Jimmie Johnson’s life took a sharp turn two weeks ago.
“I made it to 49 without ever having a real job,” the seven-time NASCAR champion and El Cajon native said earlier this week.
That changed on Jan. 27, when Johnson became the majority owner of Legacy Motor Club — the NASCAR team that started out 7½ decades ago as Petty Enterprises.
“I’m now in a position that I never saw myself being in,” said Johnson. “Being the majority owner has changed everything. I was part of the ownership process before. Now, I’m steering the ship. I have department heads and I want to empower them. But at the end of the day, I’m on the hook.”
Johnson’s expanded role with the team has led to other adjustments in his life.
He moved back to Charlotte, N.C., from England, where he, wife Chandra and the couple’s two daughters had resided for almost two years. His wife and family will return when school ends.
And he will be racing less in 2025.
Johnson will try to qualify for his 23rd Daytona 500 Thursday night. If he is successful, he will then make his 700th career start in the Coca-Cola 600 in May at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
But those are the only two NASCAR races that Johnson will run this season — although he does have some “bucket list” events in other vehicles in his mind.
“Clearly, I’m in a different spot than I’ve ever been in before,” said Johnson. “I never thought about owning a race team. I wanted to drive as long as I could. Then I started working with Chip Ganassi, who went from driving to being a very successful team owner. And I developed a strong partnership with Carvana. Then the perfect opportunity came along with the Legacy Motor Club.
“Things evolved quickly. And now I find myself in a completely new position. The ownership side is where I need to be and what I need to be focused on.”
Not only is Johnson leading a stock car team, he has become a national spokesman for Carvana. Johnson was in New Orleans last week, doing pre-Super Bowl interviews on radio row. He engaged Shaquille O’Neal in a free-throw shooting contest — the basketball great helped design the paint scheme on Johnson’s Daytona car — and appeared with O’Neal and Charles Barkley on “Inside The NBA.”
This week, Johnson and ESPN commentator Marty Smith launched a podcast on SiriusXM.
“My focus has moved away from the driver’s seat,” said Johnson. “It’s now ‘what can I do to help Legacy Motor Club?’ We want to improve the results and expand the profile. That’s my job.”
Legacy’s two drivers are Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek. The CEO is off-roading legend Cal Wells. “We’ve got building blocks,” Johnson said.
Johnson won 83 NASCAR races and a record-equaling seven season championships during 19 seasons as a full-time NASCAR driver. Since he last competed as a regular in 2020, Johnson spent two seasons driving on the IndyCar tour before becoming part of the Legacy Motor Club ownership team in 2023.
Johnson still plans to drive, although his future NASCAR driving will be limited to selected events.
“I can win on superspeedways like Daytona,” said Johnson. “But at other tracks, the rules and parity packages work against me. There’s no testing in NASCAR. That gives the drivers on tour every week a huge advantage because they know the car through the races. It’s tougher for guys trying to qualify for five or six races a year. The variables in play for safety and equality have unintended consequences.”
To race in Sunday’s Daytona 500, Johnson must qualify with a high finish in Thursday night’s twin, 125-mile qualifying races. Being a seven-time champion doesn’t earn you a free .
But Johnson has stayed active, racing in historic events in Europe. And he’d like to get into endurance sports car events like the 24 Hours of Daytona. Plus, he is still looking toward driving the late Bill Muncey’s historic “Blue Blaster” Unlimited Hydroplane in an exhibition as well as returning to his off-road roots in the Baja 1000.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of racing the clock,” said Johnson. “And you can still test in those series.”
And Johnson has fallen in love with driving historic racecars. Over the past two summers, he drove a 1960 Ford GT-40 at Spa and teamed with Dario Franchitti in AC Cobra DB-4, winning the Goodwood 70 years after Sterling Moss drove the car to victory at Le Mans.
“Those are incredible experiences,” said Johnson. “For one, I had never been to Spa before. And sitting in the GT-40 or the Cobra, you put yourself in a time capsule. The GT-40 still hit 200 mph. But you are experiencing what drivers experienced six, seven decades ago, long before so many technical improvements.”
Which brought Johnson’s thoughts back to the Daytona 500 and the big crashes that have shaped the outcome of so many recent races.
“The cause … it’s the drivers being knuckleheads,” said Johnson. “Racing in big packs for an extended period, drivers get impatient. They’re bump-drafting and then they slam too hard into the guy in front of them.
“During my generation, the racing became more pack-focused. It’s frustrating when you crash. But it feels great when you survive and win.”
