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NASCAR: How Hendrick can get creative with Jimmie Johnson’s replacement

By Asher Fair

FORT WORTH, TX - MARCH 31: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, leads William Byron, driver of the #24 Axalta/Primeline Chevrolet, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on March 31, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TX - MARCH 31: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, leads William Byron, driver of the #24 Axalta/Primeline Chevrolet, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on March 31, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
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Several names have been thrown around as the possible replacement for Jimmie Johnson after he retires following the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. But Hendrick Motorsports could get creative with their 2021 lineup in an unexpected way.

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson announced almost two weeks ago that the 2020 season will be his last. Johnson has competed in the Cup Series since 2001, and he has only ever driven the #48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in his 651 starts.

He has been a full-time driver since the start of the 2002 season, and he has not missed any of the 648 races that have been contested since that time.

In addition to marking his 19th and final season of full-time competition in the Cup Series, the 2020 season is set to mark the 44-year-old El Cajon, California native’s fourth and final attempt to become NASCAR’s only ever eight-time champion.

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Johnson won his record-tying seventh championship in the 2016 season after winning five straight titles from 2006 to 2010 and then adding a sixth in 2013. Only Johnson, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt have won seven Cup Series championships; nobody else has won more than four, and no other active driver has won more than two.

Johnson spent the first 17 seasons of his career with Chad Knaus as the crew chief for the #48 team, and they collected 81 of Johnson’s 83 career victories together. But after the 2018 season, Hendrick Motorsports made a change, sending Knaus to the #24 team as the crew chief for second-year driver William Byron.

Knaus is set to continue as Byron’s crew chief in the 2020 season as he seeks his first victory with a driver other than Johnson and as Byron seeks to find victory lane for the first time in his Cup Series career.

Several names have already been tossed around as possible replacement candidates for Johnson, but the team have assured the public that they are not actively seeking a replacement for him and that their focus remains solely on the 2020 season.

Could his replacement be William Byron?

At the end of the day, the end result of Johnson’s departure will remain the same. Hendrick Motorsports will need to bring on a fourth driver, and with Byron already being on the team, that fourth driver won’t be him.

Elliott is under contract through the 2022 season while both Byron and Alex Bowman have several sponsors under contract on multi-year deals that should keep them with the team for at least a few more years.

But a team shift is not out of the question for Hendrick Motorsports, one that would effectively send their new driver to the #24 team as opposed to the #48 team. The #48 team is Knaus’s team as much as it is Johnson’s, and Byron has already been involved in a number swap, and for a similar purpose. Sending the pair to the #48 team is not as far-fetched as it seems.

The 22-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina native was slated to replace Kasey Kahne behind the wheel of the #5 Chevrolet ahead of the 2018 season. Elliott was driving the #24 Chevrolet at the time after replacing Jeff Gordon ahead of the 2016 season.

But Hendrick Motorsports added the #9 Chevrolet, got rid of the #5 Chevrolet, and moved Elliott to the #9 Chevrolet to match the number his father Bill used through much of his career, including during his two Daytona 500 wins in 1985 and 1987 and during his championship-winning 1988 season.

Byron has only ever driven the #24 Chevrolet full-time. Like Elliott did before his switch to the #9 Chevrolet, he has gone two seasons without winning a race. Gordon remains the only driver to take the #24 to victory lane. A total of 66 drivers have driven the #24, and Gordon is responsible for all 93 wins.

Byron could change that in 2020, but it may not matter at that point. Hendrick Motorsports paired Knaus with Byron for a reason, and a move back to the #48 team for the crew chief that made the #48 a seven-time champion seems right on so many levels, especially in the wake of the retirement of the driver of that #48.

Of course, they could also retire the #48 as well and bring back the #25 Chevrolet for whoever they hire as their fourth driver. Regardless, they could very well impose an element of creativity when it comes to finalizing their 2021 driver lineup, which is something they have admitted is not a priority at this point, nor should it be.

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Hendrick Motorsports need to find a fourth driver for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season with Jimmie Johnson set to retire from full-time competition and leave the #48 Chevrolet after the 2020 season. But will they get creative and send William Byron to the #48 team along with Chad Knaus and send their new driver behind the wheel of the #24 Chevrolet? Will they retire the #48 and bring back the #25 Chevrolet?

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