Jimmie Johnson sees fresh hopes of running a NASCAR car, thanks to Roger Penske

After announcing his retirement from full-time racing in the NTT IndyCar Series earlier this year, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson has been making some noteworthy moves in the sport. Johnson, who is now part owner of Petty GMS, a team that competes in the highest echelon of stock car racing, might be seen behind the wheel of a stock car sooner rather than later.

As the El Cajon, California native spoke about his future plans during his retirement announcement, Johnson plans on ticking bucket-list items off his checklist during his time away from full-time motorsport. The list could include historically acclaimed achievements such as Double Duty, which involves running both the Cup Series race at Charlotte and the Indy 500 in a single year. Both events, which take place on Memorial Day, have huge significance in the country's motorsports history.

Roger Penske, the mastermind behind Team Penske, who competes in both series, also spoke about how drivers will be looking forward to doing the double in the coming seasons. Penske also elaborated on how Jimmie Johnson could be the first to jump at the opportunity in 2023 and said:

"There's a lot of people that would like to run, but again the competition is so tight and the number of teams that we have and I think you're going to see some of that. We gotta look at the scheduling, the timing. Maybe Jimmie is going to do it which would be great. He has experience, he did very well on the ovals."

Jimmie Johnson, having driven for two seasons in the NTT IndyCar Series, has had plenty of time to accustom himself to the open-wheeled style cars of the series. Despite the veteran driver struggling in road-course style races, Johnson was seen feeling at home on oval tracks, with the close-quarters, high-speed racing he is used to.

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Jimmie Johnson to participate in 2023 Daytona 500

With the news emerging of Jimmie Johnson's involvement with the Petty GMS team as a co-owner, the now-former NTT IndyCar Series driver will be making his return to the NASCAR Cup Series, albeit only at a select few races.

Johnson is all set to tick items off his racing bucket list, the first of which seems to be running the Daytona 500 once again. Having won the race twice before, the 47-year-old elaborated on how he is starting to witness the sport from a different perspective as an owner and said:

"I’ve had a watchful eye on the ownership part and what’s happening with NASCAR, and the opportunity that I have here, the business structure and the model with NASCAR charters is just so different from than anything else in motorsports, I want to be part of it."

Watch Jimmie Johnson take on the challenge of next year's Daytona 500, which is scheduled to go live on February 19th, 2023.