Jimmie Johnson ‘retired’ in 2020 but since then, he has come back as a part-owner of Legacy Motorclub and as a driver in IndyCar races for a couple of seasons and five other NASCAR races last year. He had planned on doing more but due to a family tragedy, which included a suspected murder-suicide of his wife’s parents and nephew, that plan didn’t find fruition. Fast forward to this year, Johnson’s racing quota has increased to at least nine races.
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It seems like the seven-time Cup Series champion cannot stay away from stock cars. But looking at his illustrious Hall of Fame career, one would wonder why Johnson still has the itch to race. Is it just this 48-year-old man’s love for the sport or is it something else?
In an interview with Fox Sports, the veteran racer and team owner said, “I, in my mind, have had this kind of 10-race window that I am open to, and I think fits well with my business adventures, my family adventures in the fulfillment that I still chase driving race cars. So I was very excited to expand to the nine races.”
That’s not all. He would love to take part in a 10th NASCAR race or perhaps a classic or a sports car race. But in NASCAR, is there any specific type of race track that Johnson should race on? Perhaps a road course because Johnson’s only road course win since 2002 was at Sonoma in 2010. It goes without saying why Charlotte is in Johnson’s schedule this year. But why just Charlotte? why not Chicago? Can’t the Grant Park 220 be the 10th race in Johnson’s schedule?
“Chicago was certainly on the list,” said the LMC owner, “but trying to manage personal business and racing, I hope to be traveling with my family in July and we wanted to leave that window of time open.”
Jimmie Johnson makes a risky late-race move to qualify for the 2024 Daytona 500
This year, Johnson would have fallen short of making it into the final rumble. On the last lap of the qualifiers at Daytona, Johnson realized that if he could just beat J. J. Yeley, he could just make it past the qualifying and get his spot in the main event. “I’m like, ‘I’m not going to make it, not going to make the Daytona 500,'” Johnson recalled.
“I’m going to have to call all our partners. I’m going to have to stand in the suite during the 500 and shake hands, not drive a car. This is running through my mind – ‘I have to figure out a way,'” he added. After all, Johnson won the Daytona 500 twice in 2006 and 2013 for Hendrick Motorsports. Plus, he switched to a Toyota this year, marking the first time when the seven-time legend would sit behind the wheels of a Toyota racecar in the Cup Series. Therefore, it might have been a bit disappointing for him as well as his fans had he not qualified for the race.
But thankfully, he pushed himself, and on that closing lap; he took a dangerous three-wide pass through the last turn and got locked into his 21st Daytona 500. Meanwhile, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick went on to win the 150-mile Duel 1, while Christopher Bell swept the Duel 2, making the pair of days an absolute Toyota showdown.
