NASCAR: Top 3 replacement candidates for Jimmie Johnson at Hendrick Motorsports
By Asher Fair
All good things must come to an end. When Jimmie Johnson’s NASCAR Cup Series career concludes, who will be the top three candidates to replace him at Hendrick Motorsports?
Jimmie Johnson, 42, started off the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series very slowly with just one top 10 finish in the first six races in his #48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. But truth be told, we have seen this act before.
In the 2016 season, Johnson went on a then career-long 24-race win drought. He ended up winning the championship, which was his record-tying seventh title. Last season, he also had just one top 10 finish in the first six races. He ended up winning three races and advancing to the round of 8 in the playoffs.
However, have we really seen this act before? Johnson is now on another career-long win drought of 29 races, and it was recently confirmed that Lowe’s, his sponsor ever since he entered the Cup Series in 2001, is set to leave after the 2018 season.
Johnson is, in fact, under contract with Hendrick Motorsports through the 2020 season. However, Kasey Kahne was under contract with the team through the 2018 season, and he ended up being let go of before this season began in a move that was confirmed last summer following the departure of his primary sponsor, GreatClips. If Johnson continues to underperform, there is no telling what his future holds with the team.
Regardless of when he finally retires, here are the early top three candidates to replace him as the driver of the #48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.