Jimmie Johnson Stays in NASCAR Through 2020

Boom! Confetti. Jimmie Johnson is staying put at Hendrick Motorsports through at least the 2020 Cup Series season, adding to his illustrious career.

By far one of the most dominant drivers in the modern era of NASCAR, Jimmie Johnson has nearly done it all in Cup Series racing. Now, he will have a few more seasons to check more accomplishments off his to-do list. The seven-time champion will continue to race with Hendrick Motorsports in the #48 Chevrolet through the 2020 Cup Series season, the team confirmed today.

Johnson, 41, has been racing at the Cup level with the top Chevrolet team since 2002, with sponsor Lowe’s partnering with the team for the last fifteen years. They will continue that relationship as well through at least the 2018 season, despite the current trend of sponsors cutting back commitments or exiting racing altogether.

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Understandably, some found Johnson’s extension announcement surprising, expecting that Jimmie would be following in the footsteps of Gordon, Stewart, Labonte, and Earnhardt Jr. into retirement. Johnson addressed those comments at Michigan on Friday:

"I think in all fairness to the questions and to myself, any contract I sign right now with my age is probably going to raise questions. I get it, but I don’t have a vision of if it’s three (years), if it’s five, if it’s seven, I don’t know. I do know I’m having a great time and I don’t want to stop right now."

While he is one of the elder statesmen of the NASCAR garage today, Johnson has not slowed down at all. He earned his record-tying seventh championship last season and carried that momentum into 2017 with three wins already. He continues to carry the banner for Hendrick Motorsports, being the only driver for the team to win points-paying races in the last two years.

It also proves important for Hendrick to keep their current top driver around for the next few seasons while the team goes through a bit of a transition. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is set to retire at the end of the 2017 season, leaving a hole for potentially a young driver to fill that seat. There are also questions surrounding the #5 team of Kasey Kahne as they will lose primary sponsors Great Clips and Farmers Insurance at the end of the season. Some rumors have even swirled of HMS contracting to three teams in 2018.

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No matter what the future holds for Hendrick Motorsports, one constant that the team will not need to worry about is Jimmie Johnson. His contract extension assures them time to find a worthy replacement for the seven-time champion when retirement comes knocking. But if JJ has his way, it will be a while before that time does come.

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