CONCORD, N.C. — Sunday night, Victory Lane at Homestead-Miami Speedway was full of celebration after Jimmie Johnson claimed his seventh career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.
Alongside Johnson celebrating his win – which tied him with Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty atop the record books – was the No. 48 Lowe’s team, including his spotter Earl Barban.
“It’s really, really amazing,” Barban smiled. “It’s just very humbling to think that Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Sr., Richard Petty -- I mean, they are in such an elite group that I don’t know if any other era will ever see anything like that again. It’s just humbling. Man, Jimmie said he didn’t know what to say. Heck, I was just about crying up top.”
Barban has witnessed five of Johnson’s championships from atop the spotter’s stand. Meanwhile, car chief Ron Malec has been on the No. 48 Lowe’s team road crew for each and every one of Johnson’s championship wins.
“It won’t sink in for a long time, I’m sure,” Malec said. “But I know it was an amazing thing that we were able to do together as a team. I just need to thank everyone that has helped us along our way and at the Hendrick Motorsports facility and all our sponsors. Just a great, great, great ride.”
One of the keys to the No. 48 team’s success, Malec said, has been the commingling of veterans with younger teammates.
“I like seeing the new guys come in as we get different team members and grow them in our core group, they learn the ethic of the 48 team and become one of us,” he explained. “I do enjoy toward the end of the season when I see all the guys jelling together.”
After Sunday’s win, tire specialist Kyle Collins now has two championships under his belt.
“It really hasn’t sunk in yet, the fact that we were able to pull this off starting dead last and having to drive through the field all night,” Collins said. “But in retrospect, nothing really amazes me with Jimmie Johnson. Once we got a sniff of the lead and were able to get out there on that last restart, he put his blinders on and just took off into history.”
Race engineer Cliff Daniels was one of the team members to have earned his very first championship on Sunday. And the history of the moment was not lost on him.
“It’s something when you’re a kid you dream about,” Daniels said. “So to be here with such a historic team with an amazing opportunity – obviously (No. 48 crew chief) Chad (Knaus) and Jimmie are so good at what they do – to be a part of this team is truly amazing and I’m humbled and thankful. It’s incredible.”
And for Daniels and the No. 48 team, it’s all about the teamwork between every member of the crew that made 2016 so successful.
“Just the mix that we have, the camaraderie that we have, I think you can’t replace it,” Daniels said. “The core group of guys that we have is so talented, so committed. Everybody’s humble. They know how to work hard and they know how to go the extra mile. It’s pretty amazing.
“It’s just really cool to be a part of.”