He was adamant that team ownership was not in the cards. He turned down a contract that would have included an ownership stake at Hendrick Motorsports alongside friend and mentor Jeff Gordon.
But in the end, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson couldn’t walk away from NASCAR.
After two years racing the NTT IndyCar circuit, Johnson announced a return to stock cars in 2023, buying a stake in Petty GMS. He’ll return to the driver’s seat for a handful of races as well.
— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) November 4, 2022
Petty GMS, which fields the No. 43 driven by Erik Jones and the No. 42 of incoming rookie Noah Gragson, had one Cup win in 2022 when Jones took the checkers at Darlington Raceway. The win came just one week too late for Jones to qualify for the playoffs, but 2023 could be the year that sees the organization take that step.
Johnson brings a wealth of knowledge behind the wheel of a racecar, and he’s also a strong communicator and could act as a mentor for Jones and, in particular, Gragson, who’ll enter his first full-time year of Cup competition in 2023.
Co-owner Maury Gallagher welcomed Johnson to the fold at a press conference at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 4. Gallagher said he was “pinching myself sitting up here with this kind of talent and this kind of record, and I can honestly say that while we didn’t anticipate having this kind of talent up here, it was never not a goal. …
“Jimmie is going to be obviously a great name and a help with a lot of our awareness and marketing, but obviously on the competition side, working with our drivers, Erik and Noah, Grant [Enfinger], all those things will be positives.”
Johnson certainly has the name recognition to be an asset to the team’s marketing efforts, but the organization seems to have a larger role for the 46-year-old in the future.
1️⃣4️⃣ Cup championships at one table 👌 pic.twitter.com/KmvZ44RWfq
— Petty GMS (@PettyGMS) November 4, 2022
Seven-time Cup champion and co-owner Richard Petty added, “Me and Maury talk about all the time about what can we do to improve our situation, make our business bigger, win more races, and he called me one day and said, I’ve been talking to Jimmie Johnson. I said, you’ve got to be kidding. Jimmie Johnson wants to be involved with this or we’re going to be involved with him?
“From that standpoint, I just sort of went off the edge and said, this has got to…
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