Jimmie Johnson sets NASCAR Cup Series target ahead – Sports News
Five years faraway from his ultimate full-time NASCAR Cup Series season, seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson is no longer preventing for wins.
The 50-year-old has remained a peripheral determine on pit highway since leaving Hendrick Motorsports, racing a part-time calendar for his workforce, Legacy Motor Club, since 2023.
Johnson’s appearances within the No. 84 have largely seen him battling a long approach back from the lead, usually ending beneath twenty sixth – except for an wonderful third-place run on the 2025 Daytona 500.
For Johnson, these races don’t appear to essentially serve to satiate any aggressive wishes he nonetheless has, however reasonably, they merely permit him to get pleasure from himself on observe as soon as more. “It’s really about having fun now,” he advised The Athletic.
“The more time I spend around the Cup Series with this generation of car, the more I realize my chances of having a real shot to win — unless it’s at Daytona or Talladega — are slim.
“These Next Gen cars are so different, and the guys who do it every single day keep inching away from people like me who moonlight a few times a year. So my goals have shifted: If it helps the team, I’m in. If I get to go out there and have fun, I’m absolutely in.
“Strategically, we’re looking at hopefully having a third charter in 2027. If there’s a way I can help the team in 2026, maybe. But there are so many unknowns. Really, it’s about having fun for me right now.”
Whether or not Legacy could have a third constitution obtainable stays to be seen, with the workforce entangled in contentious lawsuits in opposition to Rick Ware Racing over the acquisition of its constitution, in addition to in opposition to TJ Puchyr over his attempt to buy RWR.
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As for Johnson’s battle with the controversial Next Gen vehicles, this isn’t the primary time he has admitted to being behind the curve with the present rides. Speaking with Kevin Harvick on his podcast, Johnson not too long ago famous how “A lot of these drivers have never experienced anything else, and certainly the next generation that’s coming in, and you watch these guys exploit it and go fast.
“So, it’s wild how evolution just continues to move, and the things that I’ve always looked for, I mean, you can’t make them go. Even Chase Elliott, I had a conversation with him in Richmond on Saturday night, and he’s like, ‘Man, it’s just not like it used to be. You can’t drive them the same.’”
What’s more, whereas Johnson nonetheless enjoys driving, even when it’s largely not on the sharp finish of the pack, he’s all too conscious that usually he’s of more use to Legacy within the government suites working with sponsors than behind the wheel.
However, as Johnson strikes away from driving, don’t count on him to fade from the entry record altogether, having admitted to NBC Sports that “there is also a scenario where [making San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado my final Cup start] would make sense. We’ve put zero effort into the idea yet at this point. I have more years in me. I want to keep going.”
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