NASCAR Cup Series: Jimmie Johnson could return in 2021

Jimmie Johnson has stated that he won’t rule out returning to NASCAR after he retires from full-time competition following the 2020 season.

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson recently confirmed in a video that he posted to his Twitter account that the 2020 season will he his 19th and final season as the full-time driver of the #48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

Johnson has driven the #48 Chevrolet in all 651 of his Cup Series starts going back to the 2001 season, and he has driven it in each of the last 648 races going back to the beginning of his full-time career in the 2002 season.

But the man who became just the third Cup Series driver to be crowed champion for the seventh time in the 2016 season is set to make just one more attempt, his fourth, at becoming the sport’s lone eight-time champion next year.

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However, even beyond the 36 races on the 2020 schedule, Johnson still wants to compete in the Cup Series on a part-time basis.

More and more “retirement” announcements these days include the words “retiring from full-time competition”.

Johnson’s, while it did not use that exact terminology, contained that sentiment in that he referenced the 2020 season being his final season attempting to chase his eighth championship, so the door is still open for a post-2020 return as a part-time driver.

He has previously stated on multiple occasions that he will not rule out a possible return to racing and is, in fact, already looking at the possibility of coming back in 2021 and beyond once the #48 Chevrolet is driven by somebody else full-time. He is still considering non-NASCAR options as well, such as IndyCar road course races.

Here is what he had to say about the matter, according to Autosport.

"“This is not a retirement from driving race cars. This is slowing down from 38 weekends a year and you certainly know the stress and pressure, that grind that it takes. I would come back and drive Cup cars for Rick [Hendrick], without a doubt, all options are open, honestly, except IndyCar and fast ovals.”"

Will Jimmie Johnson return behind the wheel of a race car, perhaps even in the NASCAR Cup Series, after he retires from full-time competition following the conclusion of the 2020 season? If so, when will he make his earliest return?