As a team owner and now returning as a part-time driver, seven-time NASCAR Cup champ Jimmie Johnson likes what he’s seen from NASCAR lately.
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That includes having the NASCAR All-Star Race at the refurbished North Wilkesboro Speedway, and the preseason Clash at Bowman-Gray Stadium, among others. But there’s more that Johnson would like to see, as well.
Johnson appeared on the May 23 edition of Rubbin Is Racing podcast and was quite complementary to NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports Inc. leadership in taking the sport forward and making it more attractive to both current and new fans.
First, Johnson addressed the sold-out NASCAR All-Star Race at the .625-mile North Wilkesboro oval.
“If you like racing, that was a heck of a show, that was damn good,” Johnson said. “When I was in the All-Star event, it was at a different time, and fandom and interest in analog events was higher than ever.
“The advent of the (smart) phone and digital and all these other elements, there’s been a decay in some respects. But it’s been great to see our (TV) viewership numbers rise, although in some markets the attendance has shifted and changed.
“When I first started the All-Star event at a mile and a half track at Charlotte Motor Speedway, it was a packed house and a unique energy. That started to fade, just changed for a lot of different reasons.
“There was excitement and energy at North Wilkesboro, and that was a tremendous race. So I commend NASCAR for staying flexible. I also commend the two major ownership groups with NASCAR and SMI.
“Now that they’ve taken their companies back private, it’s allowed them to invest into a North Wilkesboro, it’s allowed NASCAR to go to Chicago and have a street race, we’re going to Mexico City now, we’re going to Austin and that couldn’t happen before because they were publicly traded companies.
“The sport of NASCAR is strong, it’s healthy. We can all bitch and complain and want more for this or more for that. We all sit across the table from each other fighting for it, but it’s trending in a very positive way,” elaborated the Legacy Motor Club owner.
Johnson: Bring Back ‘The Rock’
Johnson would like to see the so-called ‘North Wilkesboro treatment’ come to another track that is near and dear to him: Rockingham Speedway – or even more simply, ‘The Rock.’
While North Wilkesboro required a massive cleanup and revitalization to get it race worthy again, Rockingham could literally host a Cup race tomorrow. It’s still in great shape, it always was a challenging track, and drivers like racing there.
The only problem in the waning years of NASCAR racing at The Rock was that while NASCAR drivers and teams loved it, fans didn’t and stayed away in droves, making it economically unfeasible to continue having the Cup Series run there.
“I was happy to see Rockingham on the schedule, to have that Xfinity race there,” Johnson said. “As a driver, it’s a track that demands precision on a track that’s so old and just chews up tires and (has) very interesting banking from one end of the track to the other.
“I love that track, it was one of my favorite places to drive. So I would put that one probably at the top of the list.”
NASCAR Has One Geographic Hole That Needs To Be Filled
But NASCAR does have one geographic problem, one that Johnson hopes can be fixed somehow, someway – and that is from his original neck of the woods, namely, Southern California (Johnson grew up in suburban San Diego).
With Auto Club Speedway being bulldozed and plans to rebuild it into a half-mile bullring on hold (and perhaps permanently), there really is no venue that is capable of hosting a Cup event – unless NASCAR, perhaps, might hold a street race like Chicago’s.
“It is important (to be in SoCal), but the biggest problem is we have tracks keep being ‘dozed over and becoming shopping centers and housing projects,” Johnson said, adding that he was open to suggestions.
He even mentioned Irwindale Speedway – just east of Los Angeles – as a possible venue. Unfortunately, though, Irwindale closed a few months ago, never to return. “I just don’t know what’s standing and what’s left,” Johnson lamented.
Jimmie Johnson certainly seems to agree with NASCAR and the direction it is headed in, enough to put his own money where his mouth is by owning Legacy Motor Club, a team that competes in the Cup Series every week.
