“Mario Andretti or Jeff Gordon?” – Jimmie Johnson Makes His Pick Known in Rapid Fire With Graham Bensinger

Published 11/15/2021, 9:55 AM EST

Recently, NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson appeared on a show with Graham Bensinger. In the show, there was a Rapid Fire segment, where Johnson had to choose between two entities. In that section, he was asked to choose between Jeff Gordon or Mario Andretti. After a quick laugh, Johnson promptly said, “Gordon“.

Clearly, Johnson has a lot of respect for his former colleague, so it wasn’t really surprising. However, he also acknowledged Andretti’s greatness in the motorsport scene. Lately, Johnson seems to be following in Andretti’s footsteps, as he has retired from NASCAR and is competing in IndyCar.

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Obviously, the 7-time NASCAR champion is enjoying himself and looking forward to the new season. This season did not see any spectacular results, but he can be forgiven as he was still finding his feet. Additionally, age is also a factor in this, as he is 46 years old.

What else did NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson say?

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On a more serious note, Johnson spoke about the direction that NASCAR is taking. According to him, the biggest issues facing NASCAR are a decline in revenue and a packed schedule. He noted that any team earnings and potential was down by 50%. As per his observation, the change was practically halved from what it was in 2015.

Part of the reason is the low tune-in numbers, which in turn impacts the sponsorship numbers. He revealed, “I’ve heard rumors where these drivers can’t afford permanent or temporary insurance. Which is just kind of standard issue in a sport with so much risk. And you hear drivers [say], ‘I can’t afford it. I’m not gonna do it.’”

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Coming to the schedule, Jimmie Johnson believes that the calendar should be trimmed down to a maximum of 28 races. He also said that he has often had these conversations with the NASCAR executives. Now, the driver will be hoping that these changes will be implemented in the future.

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Dhruv George is a senior Motorsports author for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.