- For the former NFL coach and current television broadcaster, see Jimmy Johnson (football coach). For the Hall of Fame football player, see Jimmy Johnson (football player).
Jimmie Johnson (born September 17, 1975 in El Cajon, California) is a NASCAR Nextel Cup race car driver who currently drives the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo owned by teammate Jeff Gordon and operated by Rick Hendrick's Hendrick Motorsports.
Jimmie Johnson began his racing career in several off-road leagues including SODA, SCORE International and MTEG. He accumulated over 25 wins and 100 top-three finishes and received Rookie of the Year honors in all three leagues.
In 1998, Johnson joined the ASA circuit, finishing fourth in the season while picking up Rookie of the Year honors. During this time, Johnson also began racing in the NASCAR Busch Series, driving in three events. In 1999, Johnson continued to run in both the ASA and the Busch Series, winning twice and finishing third in the ASA point race. By 2000, Johnson became a Busch Series regular, finished 10th in the points standings and third in the Rookie of the Year standings. He won his first Busch Series race in 2001 at the Hills Brothers Coffee 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.
By 2002, Johnson joined the Winston Cup series and in his rookie campaign, he won three times. He became the first rookie in Winston Cup history to ever lead the point standings (he eventually finished fifth overall). He also finished second in Rookie of the Year honors to Ryan Newman. For the 2003 campaign, Johnson had three victories, 14 top-five finishes and 20 top-ten finishes. He finished the season second in the points standings to Matt Kenseth.
In 2004, Johnson started slowly, with some early disappointments in weeks two and three at Rockingham and Las Vegas. However, he quickly rebounded with a week five win at the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway. Subsequent victories at the Coca-Cola 600 and the Pocono 500 helped solidify his place in the NASCAR Chase for the Cup towards the end of the season. However, poor finishes at Talladega (37th) and Kansas (32nd) nearly sank his chances to win the Nextel Cup, but four subsequent victories put him 18 points behind leader Kurt Busch going into the final race. The second victory at the Subway 500 in Martinsville, Virginia on October 24, 2004, was marred by tragedy when Rick Hendrick's son, Ricky Hendrick, nieces and brother were killed in an airplane crash en route to the race. All eight passengers and both pilots died in the incident. He eventually finished second in the Nextel Cup, losing to Kurt Busch by just 8 points.
Johnson has also participated in some more-recent off-road events, including a winning drive with Team USA at the 2002 Race of Champions. Johnson appeared there again in 2004.
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