AVONDALE, Ariz. — Jimmie Johnson‘s NASCAR retirement and IndyCar experiment lasted all of two seasons.
The seven-time NASCAR champion is returning in 2023 to the series that made him a global motorsports star as the part owner of Petty GMS. He’ll also enter about five Cup races.
Johnson told The Associated Press that his first race will be the season-opening Daytona 500, where he’s a two-time winner.
“I’ve had a watchful eye on the ownership part and what’s happening with NASCAR, and the opportunity that I have here, the business structure and the model with NASCAR charters is just so different from than anything else in motorsports,” Johnson told the AP. “I want to be part of it. We certainly watched Michael Jordan join, what the Trackhouse Racing folks have done, and there’s all these rumors of people who want to get into the sport.
“I’m honored and thankful that I’m going to be part of it.”
His car number and sponsors — and maybe even the current Petty GMS name — are all a work in progress for Johnson, who turned 47 in September.
On his bucket list are the Coca-Cola 600, a race he has won four times, and he’d love if NASCAR made him eligible for the 2023 All-Star race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina.
Johnson also said he still wants to do “The Double” of the Indianapolis 500 and Coke 600 on the same day, but he’s on hold as Chip Ganassi shapes the organization Johnson left after two seasons. But, even if an Indy 500 ride materializes, the All-Star race would conflict with Indy 500 qualifying.
Johnson made his Indy 500 debut in May and although he proved decent on the IndyCar ovals — he skipped them his first season — the road and street courses were a struggle and admitted to being burned out at the end of the full season. He said he’d step back from full-time racing and was eyeing a bucket list of about 10 events, most likely including the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a NASCAR representative.
When he came to that late-September decision to step away, Johnson insisted he had no idea what he wanted to do next.
It took about six weeks for Johnson to get back into NASCAR through conversations initiated by the management firm shared by Johnson and Erik Jones, the Petty GMS driver he just inherited.
Johnson said he had no talks with Hendrick Motorsports about ownership opportunities as the GMS deal came together out of the blue. He told the AP he alerted Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon of his plans. Johnson drove 20 years for Hendrick and won…
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