Jimmie Johnson was once a force of nature on the track. Even Denny Hamlin once confirmed on his podcast that the field used to fear Johnson, not because he was intimidating or reckless, but because he was so precise at passing and competing while driving clean. Off the track, though, Johnson has a soft touch, especially when it comes to his daughters.
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That is why when his 15-year-old daughter, Genevieve, told Johnson her decision to attend boarding school, he admitted he would feel a real emptiness at home. During his discussion with Marty Smith and Andy Roddick on the Never Settle Podcast, he recalled that she had made this decision long ago in sixth grade.
She had written a letter to her parents as part of a school project about having difficult conversations. Her teacher had already told the Johnsons they would soon get that letter from their daughter. When the day came, Johnson was left stunned. But he admitted that her passion convinced him.
He said, “She’s into it, open to it… She still has maybe a difficult time explaining it. But you can just see the passion that she has for it and how she wants to do it. But it’s around independence.
“I also think that with her grade point average and just how academic she is, she’s excited to cover more territory quicker and then make more time for her interest, which is horses.”
Johnson understands that the boarding school schedule provides longer breaks. What amazes him most is how Genevieve has mapped out not just her academic track, but also her competitive show jumping schedule, along with her vision for how it all connects to her future college path.
On the other hand, the Johnsons are grappling with a different challenge, struggling with the thought of not having her at home. Johnson continued, “Right now we’re dealing with a form of that empty nester element you’re speaking about.
“We didn’t expect 15 for her to be gone. So, we’ll see. I keep joking that mom’s going to have all these tears, but dad’s going to have plenty of tears as well.”
Still, just as Johnson has faced the toughest fields and the hardest races in NASCAR, he will surely find a way to tackle his daughter’s absence with the same strength.
