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Johnson reflective ahead of 700th career start

If there is a time when Jimmie Johnson will see his NASCAR career come full circle, it might be this weekend.

On Sunday night, in NASCAR’s longest race and one of its crown jewel events, the Coca-Cola 600, Johnson makes his 700th career start. It comes at the same track, Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he made his debut on October 7, 2001. 

“In a joking sense, I’ve been saying that I’m officially old,” Johnson told RACER. “These moments – the Hall of Fame being one, 700 starts – really do help me realize how long I’ve been at it. I guess I keep trying to hide from my age of 49, and don’t believe it’s true because I still act like I’m 29, but it is what it is. 

“The thing that really has put a lot of emotional meaning into this for me is that my first start and my 700th start will be at the same track. That has put it in there in a real way.”

Johnson was never good at stopping and reflecting during his career. It was always about the next event. 

But this milestone is hard to overlook, and Johnson has been reflecting. Sunday will also be his 40th start at Charlotte.

Johnson was a relatively unknown driver, and certainly unproven, when he made his first start with Hendrick Motorsports. So unknown, in fact, that Allen Bestwick, one of the broadcasters for NBC Sports, told viewers that Johnson was from Wisconsin. Johnson, of course, is from California.

Charlotte was the first of a three-race stint that fall to prepare Johnson for his 2002 rookie campaign. He started in the 15th position, ran inside the top 10, but ultimately finished 39th after spinning by himself in Turn 4.

The now seven-time Cup Series champion was a clean-shaven 25-year-old when he made his debut. Sunday, Johnson returns as the owner of the car he’ll drive, the No. 84 for Legacy Motor Club, with a salt and pepper beard.

How to describe the journey from Jimmie Johnson at start No. 1 to the one at start No. 700? 

Johnson’s first win came at Fontana in 2002. Many more were to follow… Robert Laberge/Getty Images

“That anything is possible,” Johnson said. “One, looking at my career, and what I was able to accomplish… that shouldn’t have happened, and I shouldn’t have been the guy for a variety of different reasons. But it did. Where I am now in the business, I never, ever wanted to be a car owner, and here I am. I guess it speaks to that point that anything can happen.”

In addition to his seven titles, Johnson has 83 career wins. Charlotte Motor Speedway is heavily tied to his career accomplishments.

There are the eight wins Johnson has at the track, which include four in the Coca-Cola 600. It is one shy of the all-time mark by a driver in that particular race, which Darrell Waltrip holds. He has led 1,936 laps at the track. 

Those numbers make Charlotte one of Johnson’s best racetracks. It is where he won the third-most races in his full-time career behind Dover (11) and Martinsville (9). The same for the laps led behind Dover (3,113) and Martinsville (2,932).

“I didn’t pay attention to it, to be honest,” said Johnson of his starts. “I guess early in my career, I never thought that I would be employed and have a chance that long. I’ve said it many times, but that first year, in my heart, if I didn’t win, I felt like I wouldn’t have a career. So, I think of that moment in time, and I never thought of 700.”

Johnson did have one thing throughout his career that meant a lot: consecutive starts. But in 2020, that came to an end when Johnson missed the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway because he tested positive for COVID-19. It was a confusing and frustrating saga for Johnson, as he never experienced symptoms and tested negative three days later.

Being sidelined snapped Johnson’s streak of 663 consecutive starts. Johnson retired from full-time competition at the end of the year. 

“To lose that opportunity to have however consecutive starts, I lost track of my starts at that point,” Johnson said. “I was just bumped, and in my heart, I felt like I had a false positive COVID test that led to the reason I wasn’t in the car and couldn’t keep the streak alive. So, I just checked out on the numbers.”

Johnson returned to NASCAR in 2023 when he joined forces with Maury Gallagher to enter into team ownership. It’s also allowed him to get back behind the wheel, and he’s made 13 starts since. 

And now it’s worked out that the place where it all began gets to be where Johnson celebrates how far he’s come.

“When I was told 700 at Charlotte, I was like, you’ve got to be [expletive] me, there is no way,” Johnson said. “It took the number to be here for me to grasp it.”