There is no easy answer for why Johnson was as good as he was for so long. It was a combination of everything that came together perfectly. Letarte believes something he’s learned about life is the things people love the most or what’s captivating are what can’t be reproduced or perfected into one recipe to use over and over.

“You can’t recreate moments,” Letarte says. “Movies are great, but there’s a script. Reality TV has a script. But not live sports. Live sports are this last leg of a true living, breathing thing. It touches people at a level of connection that most things can’t, and it can be both ways. When your team isn’t winning, it’s the most heartbreaking thing in the world, and when your team is winning, it’s the most jubilation you can ever experience.

“That goes even more when you get to see the person himself doing it. Johnson was in a zone – we talk about the zone – his zone lasted years. His zone wasn’t a good half of football or nine holes of golf. It was years.

“It’s kind of like Tiger Woods; when you go back and bring his stats up, you almost don’t believe they’re real. You don’t believe how many weeks he could have been No. 1. And I think that’s Jimmie Johnson.

“The farther and farther we get away from Jimmie Johnson’s career, the more and more and more we should be impressed with what he’s accomplished.”