Beyond the Flag
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NASCAR: 2018 Hendrick Motorsports outlook

By Tyler Callaway

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 11: Team owner, Rick Hendrick, Alex Bowman, driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, and Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, stand on the grid during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 11, 2018 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)
DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 11: Team owner, Rick Hendrick, Alex Bowman, driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, and Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, stand on the grid during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 11, 2018 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images) /
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DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 15: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s for Pros Chevrolet (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 15: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s for Pros Chevrolet (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /

Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Johnson has had plenty of jokes made at his expense about the age gap between he and his teammates, but it’s all irrelevant. Johnson is still one of the greatest drivers to ever compete in NASCAR, and no amount of young potential flooding the garage will overshadow his talent.

That being said, they’re making it extremely hard.

Johnson has been the man in NASCAR for the last 12 years, and to now have young, up-and-coming drivers start to challenge him for the top spot — most of them being his own teammates — has to be a hard pill to swallow.

Factor in the fact he is coming off of arguably the worst season in his career and you have a major debate going on into the season as to whether Johnson is next in line for retirement.

Johnson has made comments on his retirement plan, according to Motorsport.com.

"“I’ve accomplished so much. But what else am I going to do? I’d have to find something else to race. I’m a racer at heart and I want to compete. I feel like I can accomplish more in the sport and win more races and compete for more championships and win more championships.  So I don’t feel like it’s time yet. At some point that fire will go out—and I need to be aware of that. But right now it’s as intense as ever.”"

With many more races to win and championships to compete in, Johnson could be around for a few more years.

This upcoming season is hard to read for Johnson. If I’m being honest, I think finding his eighth championship is a lofty goal with so much new talent to compete with. While I believe Johnson remains one of the top competitors, I think we’re going to start to see the passing of the torch in 2018.

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