NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson’s next Cup start revealed?
By Asher Fair
According to the NASCAR roster portal, Jimmie Johnson is set to make his second start of the 2023 Cup Series season at Circuit of the Americas.
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson made his Cup Series return in the 2023 season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, marking his first start in the series since the 2020 season finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Johnson retired in 2020 after spending 19 seasons as a full-time driver with Hendrick Motorsports and spent the last two seasons competing in IndyCar for Chip Ganassi Racing, first as a road and street course driver and then as a full-time driver.
But he had never ruled out the possibility of returning to the Cup Series, and that came to fruition this year after he became a part owner of Petty GMS Motorsports (now Legacy Motor Club), which field two full-time entries for rookie Noah Gragson (No. 42 Chevrolet) and Erik Jones (No. 43 Chevrolet).
Johnson, who crashed out of the Daytona 500 in his first race behind the wheel of the No. 84 Chevrolet, had not been scheduled to make another start until the inaugural race at the Chicago Street Course in early July.
But given the gap between the two events, that was always likely to change, and now it apparently has.
According to the NASCAR roster portal, Jimmie Johnson is set to compete in the road course race at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, March 26.
Legacy Motor Club have not yet made an official announcement, but a formal confirmation would mean that the 47-year-old El Cajon, California native is set to make his first career start at Circuit of the Americas.
The Cup Series first raced at the 20-turn, 3.426-mile (5.514-kilometer) road course in Austin, Texas in 2021, by which time Johnson had already made the move to IndyCar.
This year’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix is the sixth of 36 races on the schedule. Trackhouse Racing Team’s Ross Chastain is the reigning winner, having earned his first career Cup Series victory at the track last year. Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, who will not compete due to a fractured left tibia, won the inaugural race at the track in 2021.
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Johnson has said that he has a list of between 12 and 14 races that he would like to run this year, but he is aiming to trim it down to between five and 10. The All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway is reportedly high on his list, but his plans for that race could hinge on whether or not he decides to return to the Indy 500.