Jimmie Johnson has been picked as the Male Athlete of the Year by editors of newspapers which are members of The Associated Press. This is the first time in the 78-year history of the award that a race car driver was so honored.
Johnson, who won a record-setting fourth straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship, received 42 votes to beat tennis star Roger Federer (30) and Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt at 29 votes.
Albert Pujols, Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods, who was named AP’s athlete of the decade, last week, each received nine votes.
Johnson won seven races this season, including four during the Chase to the Sprint Cup. Earlier an elite panel of US broadcasters and journalists voted him Driver of the Year for the third time. He became only the fourth driver to win the Driver of the Year award three times or more, joining Mario Andretti, and NASCAR’s Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon.
Johnson, who won a record-setting fourth straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship, received 42 votes to beat tennis star Roger Federer (30) and Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt at 29 votes.
Albert Pujols, Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods, who was named AP’s athlete of the decade, last week, each received nine votes.
Johnson won seven races this season, including four during the Chase to the Sprint Cup. Earlier an elite panel of US broadcasters and journalists voted him Driver of the Year for the third time. He became only the fourth driver to win the Driver of the Year award three times or more, joining Mario Andretti, and NASCAR’s Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon.