Racing season is over for NASCAR’s elite series but the offseason is just getting started for reigning five-time and current champion Jimmie Johnson whose named was misspelled during a recent ESPN SportsCenter broadcast after the season’s last race. Completely crushed and embarrassed by the incident, Johnson filed suit this morning stating ESPN “completely tarnished” his image as the toughest driver in NASCAR.
Official court documents filed in the suit and found “Jeff Gordon” mentioned frequently in the legal papers. Also noted in the filing was the confirmation document from the State of California back in 1999 when Jimmie Johnson changed the spelling of his name from “Jimmy” to “Jimmie” with Jeff Gordon as witness to the legal name change.
When questioned about why he filed the lawsuit with ESPN, Johnson broke down in tears. “I’ve only been reigning champion for the last five (explicative)ing years. All these years I’ve tried to build up my image to appear more feminine than my teammate Jeff Gordon and ESPN has managed to destroy that image with one letter,” said Johnson. “I guess from now on I’ll just have to parade around the garage in a freaking skirt.”
ESPN would not directly comment on the allegations but extended their apologies to Johnson and the entire Hendrick Motorsports organization issued in a written statement to the press.
“While ESPN deeply regrets the terrible mistake made during last week’s broadcast, our company takes no credibility for tarnishing Mr. Johnson’s feminine image. Jeff Gordon is his teammate and speaks volumes about the organization’s image and absence of masculinity in NASCAR. Mistakes are made frequently in sports broadcasting and Mr. Johnson’s name spelling is stupid.”
By Morgann Spicer
