JT the Brick

Jimmie Johnson is my selection for the "J.T" Male Athlete of the Year. I am sorry to all the voters from the Associated Press who recently selected Tiger Woods for their prestigious honor, but they have no respect for the sport of NASCAR and its hold over millions of fans. NASCAR has been a mainstream sport for almost a decade and new fans and advertisers continue to want to be a part of this phenomenon.

Before you go down that old tired road and suggest that NASCAR drivers are not athletes, just ask Tiger Woods or any other star athlete if they would have the courage to race side-by-side at close to 200 mph? Every former AP Athlete of the Year would break out in a cold sweat if he were told that he would have to maintain a multi-million dollar business and act like a role model year round, all while wondering if the next crash would end your life.

That brings me to Johnson, who dominated his sport in 2006 and won the Nextel Cup Title in impressive fashion. Johnson was under extreme pressure all season to win his first championship. He had to overcome a significant deficit in the overall points standings and win once the sport entered the final stretch of the season during the "Chase for the Championship".

Johnson never let the pressure get to him as he raced to a new elite status in his sport. Now, he could stay at the top for years to come.

On Feb. 19, he won the Daytona 500 — which will always be considered the most important race in the sport — and kept the momentum going as he won at Las Vegas on March 12. He began the month of May with his third win of the season at the legendary Talladega Super Speedway, proving that he could win while being chased and bumped at dangerously high speeds. Johnson then won more than $1 million at Lowe’s Motor Speedway at the Nextel All Star challenge by holding off Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon.

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Every athlete who is fortunate enough to drive a race car wants to win at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Johnson won the Brickyard 400 on Aug. 6, beating Matt Kenseth and walking away with another huge ($452,000) payday.

Johnson's last win of the 2006 season came at Martinsville in a race that he started in the 9th position. After he finished at the front, and climbed out of his Lowe’s 48 car in victory lane, it was clear to the media and fans that Johnson was going to win his first Nextel Cup. He was the runner-up to Tony Stewart in the following weeks at Atlanta and Texas and came in second the following week at Phoenix before cruising to a ninth place finish at Homestead-Miami to capture the championship.

We are talking about a dominant year in the fastest growing sport in America. We are talking about an athlete who reportedly won almost $9 million, and now has earned more than $82 million in his career.

Jimmie Johnson personifies what every athlete dreams of becoming, a winner who is not afraid of failing. He is a driver who always competes to win instead of looking to finish in the top 10 of a race just so that he can gain valuable points. He would rather be in the lead pack with one lap to go and take a calculated chance at winning the race instead of taking his foot off of the gas in the hopes of staying out of trouble and avoiding a wreck.

Johnson also has tremendous respect for the former legends of NASCAR who put their lives on the line to build the sport to its current peak. All NASCAR drivers have a responsibility to their fans and the future growth of their sport, and Jimmie Johnson is the driver who will continue to gain market share if he remains grounded and committed to winning.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the most popular and recognizable name in NASCAR, while Tony Stewart is still living with the reputation of being a hothead who has already won two championships. Jeff Gordon is a veteran who learned to battle against Dale Earnhardt and will eventually be compared to the great Richard Petty.

There are four or five up-and-coming drivers who will have a chance at winning for years to come, but they must now look up to Johnson as the standard to beat.