page_title: Jimmie Johnson
section_title: 2008
hierarchical_section_title: Jimmie Johnson / Racing career / NASCAR Cup Series / 2006–2010: Championship streak / 2008
caption_attribution_description: Shot by The Daredevil at Daytona during Speedweeks 2008Jimmie Johnson Lowe&#39;s Chevy Impala
context_page_description: Jimmie Kenneth Johnson is an American professional stock car racing driver. A seven-time champion in the NASCAR Cup Series, he currently competes full-time in the series, driving the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Hendrick Motorsports.
  Johnson was born in El Cajon, California, and began racing motorcycles at the age of four. After graduating from Granite Hills High School he competed in off-road series. He raced in Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group, Short-course Off-road Drivers Association and SCORE International, winning rookie of the year in each series. In 1998, Johnson and his team, Herzog Motorsports, began stock car racing. He moved to the national American Speed Association series for late model touring cars, and won another rookie of the year title. In 2000, he switched to the NASCAR Busch Series.
  He moved to Hendrick Motorsports in the Winston Cup Series in 2002. After finishing fifth in the points in his first full season, he was second in 2003 and 2004, and fifth in 2005.
context_section_description: After the 2008 season, Johnson became the second driver to win three consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championships, the first being Cale Yarborough. During the season, he won seven races (including a sweep at Phoenix), a career high of six poles, 15 top fives, and 22 top tens. In five of those seven wins, he started from the pole. He became the only driver to record three wins in each of their first seven seasons. In 2008 Jimmie Johnson also raced in his first ever truck series race, the O'Reilly 200 at Bristol, where he led 28 laps before spinning out on lap 101. That weekend was the first time he had ever sat in a racing truck. In the Chase for the Championship, he recorded 14 wins, eight more than any other driver. One of those included Phoenix in which he won on low fuel and high tire wear after crew chief Chad Knaus decided to stay out late in the race. He also was named the 2008 Driver of the Year and won an ESPY as the Best Driver. After the season, he also moved to third on the active winners list.
caption: Jimmie Johnson racing in the 2008 Daytona 500
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