Jimmie Johnson to let “Make a Wish” kid drive final race of season

MIAMI, FL — Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 car and soon-to-be back-to-back NASCAR champion, has declared that he’s going to let 12-year-old Michael Montanez drive his Lowe’s Chevrolet in the final race of the NASCAR Nextel Cup season.

“Relax, it’s not like I’m not going to be there,” Johnson said. “I’ll be in Miami somewhere, prolly on South Beach, just relaxing, you know. But I think Mikey will be able to handle the race for our team, and lock up the Championship. If something happens, they know where to find me.”

The decision was met with tremendous appreciation by ESPN, which initially introduced Johnson to some of the Make-a-Wish program participants for a segment earlier this year.

“We commend Jimmie Johnson’s commitment to our programming ideas, and to the really important things in sports,” said ESPN SportsCenter anchor Kenny Mayne. “He is demonstrating a real ability to go above and beyond. I mean, we were happy when he took that one girl on a lap at half-speed. But letting a twelve-year-old drive his car for 400 miles is a real treat.”

Some NASCAR drivers met the news with a frosty reaction. “I’m not so sure about this,” said Clint Bowyer. “I mean, what if I accidentally spin the kid out? What if the kid can’t see over the dashboard? What if the kid wins the race and forgets to mention the sponsors? I can see a lot of problems in this particular scenario.”

Johnson’s teammate Jeff Gordon, however, was more positive. “Look, just because he’s twelve, that doesn’t mean he can’t drive. Age is just a number, guys. Age is just a number.”

It’s going to be tough for this sport to sweep any nations, but it’s still pretty frickin’ cool!