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When you say the word "forever" that could have different meanings. Right now, (in this day and age) I would say he is the greatest driver of his era. You had drivers like Richard Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, and of course Dale Earnhardt Sr. In their haydays, they were driving a different kind of car. Somebody would purchase a new Dodge or Plymouth and make a hot rod out of it. Then they would drive like the dickens without all the adjustments they have today. Jimmie Johnson is definitely a great driver and he has made history today winning his fourth straight title. That is a record that I don't see being broken because of the stiff competition each team has. Richard Petty has a record that nobody will ever break and that's his 200 NASCAR Sprint Cup victories. In today's standards Jimmie Johnson is the greatest driver.
You can't compare drivers of today with drivers from the sixties, seventies, eighties or even the nineties. The COT handles and performs much differently than the past standard stock cars. Earnhdardt or Gordon could outperform Johnson in the "non politically correct" non-COT cars of yesterday. Comparing drivers today with drivers of yesterday is like comparing apples and oranges; the cars don't react the same and therefore the skills of the drivers are impeded by a restructured technology that should have never happened in the first place.
Restrictor plate restraints are another example of NASCAR putting a limit on the driving potential of the driver. Equality is the big thing nowadays.
Jimmy is a great driver and (though I don't care for him) he has a great crew chief, but if you remove the COT and particularly you go back to the old points system for determining the championship, Jimmy doesn't have but MAYBE one championship and certainly not four. Jimmy and Chad are able to exploit the chase format, that doesn't make him the best driver ever, it means that they have figured a way to take advantage of a particular format.
You can't compare the Drivers of today with the drivers of yesterday. Different cars, Different rules, and a big difference in the amount of money going into the newer cars.
He may or may not be the "best" driver ever but he is an exceptional sportsman. That is what, in my opinion, makes him the best. Back in the late 50's and then again in the early 80"s I had the honor of engineering for radio and then television NASCAR races from a little dirt track in Vermont and then at Daytona. Most of those drivers were, shall we say, real characters, one heck of a lot of fun to be around but I would never ride with them in a car after 8 PM if you know what I mean!
Johnson is the Tiger Woods of NASCAR- a sportsman!