Jimmie Johnson

ASA and Busch Series

In 1997, Johnson began racing on asphalt ovals when he ran three races in the American Speed Association (ASA), making his debut at Hawkeye Downs Speedway. Driving for Herzog Motorsports' stock car program, he won the ASA Pat Schauer Memorial Rookie title in 1998. One year later, he had two wins and finished third in the standings. Johnson finished second in the two races at Fairgrounds Speedway he participated in over those two years.

Johnson made his NASCAR Busch Series (now NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series) debut at the 1998 Indianapolis Raceway Park event, where he finished 25th for ST Motorsports. He continued his limited slate in 1999 with Herzog Motorsports before moving to a full-time schedule in 2000. At Watkins Glen International, he had a spectacularly hard accident on lap 46 when his brakes failed entering the first turn. He had to swerve quickly to the right to avoid the No. 86 of Dennis Demers, but went into the grass on the inside of turn one, then went back across the track, caught some air on the gravel trap before finally crashing head-on into the Styrofoam barriers at the far end of the turn while still more than 150+ MPH. He eventually climbed out of the car unscathed and raised his fists in the air like he had won the race. Johnson noted he was "so happy to be alive and OK. The next couple of days I was really sore." Otherwise, in a rather uneventful season which featured one DNQ at Daytona and six top-tens, he finished tenth in the point standings.

In 2001, Johnson recorded one win at Chicagoland Speedway, and finished eighth in the point standings; his win at Chicagoland was his only win throughout his career at the track. During the year, he joined Hendrick Motorsports for a four-race schedule in the Winston Cup Series, making his series debut in the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The opportunity was made available when he connected with Hendrick driver Jeff Gordon during the 2000 Busch season; with Herzog facing shutdown due to sponsorship issues, Johnson approached Gordon and was informed of the team's intention to field a fourth car for him.

Johnson formally moved to Hendrick in 2002, driving the No. 48 Lowe's-sponsored Chevrolet.

NASCAR Cup Series

2002–2005

Johnson began racing full-time in the Winston Cup Series during the 2002 season. He earned his first career pole position for the Daytona 500, becoming the third rookie to do so (the first were Loy Allen Jr. in 1994 and Mike Skinner in 1997). In his thirteenth career start, Johnson scored his first career win in the NAPA Auto Parts 500 at Auto Club Speedway. Johnson became the first rookie driver to lead the point standings and to win twice at the same track during a season, by sweeping both races at Dover. In the Coca-Cola 600, Johnson led 263 laps before he got a penalty for overshooting his pit box. He earned four pole positions and three wins (tying the rookie record set by Tony Stewart in 1999; later surpassed by Shane van Gisbergen, who won four times in 2025), as well as six top-fives and 21 top-tenfinishes. He finished fifth in the final point standings. However, despite the strong season, Ryan Newman won rookie of the year honors over Johnson, partially due to Newman having 22 Top 10's compared to Johnson's 21.

In 2003, Johnson finished ninth on the all-time list for consecutive weeks ranked in the top ten in points with 69. He won three races (Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and both New Hampshire races), two poles (at Kansas Speedway and Pocono Raceway), fourteen top-fives, and twenty top-ten finishes, including a second-place finish at Rockingham after leading 78 laps. He also was able to win the All-Star race for the first time, as well as finishing second in the final standings, ninety points behind Matt Kenseth and 207 ahead of his future teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.

In 2004, Johnson started slowly at Rockingham Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway with results of 41st and sixteenth, after a top-ten finish in the Daytona 500. However, he quickly was able to rebound, winning the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway. Subsequent victories in the Coca-Cola 600, the Pocono 500, and the Pennsylvania 500 came in the middle of the season, seeing Johnson sweep the Pocono races. However, finishes of 37th and 32nd at Talladega Superspeedway and Kansas moved him toward the bottom of the point standings. Afterward, he was able to win the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The second victory of the 2004 Chase for the Nextel Cup, at the Subway 500 at Martinsville on October 24, 2004, was marred by tragedy. Owner Rick Hendrick's son Ricky, twin nieces, brother, and chief engine builder Randy Dorton, as well as Joe Turner, Scott Lathram, were killed in an airplane crash en route to the race. All eight passengers and both pilots died in the incident, and Johnson was told after the completion of the race. Johnson had a total of eight wins, twenty top-fives, and 23 top-ten finishes. At the end of the season, Johnson finished second in the point standings.

In 2005, Johnson won at Las Vegas, Lowe's Motor Speedway, Dover International Speedway, and then again at Lowe's. In total, Johnson had four consecutive wins at his sponsor's (Lowe's) sponsored track in Charlotte, North Carolina. He won the Coca-Cola 600 that year, which broke the record for the most yellow flags in a Cup Series race, by beating Bobby Labonte by.027 seconds. Johnson had a chance to win the championship coming into the November 20 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but finished fifth in points after crashing at the midway point of the event with a tire problem. He scored thirteen top-fives, 22 top-ten finishes, and one pole position.

2006–2010: Championship streak

2006

In 2006, Johnson began the season by winning the Daytona 500. The Daytona 500 also marked his first race with Earl Barban as the spotter, who won five championships with Johnson and the No. 48 team. He finished second in the next race at California Speedway and won the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas by passing Matt Kenseth on the last lap. Johnson won his third race of the season in the Aaron's 499 at Talladega, followed by two more victories at Indianapolis and Martinsville. One highlight of the season was when he saved the car from slamming into the wall when he spun out during qualifications at the first Dover race. Throughout the season, he became the only modern era driver to win at least three races in each of his first five seasons. He started the chase with unfortunate mishaps in the first four races; a DNF at New Hampshire, a pitting mistake at Dover, a penalty at Kansas (he led the most laps in the race), and, while trying to make a pass for first at Talladega, getting clipped and spinning out. He and the team kept their hopes up and rallied with five straight Top 2 finishes including a win at Martinsville to come back from eighth in the points standings to take the championship. At the end of the season, he recorded one pole, thirteen top-fives, 24 top-tens, and his first championship title (this was also the first in his NASCAR career). In December, Johnson won the 2006 Driver of the Year Award.

2007

During the 2007 season, Johnson continued on a streak and recorded ten wins, four poles, twenty top-fives, and again 24 top-ten finishes. Those ten wins included sweeping both races at Richmond, Atlanta, and Martinsville. He also won at Las Vegas, Auto Club, Texas, and Phoenix. Afterward, he won his second consecutive championship title and was named the 2007 Driver of the Year. Johnson also had the best average finish in the Chase with 5.0. At the end of the season, he had a total of 33 career wins, placing him eighteenth on the all-time wins list.

In December 2007, Johnson commenced a program of exercise sessions and a run schedule supervised by John Sitaras, in order to balance his strength. Sitaras' initial assessment found that half of his body was much tighter, having acclimated to offsetting the g-force load from turning left while driving. In two years, Johnson's body fat percentage dropped from 20% to 8% (visible also in the change of the shape of his face), while his strength and stamina greatly improved. Johnson later became the first racing driver to be named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year (in 2009).

2008

After the 2008 season, Johnson became the second driver to win three consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championships, the first being Cale Yarborough. During the season, he won seven races (including a sweep at Phoenix), a career-high of six poles, fifteen top-fives, and 22 top-tens. In five of those seven wins, he started from the pole. He became the only driver to record three wins in each of their first seven seasons. It was also during this year that Johnson raced in his first-ever NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, the O'Reilly 200 at Bristol, where he led 28 laps before spinning out on lap 101. That weekend was the first time he had ever sat in a racing truck. In the Chase for the Championship, he recorded fourteen wins, eight more than any other driver. One of those included Phoenix, in which he won on low fuel and high tire wear after crew chief Chad Knaus decided to stay out late in the race. He was also named the 2008 Driver of the Year and won an ESPY as the Best Driver. After the season, he also moved to third on the active winners' list.

2009

In the 2009 season, Johnson recorded his fourth consecutive championship, becoming the only driver to win four back-to-back season titles. Throughout this season, he won seven races (including a third consecutive Checker Auto Parts 500 and both Dover races), four poles, sixteen top-fives, and 24 top-ten finishes. Johnson now became the only driver to win at least three races in each of his first eight seasons, as well as the only driver to qualify for the Chase for the Championship every year since 2004. During the season, he moved up one spot to second on the active winners' list and went to thirteenth on the all-time wins list. After the season concluded, he won an ESPY for the second consecutive year and won the Driver of the Year award for the third time, tying Jeff Gordon, Mario Andretti, and Darrell Waltrip as the only three-time drivers to win the award.

2010

During 2010, Johnson won his fifth consecutive championship, becoming the third driver to make up points to win the title since 1975. During the season, he scored two poles, seventeen top-fives, 23 top-tens, and six wins. He also remained the only driver to qualify for the Chase every year since its inception in 2004. He became the twelfth driver to win 50+ NASCAR races when he won at Bristol in March and went up to tenth on the all-time wins list. His wins in 2010 included Auto Club, Las Vegas, where he passed Jeff Gordon with sixteen laps to go for the lead, Bristol, Sonoma, his first and only road course win, New Hampshire, and Dover. At New Hampshire, with eight laps remaining, Kurt Busch, who was running second, bumped Johnson to become the leader, but Johnson returned the favor a couple of laps later to lead the final two laps. Johnson said, "Kurt knocked me out of the way. At that point, I thought, I don't care if I win or finish. I'm going to run into him one way or the other... I tried once and moved him. (I thought) I've got to hit him harder. The second time I did and moved him out of the way."

Johnson was also named Driver of the Year for the fourth time in his career, joining Gordon as the only drivers to win the award that many times. Johnson had been fighting for the championship with Denny Hamlin all season, but eventually passed him in points in the season finale at Homestead.

Johnson also won Tony Stewart's charity race, the Prelude to the Dream, his first victory on a dirt oval.

2011

In 2011, Johnson began the season with a fourth-place finish in the Budweiser Shootout, after starting from the 23rd position. One week later in the 2011 Daytona 500, he started 23rd, but finished 27th after being involved in a crash on lap 29. During the Subway Fresh Fit 500, he managed a third-place finish. Following a sixteenth-place finish after the Kobalt Tools 400, he collected two consecutive top-five finishes.

Statistically, Johnson's 2011 season was one of his worst performances to date, even though he finished sixth in the points. He only won two races during the season. The first was the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, where Johnson started on the outside pole and tandem-drafted with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the entire race. On the last lap, with Johnson in front, he and Earnhardt Jr. were in fifth and sixth off of turn 4, behind two other pairs of cars – their Hendrick teammates Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin, and the Richard Childress drafting pair of Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick. In the tri-oval, Earnhardt Jr. gave Johnson enough of a push to nip Bowyer at the finish line by 0.002 seconds. This was the closest recorded finish in Talladega history and tied the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 for closest margin of victory in NASCAR history. After finishing in the first 15 positions in the next four races, Johnson failed to finish the Coca-Cola 600 after his engine failed. Three weeks later, in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400, Johnson spun off turn two, flattening multiple tires, and breaking the sway bar which prompted him to a finish of 27th. During the Toyota/Save Mart 350, Johnson finished seventh after starting 12th on the grid. The finish moved Johnson to third in the Drivers' standings.

After returning to Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero 400, Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. ran together for most of the race, like at Talladega, until Johnson pitted under a caution flag. Johnson fell down the grid and was involved in a last-lap accident, prompting him to finish twentieth. During the next two races, Johnson finished third and fifth in the Quaker State 400 and the Lenox Industrial Tools 301. Two weeks later, Johnson found himself finishing nineteenth during the Brickyard 400 after coming to pit road with thirty laps remaining in the event. Johnson finished fourth in the Good Sam RV Insurance 500, after bumping Kurt Busch on the final lap. In the next race, Johnson finished tenth. Johnson finished in the top five in the following three races. During the last race of the regular season, the Wonderful Pistachios 400, Johnson finished in the 31st position. While at Chicagoland Speedway for the GEICO 400, Johnson finished tenth. Afterward, Johnson finished eighteenth in the Sylvania 300, then second in the AAA 400. One week later, Johnson recorded his second victory of the season in the Hollywood Casino 400. During the Bank of America 500, Johnson was involved in a crash and finished 34th. In the following race, Johnson finished second. For the next two races, Johnson finished fourteenth in each and finished 32nd in the Ford 400 to finish sixth in the Driver's championship standings.

The third NASCAR Championship for Tony Stewart marked the first time since 2005 (coincidentally, Stewart's second) that someone other than Johnson was the champion.

2012

Johnson began the 2012 season with a 14th-place finish in the Budweiser Shootout after crashing on lap 74. During the Daytona 500, Johnson was involved in a crash on lap two when he turned into the wall after contact from Elliott Sadler, then was t-boned by David Ragan, also collecting Danica Patrick, Kurt Busch and Trevor Bayne. Damage to the car was severe, prompting him to retire and finish 42nd. Afterward, he finished fourth and second in the Subway Fresh Fit 500 and Kobalt Tools 400. While at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 500, Johnson finished in the ninth position, moving him up to 11th in the Drivers' Standings. Next, Johnson finished tenth in the Auto Club 400, despite having an oil leak, but the rain saved Johnson from a low finish. He went on to finish twelfth in the spring event at Martinsville after being involved in a crash on the first green-white-checker attempt. In the following event, the Samsung Mobile 500, Johnson finished second after leading much of the race before he was passed by Greg Biffle. Afterward, he recorded a third-place finish in the STP 400 at Kansas on April 22, 2012, and a sixth-place finish in the Capital City 400 at Richmond one week later. On May 6, 2012, Johnson started nnieteenth in the Aaron's 499 at Talladega, but finished 35th after suffering a broken oil pump belt on lap 62.

Johnson won his first race of the season one week later in the Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington. The win was also Rick Hendrick's 200th NASCAR Cup Series win. A week later, he matched Gordon and Dale Earnhardt with three wins in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race after winning the 2012 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. Next, in the Coca-Cola 600, Johnson finished eleventh in the race after a penalty on lap 354. After the Coca-Cola 600, Johnson went on to win his second race of the season in the FedEx 400. In the Pocono 400, he recorded a fourth-place finish after starting 24th on the grid. During the next two races, Johnson placed fifth, moving him to fourth in the standings. Afterward, Johnson finished sixth after winning his first pole position of the season in the Quaker State 400. However, in the Coke Zero 400, Johnson finished 36th after retiring from a crash on lap 124. After finishing seventh during the Lenox Industrial Tools 301, Johnson recorded his third victory of the season and his fourth career win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, tying Jeff Gordon for what was the record for the most wins in the Brickyard 400.

At Michigan, Johnson was leading late in the race with six laps to go when his engine blew up, giving the race to Greg Biffle.

2013: Return to championship form

In 2013, Johnson began his season with a fourteenth-place finish in the 2013 Sprint Unlimited when he crashed on lap 14 along with Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, and Denny Hamlin. Afterward, he placed fourth in the first Budweiser Duel, resulting in a ninth-place starting position in the 2013 Daytona 500. In the Daytona 500, Johnson started well, assuming the lead from Jeff Gordon on lap 32 and leading a handful of laps before falling back

On the Road

In 2012, Johnson and his wife Chandra self-published a coffee table book titled On the Road, with photographs taken by Missy McLamb.