"I wasn't holding up to the core values" - When Jimmie Johnson reflected on his decision to leave NASCAR

Jimmie Johnson once opened up about his decision to retire full-time from the NASCAR Cup Series. During an interview with Graham Bensinger in 2021, Johnson admitted not holding up to his core values, eventually leading him to the decision to retire.

Johnson is an American racing driver who won seven NASCAR Cup Series championship titles. The now 49-year-old California native retired from full-time NASCAR competition in 2020.

Jimmie Johnson talked about feeling grumpy, especially in his final seasons in the Cup Series when he couldn’t score a win.

“The grind, more than anything, kind of changed me. And I wasn’t holding up to the core values that I can hold for myself. I was just grumpy for the last couple of years,” Johnson said [0:07].

Jimmie Johnson also stated that his split with crew chief Chad Knaus was one of the biggest factors for his retirement, saying:

“The break-up with Chad and moving on was [probably the] peak of it. [0:24]”

The driver shared the feeling of relief upon deciding to walk out of the sport.

“There was an excitement starting over and working through developing the team and bringing it back to its form. Making the decision and saying ‘Oh I was going to retire’ just, or stop NASCAR, took this weight off my shoulders that I didn’t know was really there,” Johnson said [0:29].

The seven-time champ told Bensinger that it was never about the championships for him, thus he didn’t have the drive to break the record with eight Cup titles.

Jimmie Johnson concluded his NASCAR Cup Series career with 83 wins, tying him with Cale Yarborough in sixth on the all-time wins list. 81 of them were recorded with his former crew chief Chad Knaus, who Johnson parted ways with after the 2018 season.

The former No. 48 Chevrolet driver scored 36 pole positions, 232 top-5s, and 374 top-10s in his 686 starts with Hendrick Motorsports. He only missed one race in his career in the premier series.

Today, Johnson is a co-owner of the Legacy Motor Club after purchasing an ownership stake in late 2022. He is a part-time driver for the team, with the full-time seats filled by John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones.

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Jimmie Johnson looked back on winning his 7th championship

Last month, Jimmie Johnson shared a clip on X (formerly Twitter) of him winning his seventh championship at the 2016 Ford EcoBoost 400.

The race witnessed Joey Logano taking out fellow championship contender Carl Edwards with 10 laps left in the race. During the overtime restart, Johnson was fending off Kyle Larson from the lead and eventually crossed the line to win his seventh Cup championship title.

In an X post-Johnson shared, he wrote:

“A night that put me in rare company.”

With seven NASCAR Cup Series championships under his belt, Jimmie Johnson joined Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. as the only drivers to achieve the feat. However, he is the only driver in history to win five championships in a row (2006 to 2010). The rest were won in 2013 and 2016.