NASCAR: Active championships list after Jimmie Johnson’s retirement

With Jimmie Johnson having retired from NASCAR Cup Series competition, which drivers now sit atop the active championships list?

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson has officially retired from full-time competition following the 2020 season, his 19th season as the driver of the #48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

The 45-year-old El Cajon, California native is not done racing, as he is set to run the 13 road and street course races on the 17-race 2021 IndyCar schedule for Chip Ganassi Racing behind the wheel of the #48 Honda, but his chase to become NASCAR’s first eight-time champion has ended.

Johnson won his seven championships in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2016. His seven titles are tied for the all-time record, as Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt also won seven times.

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Neither of those two other seven-time champions ever won more than two in a row, however, and Johnson won five, which is more than any driver other than Petty and Earnhardt have won, period — much less in a five-year span. He won his seven titles in an 11-year span, which was four years quicker than Earnhardt and five years quicker than Petty.

With his retirement, there is a new driver atop the active championships list. In fact, there is only one active driver who has won more than one title, and that driver only recently won his second title last year. Johnson has more titles to his name than the other six active champions combined.

Johnson had been the active leader in championships since winning his fifth title in 2010. After winning the title in the 2009 season, he was tied with four-time champion Jeff Gordon, who retired after the 2015 season (2016 season if you include his starts in relief of the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr.).

Keep in mind that 2003 champion Matt Kenseth, while no official announcement was made, has presumably stepped away from competition as well after making an unexpected return in 2020 as the replacement for Kyle Larson at Chip Ganassi Racing.

Four years after Johnson won his seventh and final championship, here is a list of the seven drivers in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series lineup who have won at least one championship throughout their careers, how many titles they have won and when they won them.

1. Kyle Busch – 2 (2015, 2019)
2. Chase Elliott – 1 (2020)
3. Joey Logano – 1 (2018)
4. Martin Truex Jr. – 1 (2017)
5. Kevin Harvick – 1 (2014)
6. Brad Keselowski – 1 (2012)
7. Kurt Busch – 1 (2004)

Will an eighth driver join this group of seven in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, or will one of these seven drivers win again next year?

Will Kyle Busch become the first driver crowned champion for the third time since Tony Stewart won his third and final title in 2011? Will Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski or Kurt Busch become just the second driver crowned champion for the second time since Jimmie Johnson won the second of his seven titles in 2007?

The 2021 season is scheduled to begin in just under three months on Sunday, February 14 with the 63rd annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.