010!

Brad Keselowski’s last race with JR Motorsports was Saturday.  He will be joining Penske Racing & driving the #12 in the Sprint Cup series next year.  Good luck, Brad!  Kelly Bires will be joining JRM next year.  I’m very excited to see how he does for JRM.