Does Jimmie have anything left in the tank?

By ZECH YODER

Last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson made his second start of the 2024 NASCAR season.

Leaving NASCAR full-time after the 2020 season, Jimmie Johnson ran two seasons in INDYCAR. As one might expect, he struggled on the road and street courses but found moderate success on the ovals, scoring a career best finish of sixth place finish at the 2022 Xpel 375 at Texas Motor Speedway.

After stepping away from INDYCAR in 2023, Johnson returned to NASCAR, this time as a Cup Series owner. Johnson partnered with Maury Gallagher at Petty GMS Motorsports and the team rebranded as Legacy Motor Club.

Jimmie’s track record at Texas Motor Speedway is impressive. He is the all-time winningest driver with seven wins and has an average finish of 11.5. Naturally, Texas would be an ideal track for Jimmie to race.

Not so. His weekend began with a crash during practice. Johnson’s car got loose driving through turn one and he was not able to correct it before hitting the wall. The team could not repair the car before qualifying so Jimmie began the race at the rear of the field. For most of the day, Johnson fought to stay in front of the leaders and was mired laps down for a majority of the race. After several timely cautions, Johnson found himself back on the lead lap and eventually finished in the 29th position.

Jimmie’s 29th place finish is a sad reality for the seven-time Cup series champion. Is this what we can expect to see from him going forward? Does he have anything left? I’m not sure.

What is obvious is that Jimmie is racing at a significant disadvantage. Most notably is the NextGen car. Johnson was out of full-time racing when the NextGen car was introduced in 2022, and the car races completely different than the previous car. Despite his talent, Jimmie just doesn’t have the continuity in the car that his fellow competitors do. While most of his Cup Series competitors have 70 or more starts in the NextGen car, Jimmie has four. I don’t care how good you are, four compared to 70 at the Cup Series level is huge.

Further, Jimmie is driving for a growing team. Legacy Motor Club struggled mightily last year. Its new partnership with Toyota is expected to lead to increased performance but Legacy has a long way to go.

The question in everybody’s mind is Jimmie’s age. Has he lost a step? It would be hard to say no. He is the same driver that was winning championship after championship.

But can he be competitive? Yes, I think he can. First, he is going to have to change his driving style. Johnson recognizes this and explained as much to the media in Texas. Second, he needs more time in the car. Five or six races per year is not enough for Johnson to run up front. If he wants to be successful, he needs to run a full-time schedule. I don’t expect that to happen, but I also wouldn’t be shocked if it did.

What I would really like to see is Jimmie Johnson in the Xfinity Series. The Xfinity cars fit his driving style much more than the Cup cars. As a legend in the sport, it would be great to see his interaction with the young drivers. Other drivers have taken that path, including Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Aric Almirola. Both drivers expressed the fun they had in the cars and have had success. Jimmie would be a great addition to that group.

Zech Yoder is a local resident, an attorney at Adler Attorneys in Noblesville, and a lifelong race fan.