Jimmie Johnson on NASCAR, tragedy, the Coke 600 and his 2 scariest moments as a racer

Jimmie Johnson is, without question, one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history. Three drivers rank at the very top of the all-time NASCAR Cup series champion standings, each with seven season titles apiece. They are Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Sr., and Johnson.

Of those three legends, Johnson is the only one who won five titles consecutively, from 2006-2010. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte in January. Johnson is now 48 years old, the same number that he made famous driving for Hendrick Motorsports. He still competes in select events and plans to do so in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Sunday, for Legacy Motor Club, which he co-owns.

This interview with Johnson, where he spoke about racing, family, overcoming tragedy and his two scariest moments as a racer, was conducted in Daytona Beach, Fla. It occurred before the recent announcement that Johnson plans to pull off an unusual double on Sunday. He will first be part of NBC’s announcing team for the Indy 500, then will fly directly to Charlotte in time to drive in the Coke 600. Johnson and his family — wife Chandra and their two daughters, Genevieve and Lydia — plan to return to live in Charlotte later this year, but are spending this school year overseas in London. Chandra is also an art connoisseur and founded SOCO Gallery, based in Charlotte.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. A longer version is available on the “Sports Legends of the Carolinas” podcast. The Johnson podcast episode is sponsored by Queen City Audio, Video & Appliances.

Scott Fowler: You already are in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. You’re 48 years old. Having accomplished so much, what keeps you going?

Jimmie Johnson: I love competing. I love being in the race car. I knew that in 2020 that my drive to be on the road 38 times a year to race full time in (NASCAR) Cup — that drive had left me…. And with two young children and other things that I wanted to accomplish, I wanted to make 2020 my last full time year in Cup. I really tried to not use the word ‘retirement.’ It quickly was labeled on me.

SF: It was used a lot.

JJ: It was. I went Indy Car racing on a limited schedule in ‘21 and also sports car racing, which are two forms of racing I’ve always been interested in, and as a kid I wanted to be an IndyCar driver…. And then the second year I did an IndyCar full-time schedule, and then the sports car program again. And that was a 23- or 24-race schedule. And the grind was there again.

So I knew I wanted to slow down a bit more and try to hit a 10-15 race schedule. I found a much better balance. Then in addition to my driving duties I have become a team owner in the sport as well.

So I have a hard time slowing down.

SF: Tell us about where you and your family are living these days.

JJ: Charlotte’s still home. And we will return home. We’ve had an amazing opportunity to travel and live abroad. We are living in London for a year to travel and see Europe. Our kids are at a good age to do so. And it’s really been an adult kind of goal and dream for my wife and I to spend a year abroad. And so we’re in the middle of that now, truly enjoying our experience.

It’s a bit more complicated than I thought it would be, having a business here in the States. So I’m not there (in London) as often as my family. The kids are in school there and enjoying it. My children are 13 and 10 now.

SF: Are you comfortable driving in London on the wrong side of the road?

JJ: I own a car there. I am now at a point where I can switch back and forth pretty easily. But in my first day home this week, I left my neighborhood and was on the left side of the road and my neighbor was driving down and just stopped and start flashing the lights and honking the horn. I was like, ‘I’m so sorry!’

SF: What do you consider your most significant early win in your NASCAR Cup career?

JJ: I would say my first. I truly felt like I had a year to show what I was capable of, to win a race — because I was handpicked by Jeff Gordon. And the equipment that he just won the 2001 championship with was now mine. And so in the (13th) race of my rookie season (in 2002) I was able to get that done, to ring the bell. And the weight of the world came off my shoulders at that point and I felt like I was going to have a job for a while. It was at my home track in Southern California —Fontana Speedway.

SF: Speaking of Southern California, tell us about how you grew up.

JJ: I grew up in Southern California, just east of the San Diego area. My grandparents owned a motorcycle shop and that was my introduction to motorsports.

My dad raced some and then was drafted in the Vietnam War. Thankfully he didn’t see any action. By the time he was deployed, the war was over and he was sent back home.

But it sent him on a different course and he didn’t race anymore, but he was really involved with my grandparents’ motorcycle shop and spent his weekends looking after clients at local tracks and really involved in that scene. And then as I came along and have two younger brothers, as we all eventually were old enough to ride and race, that was our world.

And honestly the El Cajon area where I grew up is the mecca of motocross. It’s where it really started… That was my world. So all of my heroes were motocross guys growing up.

SF: When did you make the switch from two wheels to four wheels?

JJ: I was in my mid-teens. I raced motocross from the age of 5 to 13-14 and I was very accident-prone and would always end up in the hospital. I just had some crazy breaks and surgeries.

And my parents had enough… My dad had friends racing in off-road buggies, which were so similar to the dirt bikes. He was like: ‘If we can just get a roll cage around you and keep you safe.’ And so through time, he was able to pull that off.

SF: Were you really on your water polo team in high school?

JJ: I played water polo and was on the swim team.

SF: How good were you?

JJ: I wasn’t on the varsity team. But it kept me busy and San Diego culture has its own twists and turns as well. And our swim team was far more popular than our football team and water polo was as well. So we had a great school, a highly competitive school. Once we were going to league finals for swim team.

And my swim coach came to me my junior year of high school and said, ‘Look, I know you’ve been doing this racing thing, but are you being paid to do it?’

I said, ‘No, I’m not paid.’ He said, ‘Any compensation for your performance?’

I said, ‘Yeah, there’s some prize money. A couple hundred bucks if we win or something.’

He said: ‘I’m sorry, you can’t compete. You’re technically a professional athlete.’

I’m like: ‘I’m not. I’m a 16-year-old kid in high school. What?’ So I trained the whole year, qualified for my two events and then couldn’t swim league finals.

SF: What’s the worst crash you’ve ever had?

JJ: There are two that come to mind. Many probably have seen the Watkins Glen crash in 2000 in an XFINITY car. I had brake failure and flew off the track, headed toward a white wall, which I assumed was a concrete wall. And thankfully, it was a Styrofoam wall.

And that was one of two moments where I felt like my life was coming to an end. And it was just this bizarre calmness that came over me. And I had the impact. I look around and realized that I’m conscious. I’m fine. And then I was so excited to be alive. I got out of the car and was dancing on the roof of the car.

And then when I was racing the off-road vehicles, there’s a very famous race called the Baja 1,000. And every third year it starts in Tijuana and runs all the way down the Baja Peninsula to La Paz. And I literally fell asleep behind the wheel.

I was trying to drive it solo and had been driving for nearly 20 hours waiting for the sun to come up, trying to stay awake. And I nodded off long enough to miss a turn and went flying off. We’re up in the mountains and thankfully it wasn’t too far of a drop but as I went flying off the road I woke up and fell for a while, and just had no idea what was going to happen. So those two moments were the frightening ones. I was 19 in that one.

SF: Are either of your daughters going to become race-car drivers?

JJ: I don’t think from a driving standpoint. They both love their horses and are fearless on their animals (in equestrian events). I’ve introduced them to motorcycles and go-karts, and not a ton of interest, but when you watch them on their ponies and horses, they’re fearless and really into it and their competitiveness shows up. I do see some of my DNA pop up in there at times.

SF: What makes the Coke 600 unique and one of NASCAR’s crown jewel races?

JJ: The history that Charlotte and that Speedway and the Smith family has with NASCAR, and the great promotions Humpy Wheeler had in his days of promoting and all the wild things that would go on — that track has its own personality because of all of that. So I think it’s been a huge draw.

Clearly it’s the longest race on the schedule. And then for me stylistically, as a driver, the longer the race, the better I do, and with that being the longest race, it fits me well.

For a long time, the track surface was a huge challenge on the circuit. It was really bumpy, which we like to say gives a track character. During that era where it was the most difficult track to compete on, it fit my off-road racing background, and so I was able to win quite a few races at the track from all-star events to 600s and also the October event that used to take place on the oval.

SF: In late 2006, you surfed on top of a golf cart. Tell me a little about that.

JJ: It was a failed attempt at surfing on top of a golf cart. It seemed like a great idea until I needed to get off the top of the golf cart. It just so happens that the plastic cleats on my shoes do not get much traction on the plastic roof top of the golf cart. So as I tried to get off, I came off but it wasn’t very graceful and I landed and had to catch myself and broke my left wrist.

SF: Did you miss any races?

JJ: No, it was offseason. I came down to Daytona testing and had to wear a splint. And then I think I wore a splint kind of through Speedweeks just protecting it and then race day I had it off and this was back to normal so it didn’t impact my driving at all (Johnson won his second straight title in 2007).

SF: But you didn’t admit right away what actually happened, did you?

JJ: Yeah, that’s a hard thing to just come out and say straight away. Looking back, I wish I would have been fully transparent, but we released a statement that said I fell off or that I fell out of a golf cart. Then there was a good Samaritan that was there and decided to report to the AP that it wasn’t necessarily in the golf cart. It was on the golf cart. So the world’s a better place because of this individual (Johnson chuckles sarcastically).

And just so the world doesn’t feel deceived, I told my wife as well that I fell out of the golf cart. So I had a lot of explaining to do the next week.

SF: Your family has gone through a terrible tragedy in the past year. (In June 2023, Johnson’s mother-in-law Terry Janway, 68, fatally shot her husband Jack, 69, and their grandson Dalton, 11, before dying of suicide at their home in Oklahoma, officials have said.) My condolences on that, and how has your family coped?

JJ: We’re managing the best we can and thankful for professional help. Thankful for friends, family, love and support. There’s no way that we could get through this alone. And certainly for my wife. It’s been as difficult as anyone could imagine. And love and support has really guided us through it.

SF: Professional help has been a key as well?

JJ: It has. It’s quite amazing, the relief that it brings. It takes constant work. And I think we’ll have to continue to work on it through a large part of our lives, if not forever.

SF: What surprised you during your Hall of Fame weekend?

JJ: I would say the Hendrick Motorsports reunion that took place. I knew I would see old friends…. The after-party stopped at 2 a.m. and I didn’t leave until 3:30, when they were literally taking down banners and stuff in the room.

And it’s not that it was some wild night. It was just we couldn’t stop reliving the old days and just telling stories. We just had a huge group of people standing around sharing stories. It was awesome.

“Sports Legends” charity book signing set for June 1

The national award-winning “Sports Legends” series includes 1-on-1 interviews with guests like Richard Petty, Steph Curry, Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski, Jake Delhomme, Bobby Richardson, Alonzo Mourning and Dawn Staley. Those are also available on the “Sports Legends of the Carolinas” podcast, where a fuller version of this Jimmie Johnson interview can also be found.

The “Sports Legends” coffee-table book is now available at SportsLegendsBook.com and at local bookstores. On Saturday, June 1st, from 1-2 p.m., former Carolina Panther star Wesley Walls will be signing the “Sports Legends” coffee-table book along with Observer columnist Scott Fowler at the Queen City Audio, Video and Appliances store at 2430 Queen City Drive in Charlotte.

All proceeds from the book signing will benefit Ronald McDonald House of Greater Charlotte, as part of Queen City’s Audio, Video and Appliances’ campaign to raise $50,000 for a new kitchen for that Ronald McDonald House.