Johnson on top of the world in Manhattan
No. 48 driver honored with Jimmie Johnson Day in New York City
 Mike Stobe / Getty Images for NASCAR To celebrate Jimmie Johnson's record fourth straight title, New York City designated Nov. 24, 2009 as Jimmie Johnson Day and lit up the Empire State Building in his team colors. |
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Jimmie Johnson is turning the slowest lap of his life. He's way, way, way up in the Empire State Building, 103 floors high, and he's traversing a two-foot wide walkway, turning left, left, left. "Taking my own sweet time," he says. So long, someone hollers at him that he's going to get in trouble.
Eh, probably not. New York City officially proclaimed this Jimmie Johnson Day, and the Empire State Building is glowing blue, yellow and white—colors of Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet—to mark the occasion. "I'm not sure how this authority works," he says of having a day named after him. In case he has any real power, he issues two fiats: "I think everybody should have the day off and everybody should drink margaritas."
It might take liquid courage to go out on the ledge with him. Only a thigh-high concrete barrier stands between him and a plunge straight down. There's no catch fence. It's so high that a building official points out that the initial plan for this area was to dock the blimp. (An Unrestricted investigation: Question: They dock the blimp? Answer: Yes. Question: Seriously? Answer. Yes. But it's not clear that was ever actually done here. ... So at the top of the Empire State Building, Unrestricted gets to the bottom of issues. Or not. Anyway, back to the blog ...)
This trip up, up, up—four elevators and a narrow, steep staircase—is the highlight of a two-day Johnson media blitz. He does dozens of interviews. Highlights from hours of eavesdropping:
• He is looking forward to talking to Cale Yarborough, whose record of three-straight championships Johnson broke: "I can only imagine - with his personality, he might threaten my life."
• Cool Hand Luke is his favorite movie.
• He was fired from his first job because he said on his application that he was 16 when he was 14. "They figured it out when I didn't drive to work the first day."
• He sees his win at Dover in the second race of the Chase as a huge boost to the team's confidence.
• He still can't believe he wrecked on the third lap at Texas.
• Something else he can't believe: He recently signed a guy's neck. "He had my car and number tattooed on his neck already," Johnson says. The guy's master plan, apparently, was to have a tattoo traced over Jimmie's autograph.
• Speaking of pains in the neck: Johnson twice told inquisitors he is a fan of True Blood, the HBO vampire show ... but the Twilight series, not so much. Why this topic came up, twice, is and will remain a mystery for the ages.
And on and on. Days after becoming the first driver to win four straight Cup championships, Johnson is on top of the motorsports world, to say nothing of being on top of Manhattan. The 103rd floor is as high as a human can go in the Big Apple, and it's one floor higher than normal people are allowed to go.
Under normal circumstances, nobody is allowed up there. Under normal circumstances, nobody wins four straight Cup championships, either. Johnson is not normal. He has dominated this decade like few drivers ever. Talking strictly championships, he dominated the last four years like no driver, ever. If he keeps it up, they're going to have to add to the top of the Empire State Building.
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