President Obama Welcomes 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion & Chase Contenders to the White House

Pictured from left to right: Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, President Obama, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch & Clint Bowyer
Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images

President Barack Obama welcomed 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson and Chase contenders to the White House today to honor them for their accomplishments of last season.

The brief ceremony speech was live streamed on www.whitehouse.gov/live. Some of the President's remarks were as follows:

"It’s great to welcome NASCAR back to Washington. It’s great to have Number 48 parked outside. I was just telling these guys I’m not allowed to drive much these days, basically just my golf cart at Camp David which is called Golf Cart One. True. But I will say that it’s pretty tough to look at Number 48 and not want to jump in and take a few laps - although I'm sure Jimmie would not be happy if I was doing that.


The last time many of these drivers were here, Jimmie was celebrating his third straight championship. He’s got a couple more titles under his belt now, but another big change in the Johnson house - he and Chandra are now parents of Genevieve Marie, who was born late July. So, congratulations on that.



I told Jimmie you cannot beat daughters. And I know Jimmie is pretty excited to be a dad. He whipped out the iPhone with the pictures on it the minute I asked about it. In fact, I hear that he is in charge of taking Genevieve Marie to music class. And because of his unique work schedule, Jimmie is usually the only dad there. But that's a good sign of being a good dad.


So Jimmie has got a lot to be proud of. And that’s especially true when you think of what it means to win five championships in a row. NASCAR is a sport where anything that can go wrong will go wrong at some point during the season - similar to being President. That's true even for the best drivers. And with so much extraordinary talent that is going bumper to bumper in every race, just making the Chase is hard enough, let alone winning the whole thing.


And that’s why Jimmie is not just one of the best drivers of all time - he’s up there with some of the great sports dynasties. If you think about it, only the Boston Celtics, the Yankees and the Canadians have ever won more than four titles in a row. And now Jimmie is breathing down the necks of Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty for the most NASCAR titles ever, which is not bad for the son of a machine operator and a school bus driver who still has plenty of seasons ahead of him.


Jimmie’s talent has been to make a very difficult, demanding sport look easy. But this year, the Number 48 team also showed its toughness. They entered the last race of the Chase trailing, and ended up pulling off an extraordinary comeback."

Jimmie Johnson presenting President Obama with a pair of #48 gloves.

Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Additionally, President Obama spoke highly of the drivers who took time out to visit and serve dinner to 400 wounded warriors along with their families at Walter Reed Hospital the previous month. He also pointed out the way that NASCAR has been a huge supporter of the Joining Forces program that First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden have set up to support military families.


Due to prior commitments, the following 2010 Chase drivers were unable to be in attendance: Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick & Tony Stewart.

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Unique Hiram is an Associate Editor/Contributing Writer for Skirts and Scuffs. Additionally, she is also the author of "Fast Lane Poetry" which was published April 2011. Unique can be contacted via email or through Twitter.