In almost every way, Jimmie Johnson is one of NASCAR’s best drivers — His seven Cup Series championships tie him with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. for the longest time.
But after retiring from stock car racing in 2020, Johnson appeared to stray as far away from NASCAR as possible: he represented the United States at last year’s Race of Champions in Sweden; at the 2022 Goodwood Revival in England, he competed in classic car races; he tried his hand at endurance racing; and last season he competed full-time in the IndyCar open-wheel series, which included his debut at the Indianapolis 500.
“Growing up, my heroes wore their helmets all over the world and drove every vehicle,” Johnson said in a recent phone interview. “I’ve found myself in a very fortunate and unique position to be able to do some of that over the past two years.”
Only success was denied him: 47-year-old Johnson, a newcomer to open-wheel racing, often drove at the bottom of IndyCar and was considered one of the weaker members of his long-distance teams.
But now, having broadened his racing horizons, he will return to NASCAR at Sunday’s Daytona 500, this time as a part-time racer and part owner of Legacy Motor Club, the team formerly known as Petty GMS Motorsports. He’s joining an ownership group that includes Petty – the 85-year-old NASCAR legend – and airline entrepreneur Maury Gallagher.
Motor racing is enjoying a surge in popularity in the United States, Johnson said, highlighted by the country’s increasing interest in Formula One. He believes NASCAR is poised for similar success and felt this year was the right time to return.
“The water is rising in the harbor and lifting up all the ships,” Johnson said. “At NASCAR we are seeing younger owners now entering the sport with different business methods, different ideas and different cultures. Everyone is really rethinking, growing and evolving.”
For years, NASCAR has hoped to regain the popularity it once enjoyed in the late 1990s and early 2000s when drivers like Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon were household names. Johnson also came onto the scene around this time and broke through to dominate the sport by winning five straight Cup Series titles from 2006 to 2010. But interest in NASCAR waned in the years that followed, and many pundits blamed race format changes, the departure of star drivers, and the introduction of an unpopular, boxy, standardized chassis in 2007 for the decline.
The decline in popularity was particularly evident in the TV ratings. According to Nielsen, the 2006 Daytona 500 — which Johnson won — drew 19.4 million viewers, the highest in the event’s history. Last year’s edition garnered less than half that, with 8.9 million viewers, although that was an improvement on the previous two years.
In recent years, the organization has shown its willingness to experiment to reach new audiences by hosting more races on street courses that deviated from their traditional oval tracks, hosting more events on dirt tracks, and hosting exhibits at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In July, NASCAR hosts a street race in Chicago, the first of its kind for the series.
“A lot of changes have been made within the sport, new markets have been opened up, and there’s just a lot of energy and excitement around NASCAR,” said Johnson. “I really believe in where the sport is going.”
Even the concept of team accountability has started to change. Teams like 23XI Racing, co-owner of retired NBA star Michael Jordan, and Trackhouse Racing, co-owner of Grammy Award-winning rapper Pitbull – both of whom debuted in 2021 – have shown the value of creating a strong brand identity for oneself, said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s chief operating officer. Both teams offer extensive merchandise and have built different social media presences.
“One thing that’s been missing is that brand name around a team in that it’s almost like an entertainment company in its own right,” O’Donnell said. “We saw Trackhouse, for example, approaching the market place – I think that was an eye-opener for a lot of people. You can become a part of NASCAR, but you can also branch out and be your own brand.”
Petty said that this “new school” thinking was what Johnson brought to the table and was the driving force behind his team’s rebrand.
“This is the beginning of what we’re trying to achieve over the long term as we look five and 10 years into the future,” Petty said. “We want to make it so that people pull for the team, no matter who drives the cars or sponsors them or whatever the circumstances may be. It’s like a football team — you still draw for the team no matter who the quarterback is.”
Johnson’s return to NASCAR also coincides with the sport’s drive to raise its international profile. In June, NASCAR will field a modified version of its next-generation stock car in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, France’s famous endurance race. Johnson will be one of the drivers of the car, joining a team consisting of Mike Rockenfeller, a previous Le Mans winner, and Jenson Button, the 2009 Formula 1 World Champion.
“Le Mans is really the last thing on my wish list,” said Johnson. “Having traveled the world and attended other events, I have always been impressed and surprised at how much fans and other attendees know about NASCAR. So I am pleased that we are trying to use that and increase our attractiveness worldwide.”
International expansion is one of NASCAR’s main goals for the next few years, O’Donnell said. The organization has four racing series in international markets – Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Europe – and O’Donnell said the goals are to expand those series, potentially bringing a Cup Series event to those markets and international drivers to compete in to win the Cup Series in the USA
Those efforts have already borne fruit: last year, Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez became the first Mexican driver to win a race in NASCAR’s top series. And last year’s Cup Series race at Watkins Glen, NY, featured riders from seven different countries – the most in the organization’s history.
O’Donnell said Johnson, who now has a wealth of international racing experience, will be a key player as NASCAR seeks to expand further overseas.
“He’s a great ambassador for the sport and someone we’ll look to for feedback on how to grow in the right way,” O’Donnell said.
As for this weekend’s Daytona 500, it will be Johnson’s first time ever competing in a next-generation NASCAR car that debuted last year and features new transmission and different train dynamics than previous production cars. As Johnson is not a full-time Cup Series driver this season and will compete in select races, he had to earn his place in the Sunday field through qualifying earlier this week.
And although Johnson has won the Daytona 500 twice, fellow NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin, a veteran of the sport and founder of the 23XI team, has expressed skepticism that his former rival could remain competitive at the race and throughout the season.
“I hate spoiling what I’m going to think about him if he comes in and has problems — which is the most likely scenario,” Hamlin said on his podcast this month.
But other drivers were less concerned about Johnson’s abilities. Scott Dixon, a six-time IndyCar Series champion, worked as Johnson’s teammate on the Chip Ganassi Racing team in IndyCar for the past two seasons and said Johnson’s championship pedigree is on full display.
“Jimmie’s not scared, man — inside or outside the car,” Dixon said. “His attention to detail and work ethic was outstanding and we all saw the wins internally more than the people in the stands. Returning to NASCAR will be muscle memory and I have no doubt that if he has a winning car he could win the race.”
Johnson himself is less concerned about results. The Daytona 500 will be the first of a handful of races he will compete in this season and his main goal is to gain in-car experience to provide feedback to his team’s engineers and full-time drivers. But when things go right, anything can happen.
“It’s going to be a learning curve to get up to speed, but I’ll make it,” he said. “My goal is to survive, gain experience – and hopefully be there in the end.”
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