Why Jimmie Johnson is a legend of NASCAR — and Goodwood

The 50-year-old also happens to be a dedicated fan of racing history and a faithful friend to Goodwood, who just last weekend revelled once more in racing at the Revival presented by Dunlop.

A podium third sharing Fred Wakeman’s Lister-Jaguar Coupe in the RAC TT Celebration capped a memorable weekend for Johnson, who also raced an Alfa Romeo Giulia in the St. Mary’s Trophy presented by Motul and joined Hélio Castroneves and Scott Dixon in the moving demonstration of the 1-2-3 trio of 1966 Le Mans Ford GT40s on Saturday afternoon.

As the GRRC of America prepares to put down roots, let’s remind ourselves why the west coast star of stock car racing is so well-loved.

Off-road, then taking stock

Born in El Cajon, California, Johnson cut his racing teeth on motorcycles from the age of five and won a 60cc class title at eight. Given where he grew up, it’s also no surprise that his first four-wheel competition was racing trucks off-road.

The switch to stock cars followed in 1998. Across two seasons in the well-regarded American Speed Association series, Johnson scored a couple of wins, then stepped up with his team Herzog Motorsports to NASCAR’s second tier — then known as the Busch Series. Tenth at the end of his rookie season, he scored a breakthrough win at Chicagoland in 2001, the same season he made his Cup debut in three races for Hendrick Motorsport. The legend of the no.48 was under way.

Child’s play

From his first full season in the Cup with Hendrick, Johnson’s potential was all too obvious. Eventually he’d succeed team-mate and fellow Californian Jeff Gordon as NASCAR’s brightest star, but there were some creases to iron out in those early years following his rookie season in 2002.

Johnson extends his lead of the NASCAR Winston Cup in Fontana, California, April 2002.

Teamed with crew chief Chad Knaus, the combination hit gold early, scoring a pole position straight off the bat at the Daytona 500, with the first Cup win soon following in April on Johnson’s home turf at Fontanta. Across their first three seasons together, the Johnson-Knaus combo scored 18 wins, but the relationship became known for the radio blow-ups between them. This was a combustible partnership.

Speculation intensified that crew chief and driver would split, until team chief Rick Hendrick got them together to thrash out their differences. At the so-called “milk and cookies” meeting, where Hendrick got them to eat off Mickey Mouse plates, the duo were told in no uncertain terms to stop acting like children. Given the run of success the pair were about to embark on, it seems the novel tactic worked a treat.

Golden years

Johnson claimed the Big One at the start of 2006 by winning the Daytona 500 from ninth on the grid, then claimed four more wins through the season to clinch his first Cup title. Now there was no stopping him.

The following year he notched up a personal-best ten wins across the season, including four in a row during the play-offs, a format that had been introduced to NASCAR in 2004 and in which Johnson would remarkably make the cut every year until 2019.

The milestones continued. Johnson matched Yarborough’s three consecutive titles in 2008, then continued his streak to make it five on the bounce up to 2010. The run was then broken, but Johnson gained a new nickname as “six-time” in 2013, the year in which he won his second Daytona 500.

Three years later, he moved beyond Dale Earnhardt’s win tally, and in the same season joined The Intimidator and Richard Petty as NASCAR’s only seven-time Cup Champions. All achieved while building a parallel legacy with his wife Chandra, with whom he established the Jimmie Johnson Foundation which has raised millions for a variety of good causes.

New adventures

In 2017, Johnson scored his 11^th win at the ‘Monster Mile’ in Dover, a single-venue record — and with it equalled the overall victory tally of Yarborough. The pair sit on 83 Cup wins apiece, behind only Richard Petty, David Pearson, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip in the roll call of NASCAR heroes.

His final full season with Hendrick was in 2020, when he only just missed out on the play-offs, after which Johnson bravely embraced new challenges far out of his comfort zone. He’d tested a Formula 1 McLaren in a seat swap with Fernando Alonso back in 2018, and now Johnson pitched himself fully into single-seaters, joining Chip Ganassi Racing for a high-profile attempt to crack IndyCar.

The two-season adventure took him to the Indianapolis 500 in 2022, and although he fell short of scoring big results, further respect was won for his commitment and class in and out of the cockpit.

Johnson also travelled to the Goodwood Revival for the first time in ’22, beginning a new racing love affair. Then the following year he joined Jenson Button and Mike Rockenfeller in a special entry at the Le Mans 24 Hours in a Chevrolet, the first time a NASCAR had appeared in the French enduro since the 1970s. They made the finish, too, in the race’s 100^th anniversary edition, the raucous Chevy proving a firm fan favourite.

Now in his 50s, Johnson is moving out of the frontline of motorsport as racing driver, but through his charitable foundation it’s clear he still has so much to give.

The Founding Patron role with the GRRC of America offers another string to his bow, with the initiative offering members access to a year-round programme of driving tours, track experiences, social gatherings and much more. Look out too for a new Goodwood flagship event in the US, to be held at Willow Springs Raceway in 2028.

The next phase of Jimmie Johnson’s racing life has only just begun.

Main image photography by Tom Baigent.