Jimmie Johnson Best in Class in Final NASCAR Cup Start

From Autoweek

In his final NASCAR Cup Series appearance as a full-time driver, Jimmie Johnson was best in class on Sunday at the Season Finale 500 at Phoenix Raceway.

He finished fifth behind the final four contenders of Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin -- good enough to record his 233rd top-5 and 375th top-10 in 687 starts to go alongside his seven championships and 83 victories.

It was also good enough for his 9-year-old daughter Genevieve to declare him the winner.

"Evie told me that on pit lane," Johnson said. "She said, 'Daddy, I think you won.' She said, 'No, the first four cars were in the championship' and you beat everybody else."

Johnson hasn't won a Cup race since June 2017, so he was appreciative that he went out a winner in her eyes if nothing else.

"She brought it to my attention and had her own version of my winning, which I appreciated," he said.

The statistics don’t entirely show it, but Johnson displayed a healthy resurgence over the past 16 months since he was paired with crew chief Cliff Daniels. The final years with Chad Knaus, who engineered his seven championships and 83 wins, just didn’t meet expectations, neither did his short stint with Kevin Meendering.

But with Daniels, Johnson began to challenge the top-5 with regularity and would have made the playoffs this season if not for a positive coronavirus test that forced him to miss the Brickyard 400 this season.

The mixed results, combined with a farewell tour that didn’t produce many opportunities to say goodbye to fans, often left Johnson jaded.

After his elimination from championship consideration, and before his Phoenix top-5, Johnson finished no higher than 11th in the playoffs and frequently 30th or worse.

"I would say I thought I hit bottom a few times, and there was a bottom a little lower than what I envisioned," Johnson said. "I felt like on-track there were mistakes that I made and we had issues, times where the team made mistakes, had bad luck on track, supposedly had COVID and missed the Brickyard 400.

"There were just many lows that kept rolling. When I thought that was it, there was another low. I just had to figure out how to put a smile on my face, what was important to me and what 2020 was going to be like, regardless of the way things took place on the track.

"It doesn't mean I didn't pout from time to time because performance on track really sets your mood for the week, but I found a way to smile and work through it and finish strong."

Johnson says his main takeaway from Sunday was witnessing Chase Elliott’s championship achievement. It was a symbolic passing of the torch, as well, Elliott celebrating his first title as Johnson closed out a Hall of Fame career.

Johnson gave Elliott an affectionate door slam during the cool down lap and a massive embrace on the championship stage.

"I'm so happy for that guy," Johnson said. "Great friend, great family. I've been friends with his parents for many years. I can recall going snowboarding with Bill out in Colorado and Chase was maybe 8 years old, something like that, on skis, super quiet, wouldn't say much.

"To watch him grow up and to be around him and to give him some advice from time to time has really been meaningful for me. Today, I think more about him winning a championship than anything that happened."

Johnson hasn’t ruled out the occasional one-off NASCAR appearance in the future, but is fully focused on his future with Chip Ganassi Racing in the IndyCar Series, where he will race on the road and street courses next season.

He tested his own car for the first time last week at Barber Motorsports Park and will test again on Tuesday at Raceway Laguna Seca.

"I'm fully integrated into the team," Johnson said. "Certainly, more throughout the off?season will take place. Their season just finished and obviously ours did, as well.

"But I'm plugged in over there and trying to learn what I can and just trying to make the switch from a car with very little downforce to a car with a lot of downforce. I have a big challenge ahead of myself."

So, don't call it a retirement, but rather the transition to everything that comes next. And unlike so few athletes of his caliber, Johnson has full control over the terms of his future endeavors.

He’s racing IndyCar, and the Rolex 24 next year, and may explore other disciplines as well.

All told, the Jimmie Johnson story is one of the most remarkable in motorsports. He was a twentysomething driving off road vehicles on the west coast when he received an opportunity to drive ASA Late Models for Herzog Motorsports with legendary crew chief Howie Lettow.

After winning rookie of the year honors in 1998, he started to win in 1999, and advanced to the NASCAR Xfinity Series, where he caught the attention of Jeff Gordon.

The four-time champion was adamant that Rick Hendrick should sign him and Johnson never could have imagined this story ending with as many championships as Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

"I would have told myself back then to relax, and that everything is going to be just fine," Johnson said. "I don't know if I would have asked to change much because I am who I am and all of the overthinking and worrying and the sleepless nights and waking up early to try to find an advantage, all that paid off, so I don't know if I would change anything.

"But maybe I'd tell myself just to chill out and enjoy the ride because everything was going to turn out just fine."

Understatement.