Jimmie Johnson can make NASCAR history in the Daytona 500; and do so in a Toyota

Jimmie Johnson officially entered the NASCAR Hall of Fame last month.

Next month, he’s inducted into another — the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in Daytona Beach, where he’ll join an induction class that includes IndyCar star Scott Dixon and former sports-car racer Paul Newman, who also dabbled in acting.

Between those two career-capping events, Johnson might actually have a shot to win his sport’s biggest event, the Daytona 500. It would be his second Daytona 500 as co-owner of Legacy Motor Club, but his first in a Toyota — the team switched to Toyota from Chevy after last season — and the first Cup Series start by a driver already inducted into NASCAR's Hall of Fame.

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Sunday’s race would be the first of nine Cup Series races the seven-time champion intends to enter this year, a season in which he also plans to run some off-road events for the “Extreme E” team introduced this year by Johnson’s Legacy Motor Club team.

“I am in this race car for the nine races this year because I just want to race,” said Johnson, who turned 48 last fall. “I have a few other reasons why I’m out there, but the purest of all is that I just love racing, love driving.

“The desire to drive, to race and compete, to have the nerves in my stomach, the butterflies … I truly longed for it. Been chasing it my whole life.”

He can’t envision staying away from something he still loves, particularly when he has the opportunity to scratch that itch.

“When you spend your lifetime doing your passion for a job, it just doesn’t make any sense to me,” he said.

Johnson’s 84 career Cup Series wins includes two Daytona 500s, but his most recent attempts have ended on the business end of a tow truck.

He crashed out of three of his last four 500s as a full-time driver, then after a two-season retirement, he returned last year with his new team and completed 203 laps — unfortunately, the overtime race went 212 laps and Johnson again left on a hook.

“It’s tricky, as we all know,” he said of the unpredictable nature of Daytona. “The things I see in recent years is just how important track position is.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Jimmie Johnson, new NASCAR Hall of Famer, eyes history in Daytona 500