NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson clings to hope of a record-tying seventh Cup title – Los Angeles Times

Earlier this year Jimmie Johnson was asked how he would feel if his career ended without his winning a record-tying seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup title.

Johnson, tongue in cheek, replied with a smile: “My life sucks. That would be terrible.”

A seventh championship is about the only thing Johnson hasn’t accomplished in NASCAR, which returns to Fontana on Sunday for the Auto Club 400, the fifth race of the Cup season.

Considered among the best NASCAR drivers in history, Johnson has six titles — including five consecutive from 2006 through 2010 — and he’s won 76 races, tying him with the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. for seventh on the all-time Cup wins list.

Johnson also has earned more than $150 million in career race winnings for his Hendrick Motorsports team. Last year alone, Johnson himself collected $22.7 million from his salary, his share of race winnings and endorsements, Forbes estimated.

Johnson’s latest victory came last month in Atlanta. On his victory lap there, Johnson paid homage to Earnhardt and his No. 3 Chevrolet by holding his arm out the window and flashing a three-finger salute to the crowd.

The win all but assures Johnson a spot in NASCAR’s Chase for the Cup playoff again this season and another opportunity to tie Earnhardt and Richard Petty with seven championships.

That’s why the online betting site Bovada.com gives Johnson and defending Cup champion Kyle Busch 7-to-1 odds to win another championship this year, behind only the 5-to-1 favorite Kevin Harvick, the 2014 Cup champion.

If there’s a track where Johnson can maintain his momentum in his No. 48 Chevrolet, it’s the two-mile Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

Johnson, 40, is the only five-time Cup winner at the track. The first of those wins was the El Cajon native’s first Cup victory when he was a rookie in 2002.

“That first win will forever be one of the most special moments in my career,” Johnson said in notes released by his team.