Before Jimmie Johnson won seven championships, before the No. 48 became one of the most feared numbers in NASCAR, he was sitting at a table at the Chicago Auto Show next to a Chevrolet Monte Carlo as strangers walked past and asked him about financing options.
“They thought I was there selling a car,” Johnson said on Bussin with the Boys. “They had no idea I raced.”
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That is where it all began. In 1997, GM executive Herb Fischel took Johnson out of California’s off-road racing scene and placed him on Chevrolet’s corporate promotional tour. For the next few years, Johnson spent his time traveling to conventions in places like Las Vegas, Detroit and Chicago, signing autographs for anyone stopping by. Just another young driver trying to put his name out there.
He was recently sharing that story when talking about advising younger drivers Chase Briscoe and Jesse Love. And there was one core point he kept reiterating throughout that stretch of the conversation.
“Every opportunity came from who I knew, not necessarily what I knew or what I could do,” Jimmie Johnson added in the podcast. “Every door opened for me based on who I knew. And then they were a little patient. And then I had to perform.”
Those auto show years are the reason Johnson ended up in NASCAR at all. When Jeff Gordon spotted him driving at a Darlington test in 2000 and later pitched him to Rick Hendrick, the latter was not convinced. Johnson had one Busch Series win over two seasons. That was his whole racing resume.
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What closed the deal was a lot of this and that. Lowe’s Home Improvement was being asked to back an unknown rookie with millions of dollars. Gordon put his own name and money behind it, becoming the listed co-owner of the No. 48 and personally agreeing to do Lowe’s endorsements to get them comfortable. Hendrick supplied the rest.
Johnson ended up winning three races in his very first Cup Series season in 2002. He then repaid the faith in him in full by winning five consecutive championships between 2006 and 2010. And then, he equalled Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt’s record by adding two more championships to his name in 2013 and 2016. Lowe’s ended up being his primary sponsor until the 2018 season, and Gordon, who kickstarted the whole thing, later admitted that his own focus slipped as Johnson established himself as a sure-shot Hall of Famer.
“I know I wasn’t as committed as Jimmie,” Gordon, currently Vice-Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, said on a different episode of the same podcast.
He also shared that co-owning the No. 48 turned out to be his smartest financial decision, even while Johnson was regularly beating him to the finish line.
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Johnson retired from full-time racing in 2020, but empty grandstands because of COVID meant the farewell never quite happened with the grandeur it should’ve. The 2027 Daytona 500 will be his final Cup start, and this time the seats will be full.
Rick Hendrick agreed to loan the No. 48 to Johnson’s team, Legacy Motor Club, for the race. Alex Bowman, who currently drives that number at Hendrick, will temporarily switch so Johnson can have it back one more time. All 686 of Jimmie Johnson’s previous starts in that number were in a Chevrolet. This one will be a Toyota.
And Lowe’s, the sponsor that once bet on a guy people kept mistaking for a car salesman, is in talks to come back for the final race.
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The post “They Thought I Was Selling a Car”– Jimmie Johnson Unmasks Harsh Truth Behind His NASCAR Breakthrough appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
