Biete - Kristall » Roger Penske said. He represents the industry, the gar

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Jimmie Johnson has sported a helmet this year that includes the images of Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty. Painted between the Hall of Famers, a florescent green 7 shines from the back.Johnson didnt tell crew chief Chad Knaus about the helmet. He probably knew better. Knaus doesnt exactly endorse the looking-beyond-the-immediate-race strategy.But Johnson needed something to focus on as he attempted to go from a six-time Sprint Cup champion to a record-tying seven-time titlist. Only Petty and Earnhardt have accomplished such a feat.So after two seasons in which he failed to advance in the Chase for the Sprint Cup to the championship round, Johnson started racing with a helmet as a reminder of what he could accomplish.The fact I have the 7 and Dale and Richards faces on my helmet is, one, respect to them and, two, just to put a target on something, Johnson said. Thats the goal. Thats what I want to do. ... Its not that Im trying to get to something so I can stop, that Im getting to the peak of whatever it is and Im good.Its more of a target that I just want to have something to focus on, obsess on.That obsession, which started three years ago after Johnson won his sixth title, has turned into an opportunity Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. If Johnson can finish better than Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Joey Logano in the Ford 400, Johnson will earn that seventh Sprint Cup title.He wants that [seventh] so badly, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on one of his podcasts. Weve had a few conversations about that, and I know how much that would mean to him. ... I believe he does deserve it.After everything he has put into the sport, I think it would be good for him to go ahead and win that championship.When Earnhardts father won his seventh title, the fans at Rockingham Speedway either cheered for their hero or against the driver who would tie their hero. Johnson could expect the same 22 years later.He has legions of fans, and the Earnhardt endorsement certainly wont hurt him. But many NASCAR fans wouldnt want him to tie a record set when the championship was awarded by points throughout the entire season instead of a reset with 10 races remaining.Its one of those deals where I did my thing in my time, Earnhardt done his thing in his time, Petty said. Jimmie is doing his thing in his time. So we never competed with each other.We won ours against who we was playing against. Earnhardt won his and Jimmie is winning against the people that hes running against, so theres no way to compare it. Its just a number.Johnson has the incredible respect of Petty because he won five consecutive Cup titles in a system in which a driver had to run great over that 10-race stretch. He once had to average a fifth-place finish just to capture the crown over four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon.Thats the most underrated record in all of sports, what Jimmie did there, said Richards son, Kyle. But you know what? [My dad] looked at it and said Jimmie may be just pausing at seven. He may go to eight.Heres a guy that has that potential to go on. Were talking seven, but heres a guy thats done it so fast that he can go to eight.The 41-year-old Johnson never dreamed of getting to one. A former motorcycle and off-road racer, Johnson first came to NASCAR just hoping to win a Cup race.Winning seven? It would be insane, Johnson said. I dreamed of winning a race and then to have 79 [wins] and the championships, Ive had to move the bar up over the years because weve just had great fortune and great success.Im not a stat guy and chase that. Im aware of it. Im aware of what it would mean. And, damn, I want to do it.Johnson didnt realize the strain, the pressure of his consecutive championship streak until it got snapped in 2011 and he felt so much more relaxed going into Homestead. He failed to advance to the championship round in the first two years of the elimination format after his 2013 title.That has led his crew, in rah-rah moments, to say that NASCAR tried to Jimmie-proof the Chase with this format, where four drivers get eliminated every three races and its a best-finish-take-all day at Homestead -- a track where Johnson averages a 14th-place finish. Now the crew wants Johnson to prove he can win in any format.Im trying to distinguish if its championship pressure or if its really about seven, Johnson said. The last couple of years when the doors closed for whatever reason, theres a ton of pain and agony that goes with it.I dont think its necessarily about seven. Its about missing the chance of winning one. Especially the last one. I felt like I could have been a player [last year].This year, Johnson didnt look anything like a player over the summer. But his Hendrick Motorsports team has rebounded since August, and he has won two races in the Chase. His win at Martinsville gave him three weeks to focus on Homestead.It also allowed him to relax. He can go on 7-mile runs and think about the Homestead race. He also held an event for his foundation, in which he awarded grants to schools and the kids made toy race cars.Johnson has an obvious tie to wanting to help public schools -- his mother drove a school bus for a living. His father operated a backhoe. Ironically, the driver whose grass roots most closely resemble Dale Earnhardt Sr.s has fought a perception of a slick Californian who had money to get his ride. While Earnhardt used an intimidating persona to earn his stripes, Johnson opted for a professional, squeaky-clean image to make sure that sponsors wanted to support a driver with limited stock-car experience.I fought that my whole career. ... People just thought I had the silver spoon lifestyle, Johnson said. That would have made things a heck of a lot easier if that was the case.But it wasnt. People thought Junior Johnson was my father [for] the longest time.Laugh all you want, but the funny thing is that among the four finalists, Johnson might be the easiest to go have a drink with or celebrate a title. His championship celebration stories are ones that would make any college kid proud and he once proclaimed his liver hated him during one of his championship media tours.While he might not have the due respect of fans across the board, he does have it in the garage -- every garage he has competed in throughout his career. Not only does team owner Rick Hendrick bid at items during the Jimmie Johnson Foundation annual dinner and golf tournament, his former Xfinity Series owner, Stan Herzog, does too. As do his former racing buddies Jeremy McGrath, jet ski racer Victor Sheldon and off-road Hall of Famer Walker Evans.Hes a class guy, rival team owner Roger Penske said. He represents the industry, the garage area, the driver area in such a great way. To me, if he gets it, he sure deserves it.If he gets it, he can retire the helmet. And then torment his crew chief a little by having a helmet designed for a run at the eighth title.I saw it, and I was like, Oh boy, Knaus said about his first spotting the helmet on top of the car. Look, everybody gets motivated differently. Everybody has different things in their mind that gets them going in the morning or continues to motivate them throughout the course of the day.Jimmie, I think its not only a motivation for him to have that stuff on his helmet. I also think its a show of respect to the people that he is chasing. I think its a pretty cool thing.In addition to the tributes to the seven-time champions, what makes the helmet cool is the 7, painted in a way in tribute to the memory of Ricky Hendrick, Ricks son who was among 10 killed in a Hendrick Motorpsorts plane crash in 2004. Ricky used to write his 7