NASCAR 2016 awards: Jimmie Johnson’s historic 7th championship makes him the Driver of the Year

Continuing our multi-part review of the recently completed 2016 NASCAR season, SB Nation spotlights the best driver, crew chief, and rookie of the past year.

Driver of the Year

There were large chunks of the season when the Toyota-backed drivers of Joe Gibbs Racing and its Furniture Row Racing affiliate appeared considerably superior to the rest of the field. Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, and Martin Truex Jr. combined to win 16 of 36 races -- including a sweep of NASCAR’s four majors -- and led 53 percent of all laps.

When the Toyotas weren’t the dominant party, 2014 champion Kevin Harvick looked poised to score a second series crown in three years. Once again posting impressive numbers, Harvick ranked first in average finish and top-10 finishes, tied for first in top fives, and led the second-most laps.

Yet when the championship was decided, it wasn’t Harvick or a driver representing the Toyota contingent collecting the Sprint Cup championship. Instead, for a seventh time it went to Jimmie Johnson, whose five victories were a series-best. He also tied the all-time titles record shared by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

What’s notable is that Johnson’s seventh title occurred in a vastly different manner than the previous six. Hendrick Motorsports’ underwhelming regular season placed Johnson in the unusual role of being an afterthought when the Chase for the Sprint Cup began. Conventional wisdom suggested he would only make a deep playoff run if everything worked in his favor, though that seemed like a remote possibility.

But with the exception of the Chase opener where he sped on pit road, Johnson executed almost flawlessly in every playoff race of consequence. Aided by having improved Chevrolets underneath him, he delivered three wins -- including a come-from-behind victory at Martinsville Speedway, which caused a rift within the close-knit JGR team -- and a stirring win in the championship finale despite Busch, Edwards, and Team Penske’s Joey Logano each possessing better cars for much of the evening.

He may have produced middling statistics during the regular season, but no one was better than Johnson when the stakes were raised. And it’s why he is the clear-cut winner of SB Nation’s Driver of the Year Award for 2016.

Others deserving mention: Busch; Truex; Harvick

Crew Chief of the Year

After a storybook season in which Truex and crew chief Cole Pearn led FRR into the Chase championship round, the question became whether that success was sustainable. Not only was it sustainable -- under Pearn’s leadership, the single-car team based in Denver (as in Colorado, not North Carolina) ascended into a powerhouse in 2016.

Even after an offseason manufacturer change, Truex led the most laps and won four times, including two NASCAR majors. He fell 0.01 seconds short of winning the Daytona 500. Truex’s transformation from journeyman to title contender can be attributed to many factors. Primarily it speaks to Pearn’s ability to construct consistently fast cars regardless of carmakers and the limitations FRR faced in terms of resources. He’s emerged as one of the very best crew chiefs in the garage.

Others deserving mention: Adam Stevens (Busch); Rodney Childers (Harvick); Dave Rogers (Edwards); Chad Knaus (Johnson); Slugger Labbe (Austin Dillon); Bob Osborne (Chris Buescher)

Rookie of the Year

Faced with the task of being Jeff Gordon’s heir apparent, Chase Elliott would’ve had justification if he struggled filling Gordon’s seat as driver of the iconic No. 24 Hendrick car.

The 20-year-old Elliott wasn’t fazed, however. He turned in a brilliant freshman season that in many ways exceeded what Gordon had done the year before by leading a greater number of laps (358 vs. 265), earning more top-five finishes (10 vs. 5), and having an average finish only slightly higher (14.6 vs. 13.7). The only thing he didn’t do was reach victory lane, though he came close several times.

Others deserving mention: Buescher; Ryan Blaney