Johnson Ties Earnhardt With 76 Victories

Jimmie Johnson doesn't have many regrets when looking at his NASCAR career. How could he? He has enough championship rings to need a second hand, enough race victories to use the trophies as doorstops and universal respect from his competitors.

But he does have one major regret. He never raced in Sprint Cup against Dale Earnhardt, the seven-time champion who won 76 races before his death on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Johnson made his first Cup start nearly eight months later, the start of an epic career that has also featured 76 victories.

Victory No. 76 for Johnson came Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a combination of great strategy from crew chief Chad Knaus that required the smoothest, fastest driver on the Folds of Honor 500 grid. And that was Johnson.

"I entered the sport just hoping I could win a race and keep a job for a few years, and to have 76 and tie Dale Earnhardt Sr. is something I'm very, very proud of," Johnson said. "I didn't have a chance to race against him. ... There's been a big void in my mind about not having that chance to race against him, and I was literally a handful of months away from having that opportunity.

"So to tie him today, for myself personally, it gives me a little something, it's a little bit of attachment to the great Dale Earnhardt and something I'm very proud of."