“Back home. Where it all began.” Jimmie Johnson’s six-word message ahead of the 2025 Coca-Cola 600 gave his fans goosebumps. The Legacy Motor Club owner and 7-time Cup Series champion was making his 700th Cup Series start. He seemed to have broken his retirement jinx in February this year. Johnson fetched a third-place finish at the Daytona 500 after a long trail of misery. However, that has turned out to be only a blip on the radar.
Jimmie Johnson gets back on his chaotic trend
Remember the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season? It was a tragic story for all of Legacy Motor Club. People were dumbfounded to see one of the arguably finest stock car racers of all time fetch nothing more than 25th or worse finishes in the Next-Gen car. That included a 29th-place finish in Charlotte.
Unfortunately, that miserable fate has returned for Jimmie Johnson at Charlotte Motor Speedway this year. Qualifying 17th on the 9th row, Johnson left people anxious for some success, as his four past victories were repeatedly advertised for the Coca-Cola 600 race. However, not only could Johnson improve his run, but disaster also dawned on him.
Shortly after the end of Stage 1, Jimmie Johnson found himself in a crowd. On lap 112, he fell prey to the bumpy 2.28-mile speedway’s ravages and got into the wall in Turn 4 after snapping loose. In the process, Johnson also collected the cars of Cole Custer and Connor Zilisch. Johnson lamented about damaging his No. 84 Toyota, which was towed back to the garage. Johnson said, “I haven’t had that all day. I kind of knew going into three I was in trouble…I was just sliding.”
“I haven’t had that all day. I kind of knew going into three I was in trouble…I was just sliding,” @JimmieJohnson reports to his team. #NASCAR
— Noah Lewis (@Noah_Lewis1) May 25, 2025
Thus, the NASCAR legend who made his first debut in Charlotte dashed his chances. However, Jimmie Johnson can probably take some comfort in being the team owner. For most of the first two stages of the Coca-Cola 600, his other LMS cars were running in the top ten. They were John Hunter Nemechek’s No. 42 Toyota and Erik Jones‘ No. 43. Both occasionally crack the top-five as well, snuggling with high-flying contenders like William Byron or Tyler Reddick.
While his drivers are giving their best, Jimmie Johnson also does not intend to back down, either.
Johnson professed to trying harder
Once a champion, always a champion? That is a line that two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch may be disproving at this point. However, 7-timer Jimmie Johnson believes in it strongly. After clinching that podium finish at Daytona International Speedway, his confidence was renewed. Johnson’s chances in Charlotte should ideally be extraordinary. He leads all active Cup drivers with four wins in the Coke 600 and 8 wins at Charlotte overall. But the last time he won in Charlotte was nearly a decade ago at the 2016 Bank of America 500. And the result of that was visible today as Johnson crashed off Turn 4.
Nevertheless, the fire in the 83-time Cup race winner seems to be alive. That is why Jimmie Johnson confessed ahead of Charlotte that the 700th start would not be his last. He said, “I’m not a numbers guy, but I literally have not been paying attention to this. It would have been amazing to plan at being done at 700 or some element of, but that’s really not the case.” He added, “I hope I can get in the car a few more times this year if circumstances present themselves. And then next year and our evolution into a third car here at Legacy Motor Club. There’s an option there where I could help build the team and so, we’re looking at that as one of the many options which would then put me in the car a fair amount next year.”
The legend’s motivation may have taken a significant blow after his Coca-Cola 600 mishap. However, Jimmie Johnson may still have that spark that appeared in Daytona. Let us see where it appears next.
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