The first three races of Johnson’s career came at the end of the 2001 season as Hendrick Motorsports did a dress rehearsal for a full rookie season. Johnson’s three finishes were 39th, 25th and 29th.
Johnson, however, made an impact in the first race of his rookie season. He won the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500 and won the pole at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway eight races later.
The Southern California native scored his first victory at on April 28, 2002, at California’s Auto Club Speedway.
According to Johnson that remains his most significant victory.
“For me, I go to the first,” he said. “My dream was to be a Cup driver and to win a race. That was the top for me. So to be able to do that in my 13th start at my home track (Fontana, Calif.); that was a very special moment.”
He swept both races at Dover (Del.) Int’l Speedway during his rookie season and finished fifth in the standings. At that time, the old, season-long points system was in place and Johnson led the standings as late as the 29th race of the season at Kansas Speedway.
In 2003, Johnson finished second in the standings behind Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth, having won three more races during the final season of NASCAR’s 36-race points system.
Johnson won an incredible eight races and scored 20 top-five finishes and 23 top-10 results in 2004. It was the first year of NASCAR’s new “Chase” playoff format and Johnson finished second in the championship to Kurt Busch.
In 2005, Johnson won four races but dropped to fifth in the standings after he was unable to close strong in the last race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He finished 40th after he crashed on lap 124. Stewart claimed the championship.
In 2006, Johnson began a five-year stretch unequaled in NASCAR championship history. He won five straight Cup Series titles, breaking Cale Yarborough’s previous record of three Cup championships in a row from 1976-’78. He won 35 races during that five-year stretch, including 10 wins in 2007 — a season that also included 20 top-five efforts and 24 top-10 finishes.
He scored a sixth NASCAR Cup championship after winning six races in 2013. Johnson tied legends Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt with a seventh Cup Series crown after winning five times in 2016.
From 2007 through ’10, Johnson won 30 races. From 2011 through ’17, he won another 30 races.
Johnson is winless since. He had only two top-five finishes in 2018 and three last season. His last win was at Dover Int’l Speedway on June 14, 2017.
A driver who was once a championship lock, finished 14th in 2018 and 18th the following season.
At the end of 2018, Hendrick Motorsports reassigned Johnson’s longtime crew chief Chad Knaus to the No. 24 car driven by young William Byron. Johnson’s new crew chief was Kevin Meendering. That lasted 22 races before Meendering was replaced by Cliff Daniels.
When Johnson made his decision to retire, Knaus, who was with him for all seven Cup Series titles, was among the first people Johnson called.
“It’s bittersweet,” Knaus said. “All you guys know how much I love that man. We’ve been through an awful lot. We came in together. With one opportunity we had to prove our abilities. He rose to the occasion and did a phenomenal job as the pilot of our car. And we grew together. We grew families together. We did a lot of things together.
“It’s emotional for me for sure, but man, it’s just so great. I’m so excited to have this next avenue in his life and see what he’s going to do,” Knaus continued. “There’s a lot of potential in him still. He’s got an opportunity to go drive a lot of other series and have fun and what he’s got to do with his children and wife. It’s just the beginning for him. I think it’s great. He’s still doing this while he’s young enough that he can experience a lot of life. A lot more than any of us ever will.”
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