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American racing driver (born 1975)

This article is about the racing driver. For other people named Jimmie Johnson or Jimmy Johnson, see Jimmy Johnson (disambiguation).

NASCAR driver

Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE for his team, Legacy Motor Club. Johnson's seven Cup championships, the first five of which are consecutive, are tied with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the most all-time. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history.

Johnson was born in El Cajon, California, and began racing motorcycles at the age of four. After graduating from Granite Hills High School he competed in off-road series. He raced in Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group (MTEG), Short-course Off-road Drivers Association (SODA), and SCORE International, winning rookie of the year in each series. In 1998, Johnson and his team, Herzog Motorsports, began stock car racing. He moved to the national American Speed Association (ASA) series for late model touring cars, and won another rookie of the year title. In 2000, he switched to the NASCAR Busch Series (now Xfinity Series).

His talent was noticed by Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon, who convinced owner Rick Hendrick to sign Johnson in the Winston Cup Series full-time for 2002, with Gordon as a part-owner of his car. After finishing fifth in the points in his first full season, he was second in 2003 and 2004 and fifth in 2005. Johnson won his first Cup Series championship in 2006 and with further wins in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010, he became the first and only driver in NASCAR history^[1] to win five consecutive championships. Johnson finished sixth in the points standings in the 2011 season and third in 2012 before winning his sixth championship in 2013. In 2016, Johnson won his seventh championship, tying Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the most Cup Series championships of all time. Johnson is also a two-time winner of the Daytona 500, winning in 2006 and 2013. Between 2002 and 2017, Johnson recorded seven championships, 83 career race wins,^[2] 222 top fives, 341 top tens, and 35 pole positions. From 2021 to 2022, Johnson competed in the IndyCar Series for Chip Ganassi Racing, and has competed occasionally in sports car racing throughout his career.

Racing career

Beginnings

Off-road racing

Johnson started racing motorcycles in 1980 when he was four. Three years later, he won the 60cc class championship, despite injuring his knee.^[3] Afterward, he moved to the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group (MTEG) Stadium Racing Series where he won several more awards. In 1993, Johnson was given the opportunity to drive for Herb Fishel. He refused the deal and continued racing buggies and trucks in off-road stadium and desert races. He also reported for ESPN in the Short-course Off-road Drivers Association (SODA). Three years later, Johnson drove for Herzog Motorsports in the off-road truck series in 1996.^[3] By 1997, Johnson had progressed to SODA's Class 8; Class 8 is short-course off-road racing's class of two-wheel-drive Trophy Trucks which generate about 800 horsepower.^[4] He battled Scott Taylor and Brendan Gaughan for the championship.^[4] That year, Johnson won both races at Lake Geneva Raceway's first race weekend in May.^[5] He also won the season's third event at Antigo before finishing second to Gaughan at Antigo's second race.^[6] Johnson returned to Lake Geneva in July, winning the Saturday race and finished second on the following day.^[7] Taylor ended up winning the championship with Gaughan second and Johnson third.^[8]

In SCORE, he won races and had a few memorable finishes, like that in the 1995 Baja 1000, after leading over 900 miles, he fell asleep behind the wheel and woke up to find himself going off course. His Trophy Truck, Butch (the paint scheme of which was used for a throwback for Johnson's 48 car in the 2019 Southern 500, and the car that was used by Larry Ragland in wins such as the 1991 Baja 1000), was wrecked.^[9]

During his time in the SODA, SCORE, and MTEG series, he accumulated over 25 wins, 100 Top 3 finishes, six championships, and received Rookie of the Year honors in all three leagues.^[10]

ASA and Busch Series

In 1997, he began racing on asphalt ovals when he ran three races in the American Speed Association (ASA), making his debut at Hawkeye Downs Speedway.^[11] Driving for Herzog Motorsports' stock car program, he won the ASA Pat Schauer Memorial Rookie title in 1998.^[12] One year later, he had two wins and finished third in the standings.^[10] Johnson finished second in the two races at Fairgrounds Speedway he participated in over those two years.

Johnson made his NASCAR Busch Series (now NASCAR Xfinity Series) debut at the 1998Indianapolis Raceway Park event, where he finished 25th for ST Motorsports.^[13] He continued his limited slate in 1999 with Herzog Motorsports before moving to a full-time schedule in 2000.^[14] At Watkins Glen International, he had a spectacularly hard accident on lap 46 when his brakes failed entering the first turn. He had to swerve quickly to the right to avoid the No. 86 of Dennis Demers, but went into the grass on the inside of turn one, then went back across the track, caught some air on the gravel trap before finally crashing head-on into the Styrofoam barriers at the far end of the turn while still more than 150+ MPH. He eventually climbed out of the car unscathed and raised his fists in the air like he had won the race. Johnson noted he was "so happy to be alive and OK. The next couple of days I was really sore."^[15] Otherwise, in a rather uneventful season which featured one DNQ at Daytona and six Top 10's, he finished tenth in the point standings.

In 2001, he recorded one win at Chicagoland Speedway, and finished eighth in the point standings, his win at Chicagoland was his only throughout his career at the track. During the year, he joined Hendrick Motorsports for a four-race schedule in the Winston Cup Series,^[16] making his series debut in the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The opportunity was made available when he connected with Hendrick driver Jeff Gordon during the 2000 Busch season; with Herzog facing shutdown due to sponsorship issues, Johnson approached Gordon and was informed of the team's intention to field a fourth car for him.^[17]

Johnson formally moved to Hendrick in 2002, driving the No. 48 Lowe's-sponsored Chevrolet.^[10][18][19]

NASCAR Cup Series

2002–05

Johnson began racing full-time in the Winston Cup Series during the 2002 season. He earned his first career pole position for the Daytona 500, becoming the third rookie to do so (the first were Loy Allen Jr. in 1994 and Mike Skinner in 1997). In his 13th career start, Johnson scored his first career win in the NAPA Auto Parts 500 at Auto Club Speedway. Johnson became the first rookie driver to lead the point standings and to win twice at the same track during a season, by sweeping both races at Dover. In the Coca-Cola 600, Johnson led 263 laps before he got a penalty for overshooting his pit box. He earned four pole positions and three wins (tying the rookie record set by Tony Stewart in 1999),^[20] as well as six Top 5's and 21 Top 10 finishes. He finished fifth in the final point standings.^[10][18] However, despite the strong season, Ryan Newman won rookie of the year honors over Johnson, partially due to Newman having 22 Top 10's compared to Johnson's 21.^[21]

In 2003, Johnson finished ninth on the all-time list for consecutive weeks ranked in the Top 10 in points with 69. He won three races (Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and both New Hampshire races), two poles (at Kansas Speedway and Pocono Raceway),^[18] 14 Top 10's, and 20 Top 10 finishes, including a second-place finish at Rockingham after leading 78 laps. He also was able to win the All-Star race for the first time, as well as finishing second in the final standings, just 90 points Matt Kenseth and 207 ahead of his future teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.^[22]

In 2004, Johnson started slowly at Rockingham Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway with results of 41st and 16th, after a Top 10 finish in the Daytona 500. However, he quickly was able to rebound winning the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway. Subsequent victories in the Coca-Cola 600, the Pocono 500, and the Pennsylvania 500 came in the middle of the season, seeing Johnson sweep the Pocono races. However, finishes of 37th and 32nd at Talladega Superspeedway and Kansas moved him toward the bottom of the point standings. Afterward, he was able to win the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The second victory of the 2004 Chase for the Nextel Cup, at the Subway 500 at Martinsville on October 24, 2004, was marred by tragedy. Owner Rick Hendrick's son Ricky, twin nieces, brother, and chief engine builder Randy Dorton as well as Joe Turner, Scott Lathram were killed in an airplane crash en route to the race. All eight passengers and both pilots died in the incident, and Johnson was told after completion of the race.^[23] Johnson had a total of eight wins, 20 Top 5's and 23 Top 10 finishes. At the end of the season, Johnson finished second in the point standings.^[18][24]

In 2005, Johnson won at Las Vegas, Lowe's Motor Speedway, Dover International Speedway, and then again at Lowe's. In total, Johnson had four consecutive wins at his sponsor (Lowe's) sponsored track in Charlotte, North Carolina. He won the Coca-Cola 600 that year, which broke the record for the most yellow flags in a Cup Series race, by beating Bobby Labonte by .027 seconds. Johnson had a chance to win the championship coming into the November 20 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but finished fifth in points after crashing at the midway point of the event with a tire problem.^[25] He scored 13 Top 5's, 22 Top 10 finishes, and one pole position.^[18]

2006–2010: Championship streak

2006

In 2006, Johnson began the season by winning the Daytona 500. The Daytona 500 also marked his first race with Earl Barban as the spotter, who won five championships with Johnson and the No. 48 team.^[26][27] He finished second in the next race at California Speedway and won the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas by passing Matt Kenseth on the last lap. Johnson won his third race of the season in the Aaron's 499 at Talladega, followed by two more victories at Indianapolis and Martinsville. One highlight of the season was when he saved the car from slamming into the wall when he spun out during qualifications at the first Dover race.^[28] Throughout the season, he became the only modern era driver to win at least three races in each of his first five seasons. He started the chase with unfortunate mishaps in the first four races; a DNF at New Hampshire,^[29] a pitting mistake at Dover,^[30] a penalty at Kansas^[31] (he led the most laps in the race), and, while trying to make a pass for first at Talladega, getting clipped and spinning out.^[32] He and the team kept their hopes up^[33] and rallied with five straight Top 2 finishes including a win at Martinsville to come back from eighth in the points standings to take the championship.^[34][35] At the end of the season, he recorded one pole, 13 Top 5's, 24 Top 10's, and his first championship title (this was also the first in his NASCAR career). In December, Johnson won the 2006 Driver of the Year Award.^[10][18][36]

2007

During the 2007 season, Johnson continued on a streak and recorded 10 wins, four poles, 20 Top 5's, and again 24 Top 10 finishes. Those 10 wins included sweeping both races at Richmond, Atlanta, and Martinsville. He also won at Las Vegas,^[10] Auto Club, Texas, and Phoenix. Afterward, he won his second consecutive championship title and was named the 2007 Driver of the Year. Johnson also had the best average finish in the Chase with 5.0. At the end of the season, he had a total of 33 career wins, placing him 18th on the all-time wins list.^[18][37]

In December 2007, Johnson commenced a program of exercise sessions and a run schedule supervised by John Sitaras, in order to balance his strength. Sitaras' initial assessment found that half of his body was much tighter, having acclimated to offsetting the g-force load from turning left while driving.^[38][39] In two years, Johnson's body fat percentage dropped from 20% to 8% (visible also in the change of the shape of his face), while his strength and stamina greatly improved.^[40] Johnson later became the first racing driver to be named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year (in 2009).^[41][42]

2008

After the 2008 season, Johnson became the second driver to win three consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championships, the first being Cale Yarborough. During the season, he won seven races (including a sweep at Phoenix), a career-high of six poles, 15 Top 5's, and 22 Top 10's. In five of those seven wins, he started from the pole. He became the only driver to record three wins in each of their first seven seasons. In 2008 Jimmie Johnson also raced in his first-ever truck series race, the O'Reilly 200 at Bristol, where he led 28 laps before spinning out on lap 101. That weekend was the first time he had ever sat in a racing truck. In the Chase for the Championship, he recorded 14 wins, eight more than any other driver. One of those included Phoenix in which he won on low fuel and high tire wear after crew chief Chad Knaus decided to stay out late in the race. He also was named the 2008 Driver of the Year and won an ESPY as the Best Driver. After the season, he also moved to third on the active winners' list.^[18][43]

2009

In the 2009 season, Johnson recorded his fourth consecutive championship, becoming the only driver to win four back-to-back season titles. Throughout this season, he won seven races (including a third consecutive Checker Auto Parts 500 and both Dover races), four poles, 16 Top 5's, and 24 Top 10 finishes. Johnson now became the only driver to win at least three races in each of his first eight seasons, as well as the only driver to qualify for the Chase for the Championship every year since 2004. During the season, he moved up one spot up to second on the active winners' list and went to 13th on the all-time wins list. After the season concluded, he won an ESPY for the second consecutive year, and won the Driver of the Year award for the third time, tying Jeff Gordon, Mario Andretti, and Darrell Waltrip as the only three-time drivers to win the award.

2010

During 2010, Johnson won his fifth consecutive championship, becoming the third driver who made up points to win the title since 1975. During the season, he scored two poles, 17 Top 5's, 23 Top 10's, and six wins. He also remained the only driver to qualify for the Chase every year since its inception in 2004. He became the 12th driver to win 50+ NASCAR races when he won at Bristol in March and went up to 10th on the all-time wins list. His wins in 2010 included Auto Club, Las Vegas, where he passed Jeff Gordon with 16 laps to go for the lead, Bristol, Sonoma, his first and only road course win, New Hampshire, and Dover. At New Hampshire, with eight laps remaining, Kurt Busch, who was running second, bumped Johnson to become the leader, but Johnson returned the favor a couple of laps later to the lead the final two laps. Johnson said, "Kurt knocked me out of the way. At that point, I thought, I don't care if I win or finish. I'm going to run into him one way or the other ... I tried once and moved him. (I thought) I've got to hit him harder. The second time I did and moved him out of the way."^[44]

Johnson was also named Driver of the Year for the fourth time in his career, joining Gordon as the only drivers to win the award that many times.^{[18][45][46][47]} Johnson had been fighting for the championship with Denny Hamlin all season, but eventually passed him in points in the season finale at Homestead.

He also won Tony Stewart's charity race, the Prelude to the Dream, his first victory on a dirt oval.^[48]

2011

In 2011, Johnson began the season with a fourth-place finish in the Budweiser Shootout, after starting from the 23rd position.^[49] One week later in the 2011 Daytona 500, he started 23rd, but finished 27th after being involved in a crash on lap 29.^[50] During the Subway Fresh Fit 500, he managed a third-place finish. Following a 16th-place finish after the Kobalt Tools 400 he collected two consecutive Top 5 finishes.^[49]

Statistically, Johnson's 2011 season was one of his worst performances to date, even though he finished sixth in the points. He only won two races during the season. The first was the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, where Johnson started on the outside pole and tandem-drafted with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the entire race. On the last lap, with Johnson in front, he and Earnhardt Jr. were in fifth and sixth off of turn 4, behind two other pairs of cars – their Hendrick teammates Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin, and the Richard Childress drafting pair of Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick. In the tri-oval, Earnhardt Jr. gave Johnson enough of a push to nip Bowyer at the finish line by 0.002 seconds. This was the closest recorded finish in Talladega history and tied the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 for closest margin of victory in NASCAR history.^[51] After finishing in the first 15 positions in the next four races, Johnson failed to finish the Coca-Cola 600 after his engine failed.^[49] Three weeks later, in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400, Johnson spun off turn two, flattening multiple tires, and breaking the sway bar which prompted him to a finish of 27th.^[52] During the Toyota/Save Mart 350, Johnson finished seventh after starting 12th on the grid. The finish moved Johnson to third in the Drivers' standings.^[53]

After returning to Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero 400, Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. ran together for most of the race, like at Talladega, until Johnson pitted under a caution flag. Johnson fell down the grid and was involved in a last-lap accident, prompting him to finish 20th.^[54] During the next two races, Johnson finished third and fifth in the Quaker State 400 and the Lenox Industrial Tools 301.^[49] Two weeks later, Johnson found himself finishing 19th during the Brickyard 400 after coming to pit road with 30 laps remaining in the event.^[55] Johnson finished fourth in the Good Sam RV Insurance 500,^[49] after bumping Kurt Busch on the final lap.^[56] In the next race, Johnson finished tenth.^[49] Johnson finished in the Top 5 in the following three races.^[49] During the last race of the regular season, the Wonderful Pistachios 400, Johnson finished in the 31st position.^[49] While at Chicagoland Speedway for the GEICO 400, Johnson finished 10th.^[49] Afterward, Johnson finished 18th in the Sylvania 300, then second in the AAA 400. One week later, Johnson recorded his second victory of the season in the Hollywood Casino 400.^[49] During the Bank of America 500, Johnson was involved in a crash and finished 34th. In the following race, Johnson finished second. For the next two races, Johnson finished 14th in each and finished 32nd in the Ford 400 to finish sixth in the Driver's championship standings.^[49]

The third NASCAR Championship for Tony Stewart marked the first time since 2005 (coincidentally Stewart's second) that someone other than Johnson was the champion.

2012

Johnson began the 2012 season with a 14th-place finish in the Budweiser Shootout after crashing on lap 74.^[57] During the Daytona 500, Johnson was involved in a crash on lap 2 when he turned into the wall after contact from Elliott Sadler, then was t-boned by David Ragan, also collecting Danica Patrick, Kurt Busch and Trevor Bayne. Damage to the car was severe, prompting him to retire and finish 42nd.^[58] Afterward, he finished fourth and second in the Subway Fresh Fit 500 and Kobalt Tools 400.^[59] While at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 500, Johnson finished in the ninth position, moving him up to 11th^[60] in the Drivers' Standings.^[61] Next, Johnson finished tenth in the Auto Club 400, despite having an oil leak,^[62] but the rain saved Johnson from a low finish. He went on to finish 12th in the spring event at Martinsville after being involved in a crash on the first green-white-checker attempt.^[63] In the following event, the Samsung Mobile 500, Johnson finished second after leading much of the race before he was passed by Greg Biffle.^[64] Afterward, he recorded a third-place finish in the STP 400 at Kansas on April 22, 2012, and a sixth-place finish in the Capital City 400 at Richmond one week later.^[59] On May 6, 2012, Johnson started 19th in the Aaron's 499 at Talladega, but finished 35th after suffering a broken oil pump belt on lap 62.^[65]

Johnson won his first race of the season one week later in the Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington. The win was also Rick Hendrick's 200th NASCAR Cup Series win.^[66] A week later, he matched Gordon and Dale Earnhardt with three wins in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race after winning the 2012 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.^[67] Next, in the Coca-Cola 600, Johnson finished 11th in the race after a penalty on lap 354.^[68] After the Coca-Cola 600, Johnson went on to win his second race of the season in the FedEx 400.^[69] In the Pocono 400, he recorded a fourth-place finish after starting 24th on the grid.^[70] During the next two races, Johnson placed fifth,^[59] moving him to fourth in the standings.^[71] Afterward, Johnson finished sixth after winning his first pole position of the season in the Quaker State 400.^[72] However, in the Coke Zero 400, Johnson finished 36th^[59] after retiring from a crash on lap 124.^[73] After finishing seventh during the Lenox Industrial Tools 301,^[59] Johnson recorded his third victory of the season and his fourth career win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, tying Jeff Gordon for what was the record for the most wins in the Brickyard 400.^[74]

At Michigan, he was leading late in the race with six laps to go when his engine blew up, giving the race to Greg Biffle.

After making the NASCAR Chase for the Championship, Johnson secured three straight Top 5 finishes in the GEICO 400, Sylvania 300 and AAA 400.^[59] Following a 17th-place finish in Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500, Johnson recorded four top-ten finishes,^[59] including two consecutive wins from the pole position at Martinsville and Texas, which was his 60th win in the series, to take a seven-point lead over Brad Keselowski.^[75] Johnson was able to hold off Keselowski's hard racing, which even prompted Tony Stewart to say that he was driving with a "death wish".^[76] At Phoenix, Johnson blew a right front tire, which caused him to collide into the wall and finish in the 32nd position.^[77] He was racing for the win and the championship the following week at Homestead, but his chances of winning the championship were over after he had a pit road penalty and had a gear failure and he finished 36th in that race, and finished third in the Drivers Championship behind Keselowski and Bowyer.^[78]

2013: Return to championship form

In 2013, Johnson began his season with a 14th-place finish in the 2013 Sprint Unlimited when he crashed on lap 14 along with Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, and Denny Hamlin.^[79] Afterward, he placed fourth in the first Budweiser Duel, resulting in a ninth-place starting position in the 2013 Daytona 500.^[79] In the Daytona 500, Johnson started well, assuming the lead from Jeff Gordon on lap 32 and leading a handful of laps before falling back to the middle of the pack. Over the last few laps, Johnson was racing alongside Brad Keselowski for the lead until a caution came out for debris. Johnson took the advantage of leading on the last restart. With five laps to go, Johnson led a lane with Greg Biffle and Danica Patrick. He then held off a last-lap charge from Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin to win his second Daytona 500.^[80] This was Johnson's first Daytona 500 win with Knaus, as he won the 2006 race with Darian Grubb as Knaus was serving a five-race suspension. It was also the first time since his 2006 win that he finished better than 27th in the Daytona 500, after a streak of six years where he had never finished better than 27th because of crashes and mechanical failures.

The following week at Phoenix, Johnson started inside the Top 10 and finished second behind Carl Edwards. He followed this with a sixth-place finish at Las Vegas. At Bristol, he was running on the lead lap until a spin late-race forced him back to a 22nd-place finish. At Fontana, he struggled for most of the race, racing near the back of the pack, but salvaged a 12th-place finish. Johnson won his first pole position of the season at Martinsville and had the dominant car, leading 346 of 500 laps on the way to his eighth Martinsville race win. Johnson also assumed the point lead as well, which he held for the remainder of the regular season. Johnson's consistency was enough that there were points in the summer where he was more than a full two-race wins' worth of points ahead of Carl Edwards or Clint Bowyer. Afterward, Johnson finished sixth at Texas. At Kansas, he led nine laps and finished third behind Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne. Johnson finished 12th the following week at Richmond, allowing him to build even further on his point lead. At Talladega, he was the only driver besides Matt Kenseth to lead double-digit laps (16) and finished in fifth place. A fourth-place finish the following week at Darlington allowed Johnson to further solidify his point lead over Edwards.

In the 2013 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Johnson won his record fourth All-Star race after a fast pit stop allowed him to start the final 10-lap sprint in second, and later passed Kasey Kahne for the victory.^[81] One week later, Johnson finished 22nd after spinning sideways late in the race. At Dover, Johnson led 143 laps but finished 17th when he jumped Juan Pablo Montoya on the last restart causing NASCAR to issue him a penalty. He was able to redeem himself for this mistake the following week at Pocono by earning the pole position, leading the most laps, and winning his third race of the season, which increased his point lead to 51 points over Edwards. This also snapped a nine-year winless streak for Johnson at Pocono since sweeping both of the track's 2004 NASCAR Cup Series races. At the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan, Johnson closed in on Greg Biffle for the lead with less than 10 laps left, but suffered a flat tire with less than five laps to go. Johnson finished the race in 28th, his worst finish of the season to that point.^[82] Johnson then finished ninth at Sonoma. At Kentucky, Johnson started third. He had the dominant car of the race, leading 182 of 267 laps. However, on a restart on lap 246, Johnson was slow to get up to speed and was subsequently touched and spun by Joey Logano, costing Johnson a shot at the win and giving the race to Matt Kenseth. Johnson was able to charge through the field after the caution and restart to salvage a ninth-place finish.

Returning to Daytona for the Coke Zero 400, Johnson led 94 laps and held off Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick on a green-white-checker finish to win his fourth race of the year. In winning the race, Johnson became the first driver since Bobby Allison in 1982 to sweep both Daytona races in a season.^[83] This was a significant improvement in Johnson's runs on the restrictor plate tracks, as he had been crashed out of the running at both Daytona races in 2012, had an engine failure early while leading at Talladega in the spring and was part of a crash on the last lap in the fall. Also, he was one of only three drivers to sweep the top ten, the other two drivers being Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

At New Hampshire for the Camping World RV Sales 301, Johnson qualified second, but failed post-qualifying inspection after his car was found to be too low, and started the race in 43rd,^[84] the first time in his career he started dead last. In the race, Johnson passed seven cars in the first four laps and reached the Top 20 by lap 50, while reaching the top ten by lap 165; Johnson finished sixth.^[85] He almost won the pole position at Indianapolis but was bumped to second by Ryan Newman. Johnson led the most laps and almost won, but a slow final pit stop cost him the race to Newman. The following week at Pocono, Johnson won another pole position, setting another track qualifying record. He led 43 of the first 80 laps before he cut a right-front tire that knocked a spark plug loose and affected the handling of the car. Johnson's pit crew worked hard to repair the car, fixing the plug on the last pit stop, and managing to salvage a 13th-place finish after racing near the back of the pack for most of the race.

Returning to Michigan, Johnson qualified third but crashed in happy hour, forcing him to a backup car and a 43rd starting spot. After running up to the lead through pit stop strategy, Johnson lost an engine on lap 55, relegating him to a 40th-place finish. This was followed by a streak of three poor finishes of 36th at Bristol, 28th at Atlanta, and 40th at Richmond due to crashes and mechanical failures.

Johnson started the Chase seeded in second place. He started the Chase with a fifth-place finish at Chicago, followed by a fourth-place finish at New Hampshire. At Dover, Johnson led 243 laps and held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. over the last 25 laps to win his eighth race at the track, also redeeming himself for the restart line violation that had cost him a shot at winning the June race.^[86]

Johnson spent the next several races chasing Matt Kenseth for the points lead, eventually gaining it at Talladega, though losing it when he and Kenseth tied for the points lead at Martinsville. Returning to Texas, Johnson had the dominant car, leading 255 laps to his sixth win of the season. The following weekend at Phoenix, Johnson avoided trouble in tight racing on two separate occasions (a near scrape in turn 4 on the first lap, and later a near spin after contact with Carl Edwards in turn 1) to escape with a third-place finish. He also capitalized on Kenseth suffering from a poor-handling car. With Kenseth finishing 23rd, Johnson took a 28-point lead to the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In the finale, Johnson raced conservatively to a ninth-place finish to secure his sixth title. He closed out the season with six wins, three poles, 16 Top 5's, and 24 Top 10's, with an average finish of 9.8 and an average start of 10.7.

2014

Statistically, 2014 was one of Johnson's worst seasons to date. He started the season on an up-and-down note but went winless through the first 11 races of the 2014 season (his best finish was 2nd at Martinsville). Skepticism began to arise, as he had never gone more than 12 races into a season without a win, and hadn't gone that long since the first few years of his Cup career. However, Johnson won the Coca-Cola 600, his first win in the race since 2005.^[87] Afterward, he went on to win at Dover the following week, making it the 13th time he had back-to-back wins.^[88]

A few weeks later, Johnson recorded his first win at Michigan, after several years of being deprived of a shot at victory as the result of running out of gas or blowing an engine. However, he didn't keep up with the momentum. After finishing in the top ten at Sonoma and Kentucky, Johnson was collected in an early wreck in the Coke Zero 400, finishing 42nd.^[89] Johnson's streak of misfortune continued the next several weeks, finishing 42nd for the second week in a row at New Hampshire. This was followed up by an inconsistent run at Indy (14th), and poor showings resulting from accidents at Pocono (39th) and Watkins Glen (28th). Despite the poor finishes, Johnson qualified fourth for the Chase.

In the Chase, Johnson finished 12th at Chicagoland, fifth at New Hampshire, and third at Dover to advance to the Contender Round. However, trouble struck when he finished 40th and 17th in the next two races.

At Talladega, Johnson started second and led a high of 84 laps. However, a 24th-place finish kept him from advancing to the Eliminator Round. At Martinsville, Johnson started seventh but finished 39th after being involved in a crash early in the race. Returning to Texas, Johnson dominated and held off Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick (and Jeff Gordon, who cut a tire on contact with Brad Keselowski late in the race which led to a post-race brawl) to score his third straight win in the fall Texas race, and also ended an 18-race-winless-streak. At Phoenix, he struggled for most of the day and finished 38th after blowing a tire and crashing out. At the season finale at Homestead, Johnson finished ninth and closed out finishing 11th in points. This marks the first time in Johnson's NASCAR Cup career that he has finished outside of the Top 10 in the final points.

2015

Johnson began his season with a win in the Budweiser Duel. He started the season by finishing fifth in the Daytona 500 for the second year in a row. The following week, he won the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta.^[90]

At Las Vegas, Johnson crashed twice into the outside wall, leaving him with a 41st-place finish. He rebounded with an 11th-place finish in Phoenix and a ninth-place finish at California, his first Top 10 there in two years. At Martinsville, he struggled to a 35th-place finish. However, his momentum returned at Texas when he held off Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win. At Bristol, he avoided tight trouble early in the race and came home second to polesitter Matt Kenseth. At Richmond, he finished third. These finishes moved him back up to fourth in the standings. At Talladega, Johnson started fifth and led 50 laps, only to finish second to Earnhardt Jr.

At Kansas, Johnson gambled by staying out on the last round of pit stops and held off Harvick and Earnhardt again to win his third race at Kansas and of the season. In winning, he established a Cup record of 23 wins on 1.5-mile tracks, taking what was both his 200th Top 5 and his 300th Top 10 finish.^[91] At Charlotte, he spun out on two occasions. The first time was early in the race while running 16th coming out of turn 4 but he was lucky to avoid hitting anything. He wasn't so lucky on the second spin late in the race; while running fifth, he spun out again at the same place, and hit the wall in pit road, causing some nose damage. Those spin-outs left him with a 40th-place finish. He rebounded the following week with a win at Dover, and also became one of four drivers to have won 10 or more races at one track. This gave him a total of 74 career wins, two fewer than Dale Earnhardt's 76.

At Pocono, Johnson cut a tire on lap 88 but did not take major damage. He was able to work his way through the field to finish in third place. He finished 19th at Michigan after the race was called for rain on lap 138. At Sonoma, Johnson led the most laps at 45 laps, but a late-race caution caused by Casey Mears' broken wheel axle cost him, and he was passed by Kyle Busch with five laps to go and slipped back to sixth place.

Returning to Daytona, Johnson started 12th and led 35 laps before finishing second to Dale Earnhardt Jr., in a repeat of the Talladega race. At Kentucky, Johnson started sixth and ran inside the Top 10 for most of the night, finishing ninth. At the second stop in Pocono, Johnson, along with two of his Hendrick teammates, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., took advantage of several cars running out of fuel to finish in the Top 6 (Gordon finished third, Dale Jr. took fourth, Johnson grabbed sixth). At Watkins Glen, despite suffering two penalties (lap 3: Overshooting the entrance to the inner loop, and caution No. 1 (lap 26–28): Speeding through pit road), Johnson rallied to finish 10th. He wasn't so lucky at Michigan, as late in the race, he got loose and spun in turn 3, and damaged the splitter on his car, resulting in a 39th-place finish (10 laps down). He rebounded at Bristol by finishing 4th but had bad luck once more at Darlington. He spun out on lap 134 in turn 4, bringing out the seventh caution, and was never a real threat. He ended up 19th. He was able to recover a bit for a ninth-place finish at Richmond and started 1st in the Chase in a three-way tie between him, Kyle Busch, and Matt Kenseth.

Johnson opened up the Chase in a rough way. At Chicagoland, he blew a left front tire early in the race but was able to charge through the field to salvage an 11th-place finish. He also was the subject of controversy when he made contact with Kevin Harvick on a three-wide pass that led to Harvick cutting a left rear tire, leaving Harvick with a 42nd-place finish.

At Loudon, Johnson finished sixth after blowing a tire in the third position. At Dover, his Chase hopes came to an end when his car broke a driveline, leading him to finish 36 laps down in 41st place. At the fall race at Texas Johnson won, passing Brad Keselowski with 4 laps to go. This marked his fourth consecutive win in the fall race, and third consecutive win on that track, having also won the spring race. That victory also marked the 75th of his NASCAR Cup Series career, putting him one race win short of tying Dale Earnhardt's career wins. Also in the process, he snapped a 20-race-winless-streak.

Johnson finished fifth at Phoenix, and for the third year in a row, he finished ninth at Homestead. Also in the process, he edged out Ryan Newman by one point to finish 10th in the final standings. With the retirement of his teammate and mentor, Jeff Gordon, Johnson assumed the active wins record with 75.

2016: The seventh title

Johnson began the 2016 season with a 16th-place finish at the Daytona 500. In the next race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he won his first race of the season and the 76th of his career, tying Dale Earnhardt for seventh on the all-time wins list.^[92] Johnson finished third and eleventh in the next two events of the season at Las Vegas and Phoenix. His second victory of the season came in the fifth race, the Auto Club 400, where Johnson passed Harvick in an overtime finish.^[93] It was also the first time since 2011 that he finished in the Top 5 at the Auto Club Speedway. In the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Johnson recorded a ninth-place finish after moving through the field after qualifying 24th.^[94] One week later, Johnson finished fourth in the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway despite suffering minor damage during a 13-car accident that occurred within 50 laps of the finish.^[95]

In the Food City 500 at Bristol, Johnson finished 23rd after making an unscheduled pit stop due to a loose lug nut on lap 300. At Richmond, he led 44 laps early in the race and finished third. At Talladega, Johnson was spun by Paul Menard and got involved in a multi-car accident with 28 laps to go, finishing 22nd. Johnson's streak of misfortune continued through the next several months, crashing out at Dover, Pocono, Daytona, Kentucky and at Watkins Glen, where he finished last for the first time in his career. His Top 10 finishes during the period came only in the Coca-Cola 600 and Brickyard 400, where he finished third in both races. Johnson finished seventh and sixth at Bristol and Michigan the following two weeks but finished 33rd at Darlington after he spun out of turn 4. Johnson then finished 11th at Richmond. He qualified eighth for the Chase.

Johnson began the Chase for the Championship by leading a race-high 118 laps at Chicagoland, but received a speeding penalty during a green flag pit stop late in the race, ultimately finished 12th. Johnson finished eighth the following week at Loudon. At Dover, Johnson led 90 laps but once again received a pit road penalty with 105 laps to go, costing him a win. He charged through the field and finished seventh (1st car a lap down) and moved to the "Round of 12" of the Chase.

At Charlotte, Johnson led a race-high 155 laps and won the Bank of America 500, claiming his eighth win at the track and the third win of the season, also snapping his 24-race winless streak. This marked Johnson's first appearance in the "Round of 8" under the current Chase system. He then finished 4th at Kansas and 23rd at Talladega. At Martinsville, Denny Hamlin aggressively made contact with Johnson on lap 198 and had a tire rub to cause a caution but was able to stay on the lead lap. Later during a caution on lap 362, he lost fuel pressure but was able to get the car refired and stayed on the lead lap again. After the restart, he took the lead from Hamlin and led the final 92 laps to win the Goody's Fast Relief 500. This locked him into the Championship 4 for the final race at Homestead. Johnson finished 11th in the rain-shortened race at Texas, and 38th at Phoenix after being penalized a lap for passing the pace car coming down to pit road and involved in a wreck on a restart.

Johnson claimed his seventh championship by winning at Homestead on November 20. After losing his starting spot due to a pre-race inspection fault, Johnson started at the rear of the field. He progressed through the field, cracking the Top 10 quickly, but remained stagnant around fifth-place for a majority of the race. On a restart with 10 laps to go, Carl Edwards came across the nose of Joey Logano, hit the inside wall, and triggered a massive wreck, ending Edwards' championship hopes. Johnson avoided the accident and was put into the position to win the title. On the final restart, he passed Kyle Larson, winning the race and his seventh championship, tying Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the most all-time of championships.

2017: Final NASCAR wins

Johnson came into 2017 as the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion. The start of the season didn't go as smoothly as the end of last season, however. Through the first six races of the season, Johnson only scored one Top 10 finish. He then rebounded with back-to-back wins at the 2017 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 in Texas (started from the rear of the field) and the 2017 Food City 500 at Bristol, his first win at The Last Great Coliseum since 2010.^[96] This would be the 14th and final time he won back-to-back races in his career. The following week, Johnson would finish just outside the Top 10 at Richmond, after colliding with teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr late in the event, leading to an eventual flat tire and spin for the driver of the No. 88.^[97]

Johnson scored his third win of the season at Dover in June after passing Kyle Larson on an overtime restart, which ended under caution with a multicar incident behind the two leaders. This was Johnson's record-holding 11th win at Dover and 83rd career victory, tying him with NASCAR Hall of Famer, Cale Yarborough. This would eventually be Johnson's final NASCAR Cup Series win.^[98]

The rest of the season didn't go smoothly for Johnson. In the week following his Dover triumph, during the Axalta presents the Pocono 400, Johnson's brakes failed into turn 1 at a speed of over 200 MPH, resulting in a tremendous impact with the outside SAFER barrier. Similarly, directly behind Johnson, fellow competitor Jamie McMurray also experienced a brake failure, and impacted the wall hard, igniting a large vehicle fire. Both Johnson and McMurray were uninjured in the accident.^[99]

Johnson suffered a big slump during the summer part of the season, failing to earn a Top 5 finish, and only netting three Top 10 finishes. During that stretch, in the 2017 Brickyard 400 on a late race restart, Johnson's Lowe's-sponsored Chevrolet started billowing smoke while running in third-place. Heading into turn 3, the two race leaders Brad Keselowski and Kasey Kahne battled one another, allowing Johnson to close in and make a three-wide move to the inside. Without much space into the corner, and with the obvious mechanical failure, the car broke sideways and impacted the outside retaining wall hard.^[100] The following week, Johnson had another run-in with teammate Kasey Kahne, resulting in a second consecutive DNF; his third in the last four races.^[101] Regardless, Johnson (from his wins earlier in the season) was able to qualify for the playoffs.^[102]

Entering the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, the defending champion was still one of the favorites to win the title, despite his results over the summer stretch. After earning his first Top 5 finish (third) since his Dover victory, fittingly in the fall Dover event, he advanced through the opening round and into the Round of 12.^[103] Johnson scored a seventh-place finish at Charlotte to open the second round, but the following week was involved in "The Big One" at Talladega. He was scored with a 24th-place result, after his car was disqualified for violating the NASCAR Damaged Vehicle Policy in which his crew worked on the car during the red flag. In the elimination race at Kansas Speedway, Johnson entered with a seven-point advantage. After having two separate spins, he drove his way through a large multicar accident off turn 2, involving Playoff drivers Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray, and rebounded with an 11th-place finish. Assisted by fellow Playoff contenders finding trouble, Johnson qualified into the Round of 8, by just nine points.^[104]

Unfortunately, Johnson's performance slipped in the third round. He finished 12th at Martinsville, but was followed by a disappointing 27th-place result at Texas.^[105] Entering the final race in the round at Phoenix, Johnson was 51 points behind the Playoff cutoff, and in a near must-win situation.^[106] However, on lap 148, Johnson's hopes at an eighth championship ended when he blew a tire in turn 3, and hit the outside wall hard, ending his day and eliminating him from the Playoffs.^[107] Johnson finished 10th in the final standings, his 15th and final Top 10 finish in the points standings.

2018: Final season with Knaus and Lowe's

Johnson's Speedweeks did not go smoothly, wrecking in each of his three races. At the Advance Auto Parts Clash, he was wrecked on the last lap by Kyle Larson; this was the seventh year in a row he failed to finish the Clash. Johnson qualified third for the 2018 Daytona 500 but had to go to a backup car after wrecking in his Duel. On lap 59 of the Daytona 500, he got caught up in a wreck started by Ryan Blaney, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., which also involved his teammate William Byron, Erik Jones, Daniel Suárez, Trevor Bayne, and Ty Dillon and ended up 38th. Since then, Johnson struggled throughout the 2018 season with only two Top 5s and eight Top 10 finishes by the time he barely made the Playoffs for the 15th season in a row. Johnson's only great run of the season came at the Charlotte Roval race where he ran in the Top 10 for most of the day and battled Martin Truex Jr. for the win on the final lap, but he locked his brakes on turn 17 and spun out of control, taking Truex out with him in the process while Blaney passed them to win the race. Johnson finished eighth, and as a result of a three-way tie with 0 points, he was eliminated in the Round of 16. Johnson scored only one more top-ten finish afterward and wound up a then career-worst 14th in the final point standings since running full-time in 2002, winless for the first time in his career along with equaling a career-low 11 Top 10 finishes for the second season in a row.

Johnson notably gave teammate and friend Chase Elliott a push to the front stretch when his car ran out of fuel when being congratulated by the rest of the drivers after recording his first career win, at Watkins Glen.^[108][109]

On March 14, 2018, Lowe's announced they would no longer sponsor the No. 48 car after the 2018 season; Ally Financial assumed primary sponsorship of the team in 2019 on a two-year deal.^[110] Johnson and his long-time crew chief Knaus parted ways at the end of the season, ending a 17-year partnership, the longest in NASCAR history. Johnson was paired with JR Motorsports crew chief Kevin Meendering in the 2019 season.

2019

The 2019 season started on a positive note for Johnson, as he won the 2019 Advance Auto Parts Clash after contact between him and Paul Menard sent Menard spinning while battling for the lead and triggering "The Big One" on lap 55 right before the rain arrived. It was also the first race with new sponsor Ally Financial and crew chief Meendering. He followed it up by finishing eighth in the first duel race. In the Daytona 500, Johnson ran up front most of the race, but when he came to pit road with around 40 to go, B. J. McLeod and Cody Ware