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Jimmie Johnson was born September 17, 1975 in El Cajon, Calif. He now resides in Mooresville, N.C. Jimmie drives the #48 Lowes Home Improvement-sponsored Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Rick Hendrick under car owner Jeff Gordon.
Jimmie Johnson made professional sports history in 2009 by earning his fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title. He is the only driver in the sport’s 61-year history to accomplish the feat.
His amazing accomplishment this year also earned him several awards. He became the first race car driver to be named the Associated Press's Male Athlete of the Year in the organization’s 78-year history and was voted Driver of the Year for the third time in his career, joining Mario Andretti, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon as three-time winners of the prestigious award.
After only eight full seasons and 291 starts, Johnson has rewritten the sport’s record books leading the point standings the final seven races of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2009, finishing the season 141 points ahead of second-place finisher and teammate Mark Martin. It was Johnson’s eighth-consecutive top-five finish in the point standings.
Since Johnson made his full-time Cup Series debut in 2002 (ran three races in ’01), his 47 career wins are 22 more than any other competitor during that time and place him second among active drivers on NASCAR’s all-time wins list. He has also earned 18 “Chase” wins since its inception in 2004, 12 more than his closest competitor.
Entering the 2010 season, Johnson is the only driver to win at least three races in each of his first eight Sprint Cup Series seasons. He had seven wins and four poles in 2009 and is the only driver to qualify for the Chase for the Cup each year since the format was adopted.
The 34-year-old Californian clinched his first championship in 2006 finishing 56 points ahead of second-place finisher Matt Kenseth. He followed that up in dramatic fashion with a 77-point win over teammate Jeff Gordon in 2007. His third championship came in 2008 when he edged out Carl Edwards by 69 points.
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