By NICK VILLALOBOS, Editor in Chief
In 2006, I became a fan of NASCAR, and more in particularly a fan of the driver of the Lowes 48 Chevy; Jimmie Johnson.
While flipping through channels on the TV one Sunday afternoon, I came across the ending of the Daytona 500, NASCAR’s first race of its 10 month season.
I watched as the Lowes 48 car proceeded to celebrate in the track’s infield after winning the prestigious event.
Later that year, in November, I was flipping through channels again and this time I came across the sports season finale race in Homestead-Miami, Florida at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Again I watched as the Lowes 48 car celebrated, but instead of it being a race win the team was celebrating, it was a championship; the team’s first NASCAR championship.
After seeing the success the team had that year, I decided to research more about Jimmie Johnson, the team and the sport itself.
I learned all I could about the Lowes racing team, the biography about the driver, the crew chief, how long the two have been together, how the team started, etc.
I learned that Johnson grew up in El Cajon, California racing dirt bikes, then moved up to racing off-road trucks and finally landed in the NASCAR in 2002 racing full time in what was known as the Winston Cup series at the time.
I learned that he and his crew chief, Chad Knaus, had been together from his start in the sport in 2002.
I learned that after not seeing eye-to-eye with one another for a few seasons, both Johnson and Knaus bonded one afternoon by being forced by their team owner, Rick Hendrick, to share milk and cookies with each other, and that after doing so, the entire Lowes 48 team found success on and off the track by way of race wins and solid team chemistry.
I also learned that in 2006, that Daytona 500 win that I stumbled upon while flipping through channels one afternoon, was the team’s first win in that event, and that they had to overcome a great deal of controversy to do so.
So in short, in 2006, I simply became a fan.