With Sunday’s win at Auto Club Speedway in his home state of California, NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson essentially propelled himself to his fourth Chase Cup in as many years.

It was his fourth win at the track, fifth of the season and 45th of his career.

There are only six races left this season, and Johnson and his crew would have to severely underachieve —something they do not know how to do — to blow their lead.

Some would argue that NASCAR is not a sport and its drivers are not athletes, but I beg to differ.

The concentration, strength and endurance it takes to drive a
3,400-pound vehicle around a track for 500 miles at 180 miles per hour while avoiding 40 others tailgating you or trying to cut you off sounds pretty athletic to me.

My point is: Johnson deserves to be in the cannon of the greatest athletes of all time and his team deserves the same recognition of the great teams of other major sports.

Michael Jordan never won four in a row.

No football team has won four Super Bowls in a row.

So, when the confetti falls on Johnson and his team at the end of this campaign, it is time to start giving him his due.