Any discussion about which athletes are the greatest of all time, in any particular pursuit, is an exercise in subjectivity. Factors range from the era they were active to winning records to the intangibles that keep them embedded in the psyche of the general public long after their final contest has played out. In motorsports, however, one name makes everyone’s short list, and that’s Jimmie Johnson.
With seven NASCAR championship titles as the measure, Johnson is equaled only by Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty, although he remains the only one to win five years in a row. He has also raced sports cars and, after 2020, left NASCAR to compete in IndyCar, further cementing his multifaceted legacy.
Fittingly, Legacy Motor Club—previously Petty GMS before Johnson came on board as a driver and part owner—is now the team he comes back to NASCAR with for its 75th Anniversary season. The 47-year-old racer recently took time from his preparation for Sunday’s Daytona 500 to share with Robb Report how it all began for him, what it means to be a part of this milestone year and his plan to successfully cross Le Mans off his bucket list.
Having started racing at a very young age, what is your earliest memory of competition?
Really, I guess being on motorcycles [at the age of four]; going to the local track that my family spent a lot of time at. We would camp out the night before and sit around a campfire having s’mores, then I’d get up and ride my dirt bike the next day.
When did you know you wanted to pursue motorsport as a career?
It was really early on. My grandparents owned a motorcycle store in Southern California. All my early years [were centered] around dirt-bike racing, and all my heroes were on two wheels and raced motocross. There was an epiphany later on for four wheels and NASCAR. But the concept of racing, you can go back to my elementary school teachers and they’ll tell you that any paper I wrote—or anything I ever talked about—it was always racing.
Who were your role models growing up, both personally and in racing?
My parents had such a huge impact on my childhood; their support of me, taking me and my brothers racing all over the country on our dirt bikes. My mom was a school-bus driver and my dad was a heavy-equipment operator, so we didn’t have great means but we had a lot of fun and did all we could.
Professionally, Rick Johnson is somebody that helped me throughout many points of my career. He was a seven-time national motocross champion that transitioned into car racing, and we’ve had a great friendship over the years. And the gentleman at GM who spotted me and found me, his name is Herb Fishel, he was very helpful. But I also had the Herzogs who I drove for from ’96 through 2001; they really helped me transition from dirt racing into stock cars. And then Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick on the back half of my career—they were so instrumental in that.
What do you possess that sets you apart from other drivers and gives you an edge?
In motorsport, and certainly NASCAR, it’s really about the ability of the driver to sense and feel the car, and then to articulate that to the team. That helps the competition side, the technical side in making the cars faster. We’re not allowed to use data acquisitions in the racing environment, that’s very intentional by NASCAR as they want it to be about the people in the sport. I feel that during my reign, or era of success, that was really the separator—the fact that I could sense and feel the car very well and articulate that back to the team and our engineers.
What has given you the greatest satisfaction in your career so far?
It’s been the moments watching the team succeed together. I think many don’t realize that about auto racing, that it is a team sport. The drivers in the cars are all the fans really see, but when you live this sport, you realize how important every man or woman is in the chain to bring that together. When you have the race wins, those championship moments—to celebrate those moments as a team has been what’s most fulfilling.
Can you share some of the decision process that went into your retirement in 2020, and then your decision to return?
I felt like the media put the term “retired” on me; I was very intentional in not using that term because I knew I still wanted to drive, even in NASCAR. But there’s the grind of the NASCAR schedule. With the lower divisions, I had 24 years in the sport—the same tracks, same scene, same cars and same environment—I wasn’t ready to stop driving but I was ready for a change.
I went to IndyCar, which was kind of my childhood dream—especially where I grew up in Southern California, where IndyCar is wildly popular. And I had fun for a couple of years there, but I always knew in my heart that I would return to NASCAR in some capacity. I wasn’t sure if maybe TV would be a place for me, certainly a bit of driving, and then as I tried to find the right environment for me to drive a car, I also found an amazing opportunity to be a car owner with Petty GMS. It wasn’t initially on my radar, but the opportunity presented itself and it’s one that I can’t turn away from.
What does it mean for you to compete in NASCAR’s 75th anniversary season?
It’s a big year. I know how important it is to the France family and all the fans in our sport. I was just a spectator 25 years ago when the 50th anniversary took place. I remember watching and hopeful that someday I could be a part of the amazing sport and all the pride that comes with it. So being in the sport and around for the 75th is something I’m really excited for.
You have plans to race this year at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, has that always been a goal for you?
It has. I’ve always been a fan of sports-car racing and endurance sports in general, considering all the triathlon stuff and other sports-car races that I’ve done. I’m very excited about that opportunity.
When it comes to training for Le Mans, what changes to your mental and physical preparation are required?
You need to get a base of strength but, at the same time, the endurance piece is what really matters. Having a proper training schedule is key. Build that strength early and then dial in the endurance side. Along that journey, I always find great accountability, great focus—not only in what I’m doing physically, but in my diet, my mental preparation and rest. You end up in this great cycle that builds up to an event for 24 hours. It’s a process for sure, and I’m thankful I’ve had a bunch of starts with the Rolex 24 [at Daytona] and I can apply that to Le Mans.
What advice do you have for those aspiring to be professional racers?
I’ve always wanted to make sure that somebody entering this industry is really passionate about it. And, of course, we all want to be drivers. But if it hadn’t worked out for me, I love this industry so much that I would have ended up in it in some capacity, somewhere. It’s really about loving the sport, being passionate about it and seeing where it takes you.
What is your dream car and do you own it yet?
I’ve got a couple of older cars that I love driving. As a kid, I was always more focused on race cars and not really on a certain model or year of sports car. So I guess I do own what I love; I’ve got a ’67 Camaro and an old woody wagon from Southern California.
At this stage in life, what does luxury mean to you?
I guess, ultimately, it just means comfort.
Recently, we’ve seen exponential growth in the popularity of Formula 1 in the US. Where do you see the future of NASCAR?
NASCAR has seen some tremendous growth here in the last couple of years. The peak back in the early 2000s was amazing and I’m so thankful to have been a part of it. I think Formula 1 has a great product, and they’re doing a great job marketing and gaining new fans. Their viewership is still probably a fourth of the size of what NASCAR has, but that means they have a ton of potential. But I do feel like motorsports is such a small industry that we all need to know each other, we all need to respect each other and we all need to help each other. This is a new sport, I mean it really is. I’m so happy to see it on an uptick with the popularity of NASCAR, IndyCar and Formula 1. I think it’s a great time to be in motorsports.
What was the impetus for the Jimmie Johnson Foundation and what is the extent of its reach today?
My wife and I have both always given back, and Kyle Petty came to us years ago and said, “Look, if you want to do more, which I think you have the ability to do with your fan base and your sponsors, and you have a cause you’re interested in, then you’ll be surprised at the support you’ll receive and all the good you can do.” So we took that to heart, started our nonprofit and donated to many, many causes far and wide. There’s so much need out there. In the last decade, or so, we’ve been focused on public education in the areas where my wife and I grew up and where we live now in North Carolina.
The 2023 Daytona 500 starts at 2:30 p.m. ET on February 19 and will be broadcast by Fox.
