NASCAR: Hendrick Motorsports in a unique position for 2021

By Asher Fair | Apr 5, 2020

Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

Hendrick Motorsports are in a unique and quite favorable position when it comes to their 2021 NASCAR Cup Series driver lineup.

Days after the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season ended, seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson announced that the 2020 season would be his 19th and final season behind the wheel of the #48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports as a full-time driver.

Last October, before Johnson had confirmed that the 2020 season would be his last, Ally Financial, which had already been under contract to serve as the primary sponsor of the #48 Chevrolet on a full-time basis in 2020, extended their deal with the team by an additional three years through the 2023 season.

The Detroit, Michigan-based bank holding company signed a multi-year deal ahead of the 2019 season to replace Lowe’s as Johnson’s full-time primary sponsor. Lowe’s had been Johnson’s lone primary sponsor ever since he began competing on a full-time basis back in 2002.

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The Mooresville, North Carolina-based home improvement company announced in March of 2018 that the 2018 season would be their last with NASCAR and the #48 team.

When Johnson departs Rick Hendrick’s team at the end of the 2020 season (assuming the season isn’t cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic, which he has admitted could affect those plans), Hendrick Motorsports will need to find a replacement driver for the #48 Chevrolet. There are a few reasons why this couldn’t have come at a better time for the four-car powerhouse Chevrolet operation.

First of all, this year’s free agent class is about as deep as free agent classes get, although one drawback of that is the fact that one of the pending free agents is their very own Alex Bowman.

Bowman is expected to return to the team behind the wheel of the #88 Chevrolet next year, but he hasn’t yet signed a contract. His dominant victory at Auto Club Speedway last month should help speed up matters.

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Secondly, given Ally Financial’s long-term commitment to the team, sponsorship could effectively be the least of their worries, and in an era when money unfortunately often comes before talent when teams make decisions on who to hire, that is a huge deal.

As a result, Hendrick Motorsports can truly pick the best available driver to replace one of the best drivers in the history of the sport, and that driver would be slated to join with one of the sport’s youngest up-and-coming lineups. None of the other powerhouse teams are in that position, nor are they really even close.

Team Penske are probably the closest with Joey Logano, 29, and Ryan Blaney, 26, under long-term deals, as Blaney recently removed his name from the free agent market by signing a multi-year extension to drive the #12 Ford.

But three of Stewart-Haas Racing’s four drivers are aged 35+, with two being 40+, and three of Joe Gibbs Racing’s drivers are aged 34+, with two being 39+. At Hendrick Motorsports, Bowman is 26, Chase Elliott is 24 and William Byron is 22.

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The retirement of Jimmie Johnson will be hard for NASCAR in general, and it will undoubtedly be hardest for Hendrick Motorsports.

But fortunately, it is set to come at a time when there should be several very capable replacement candidates available for the team, and it is set to come at a time when they can effectively pick whomever they want from this pool of drivers due to their sponsorship situation at the #48 team from which Johnson is slated to depart.

Plus, whomever they name his replacement is set to join a very solid core of drivers moving into NASCAR’s future, a point that cannot be underscored enough in the midst of a youth movement.

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