NASCAR: 5 replacement candidates for Jimmie Johnson in 2021

Jimmie Johnson announced that the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season will be his final full season in the series. Who will replace him in 2021?

Following several months of speculation about the future of seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson in the Cup Series, Johnson took to Twitter on Wednesday and shared a short video.

The 44-year-old El Cajon, California native is set to finish out his contract, a three-year extension he signed in June of 2017, with Hendrick Motorsports in 2020, but after that, he will no longer be the full-time driver of the #48 Chevrolet.

Johnson has competed in the Cup Series since the 2001 season, and he has competed in the series on a full-time basis since the 2002 season. He has competed in each of the 648 races that have been contested since the 2002 season began, and he has made all 651 of his starts behind the wheel of the #48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

Johnson, who tied the all-time championships record set by Richard Petty in 1979 and later tied by Dale Earnhardt in 1994 by winning his seventh championship in 2016, made the announcement that he will be #Chasing8 for the fourth and final time in 2020 exactly three years to the day after becoming the sport’s third seven-time champion.

Ally Financial, which signed a contract in late October of 2018 to become the full-time primary sponsor of Johnson’s #48 Chevrolet beginning in the 2019 season following the departure of Lowe’s, recently signed a contract extension to continue serving as the full-time primary sponsor of the #48 Chevrolet through the 2023 season.

So who will replace Johnson in 2021? Here are five possible candidates.