$160M-worth Jimmie Johnson remains optimistic despite Erik Jones' Daytona qualifying glitch

Jimmie Johnson, a NASCAR legend worth $160 million (according to Celebrity Net Worth), is optimistic despite his team's regular driver, Erik Jones, struggling with qualification this week.

Jones' Toyota Camry XSE had an electronic issue on Friday, August 23. The car shut off during the lap and Jones could not complete the qualifying run. The team later found out that a faulty sensor was the cause.

Johnson tweeted about the issue on X and shared his positive outlook about starting positions not being important for the Daytona race this weekend.

“Unfortunate electronic issue, but thankfully starting position doesn’t matter at Daytona,” he wrote.

Erik Jones (No. 43) and John Hunter Nemechek (No. 42) are two full-time Cup Series drivers for the Maury Gallagher and Jimmie Johnson-owned team, Legacy Motor Club.

Johnson, with seven NASCAR Cup Series Championships, also drives the No. 84 car part-time in the series. He previously raced with Hendrick Motorsports before retiring from full-time NASCAR driving in 2020. The 75-year-old took a shot at his childhood dream, IndyCar racing, for two challenging years. He returned to NASCAR as a part-owner of Legacy Motor Club.

"It's a really different mentality going into both of them" - Erik Jones on upcoming races

Erik Jones needs a win to get into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. He is currently 27th in points and has only two races left—Daytona and Darlington—to qualify for the playoffs. The 28-year-old has had a tough season with Legacy Motor Club, missing two races due to injury. However, previous wins at both Daytona and Darlington will give him hope.

Jones recently shared his strategy for the upcoming races with Motorsport.com. He talked about how drivers need to adapt to Daytona’s chaotic racing and the technical nature of Darlington.

“It's a really different mentality going into both of them. Darlington is a technical race, and one that I feel like you have to have a plan… Daytona is less of your own plan and more of what everybody else is doing around you.”

According to Jones, the 2.5-mile Daytona track is unpredictable and often involves crashes and tight racing packs. He also believes that to do well at Darlington, drivers need cars in good shape and a good pit crew.

"In Daytona, you see the same guys up front over and over....If you can pick up on what moves those guys are making and why they're making them, things start to become more clear....The biggest thing is realizing how hard you can push," Erik Jones said.

"Growing up, the tracks that I ran, it was a lot of racing the track. It was about conserving your equipment. Darlington is a lot of that: If you can get through the day, your car is clean, you've made it better all night, and your pit crew's done a good job, you're probably going to be in contention,” he added.