"I'm glad he brought him to me": When Rick Hendrick trusted Jeff Gordon's vision with Jimmie Johnson

Amid Jeff Gordon's meteoric rise in NASCAR throughout the mid to late 1990s, car owner Rick Hendrick was searching for his next big-time star who could add to the driver of the #24 car's success. Little did the owner of Hendrick Motorsports know that it was Gordon himself who went looking for the team's next superstar.

In a 2015 article by ESPN writer Ryan McGee, just days before Gordon was set for his final race as a full-time driver, Hendrick reflected on the four-time Cup Series champion's career and legacy. As Gordon continued to rack up wins and championships throughout the late 90s, Hendrick and other car owners were looking for a driver just like him.

However, it was Gordon who saw a young, up-and-coming driver in the Xfinity (formerly Busch) Series who caught his eye. That driver was Jimmie Johnson, who would eventually sign with HMS to drive the #48 Chevrolet full-time ahead of the 2002 season.

Johnson would ultimately become Hendrick's next superstar and surpassed Gordon in certain aspects, including winning a record-tying seven Cup Series championships, three more than what Gordon won. Johnson scored 83 career wins, all with HMS, just 10 wins behind Gordon's 93 career victories.

Ironically, Hendrick said it was Gordon who found "the next Jeff Gordon" for HMS, and the champion car owner expressed how pleased he was that he trusted his longtime driver in regards to Johnson's talent. Hendrick said:

"So, we're all out there doing all this scouting and searching and research and spending all this money to try and find the next Jeff Gordon, and then the guy who discovered the next Jeff Gordon was Jeff Gordon. I'm just glad he brought him to me and they didn't go off and do their own thing."

Johnson spent 19 full seasons behind the wheel of the #48 HMS machine. Perhaps most impressively, he won five straight Cup Series championships between 2006 and 2010. Johnson retired from full-time Cup competition at the end of the 2020 season.

Jimmie Johnson continues to race today with co-owned Legacy Motor Club

While his full-time racing days seem to be behind him, Jimmie Johnson still gets behind the wheel in the NASCAR Cup Series on a part-time basis. He co-owns Legacy Motor Club with fellow seven-time Cup Series champion Richard Petty and wheels the #84 Toyota part-time.

The Johnson/Petty partnership has been in effect since 2023. Today, the team fields two full-time Cup entries, one with Erik Jones behind the wheel of the #43 and John Hunter Nemechek at the seat of the #42. While they've posted a handful of impressive finishes the team has yet to win a race.

Johnson competed in last Sunday's Daytona 500 where he finished in third place. It's his first top-five finish since the 2020 season finale race at Phoenix.