All of the two seasons of Johnson's experiment were over.
The seven-time NASCAR champion is returning to the series in which he made his name as a part-owner. About five Cup races will be entered by him.
The Daytona 500 will be Johnson's first race of the season.
Johnson told the AP that the model of NASCAR chartering is different from anything else in the sport. I would like to be involved in it. We watched Michael Jordan join, the Trackhouse Racing folks did a great job, and there are a lot of people who want to get into the sport.
I'm grateful that I'm going to be a part of it.
Johnson's car number, sponsors, and even the current name of his race team are all in the works.
He wants to go to the Coca-Cola 600, a race he's won four times, and he'd like to be eligible for the All-Star race in North Carolina.
Johnson wants to do the Indianapolis 500 and Coke 600 on the same day, but he's on hold as Chip Ganassi shapes the organization he left after two seasons. The All-Star race would conflict with Indy 500 qualifications. He's now part owner of a Chevrolet team so that would prevent him from racing with a Honda team.
The road and street courses were a struggle for Johnson, who admitted to being burned out at the end of the season. He said he'd step back from full-time racing and was eyeing a bucket list of about 10 events, most likely including the 24 Hours of LeMans as a NASCAR representative.
He had no idea what he wanted to do when he stepped away.
It took Johnson about six weeks to get back into NASCAR through the conversations he had with the management firm.
As the GMS deal came together out of the blue, Johnson said he didn't have any talks with Hendrick about owning the team. He told the AP about his plans. He won 83 Cup races in the No. 48 Chevrolet.
It's a great day for our sport. "I know he will apply the same mentality to his role as a team owner since he is one of the all-time greats on the racetrack." It's going to be very special for a lot of people to see him in a firesuit at the Daytona 500. It will be a challenge to compete against him, but we are looking forward to the next chapter of his amazing career.
Johnson is tied with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the most championship titles. He decided to retire from NASCAR after the 2020 season finale at Phoenix Raceway. When ChaseElliott won the Cup title, the torch was passed to Johnson, who was the best of the non-title candidates. He hadn't been to a NASCAR race in a long time.
He wants to be a part of the action again. He gets it with a two-car team funded by Allegiant Air and fronted by a man named Petty.
Before this deal was struck, the team had already decided to dump Ty Dillon for firebrand Noah Gragson.
The speed in which the deal was completed was astounding to both Johnson and Gallagher, and they both said that Johnson won't be a figurehead.
Gallagher told the AP that he values relationships more than anything. I am more of a person who is not well known. I want Richard and Jimmie to be the faces of the organization and help with the economics.
In about a decade, GMS has grown from a Truck Series team into a first year Cup organization. Even though Jones has been competitive and won at Darlington, it didn't qualify for the playoffs and Trackhouse Racing has a driver in Sunday's championship race.
That's right, --
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