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- NASCAR Superstar Jimmie Johnson rafting at the U.S National Whitewater Center
- Wednesday September 3rd 2008 Hendrix motor sports brought about 140 employees out to the U.S National
Whitewater Center to go rafting.
I had the unique experience of taking down in my raft two time NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson along
with four other members of Hendrix motor sports Below are some photos of Jimmie Johnson rafting
Pictured above John Latecki Jr is driving the raft. Jimmie Johnson sitting second row on the left
- Looking at the Big Drop on the competition channel
- second row left side Jimmie readies for a forward stroke
Jimmie helping power us into Big Drop
Pictured above and now sitting front left Jimmie prepares to enter Big Drop sideways
Front left Jimmie braces for a sideways hit on Big Drop
- coming out of Big Drop sideways
Here is a link to the pictures above along with some others pictures of Jimmie Johnson not shown above
After clicking on the link look for these picture numbers 0028, 0029, 0030, 0031, 0032, 0089, 0091, 0092, 0093, 0095, 0096
FAQ
What was Jimmie like in person ?
Surprisingly he acted like most other guests we get at the Whitewater Center. What impressed me about Jimmie was how he gave me his full attention
during my trip talk.
Before we take guests out on the raft the trip leader gives a trip talk. (for this trip I was the trip leader)
The trip talk covers the three pieces of equipment guests receive (life jacket, helmet, and paddle) We also go over how to get people back into the raft
and what to do if you fall out of the raft along with other pertinent information applying to whitewater. The trip talk takes about 15 minutes.
I usually have a few people who I can see are not paying attention during my talk. They look away or whisper to their friends. These people who usually don’
t pay attention turn out to be cocky guys. Jimmie has tons of money, a huge fan base and he has won the NASCAR championship the last two years. If
anyone has a reason to be cocky it would be Jimmie Johnson. Jimmie gave me his full attention and listened to what I was saying during my trip talk.
What was Jimmie like on the water, was he a good paddler?
Jimmie and his crew were great paddlers! No surprise Jimmie wanted to race and race we did.
There were several other Hendrix Motorsports boats out there willing to race us.
Our first race was a head to head race down the competition channel which we won handily.
We also won our second head to head race fairly easy.
Our third race down the competition channel we were racing head to head against three other Hendrix rafts. We knocked a raft into the rocks, passed
one, and bumped another into the wall above our class IV rapid Big Drop and went on to win the race in grand fashion.
On the wilderness channel we found a Hendrix boat and made an impromptu decision to race them. They were in the lead going through M-wave, but we
were able to bump them into an eddy to go 4-0 in racing. Jimmie Johnson was just as dominant racing at the Whitewater Center as he is on the track!
What was it like having Jimmie Johnson in your raft?
It was one of the coolest experiences of my life! As we were getting into the raft someone suggested Jimmie sit in a safe spot to keep from getting
injured. The thought of Jimmie Johnson getting hurt was defiantly in my mind.
My goal was to try and balance a fun safe trip without delivering a candy-ass ride.
We went down Big Drop sideways. We pushed the limits while surfing on the wilderness channel we flipped the raft! I was relived once it was apparent
everyone was O.K Jimmie is a true down to earth individual and he gained a new fan.