"She's my biggest supporter": Jimmie Johnson reveals his wife Chandra's role in his racing career across NASCAR and IndyCar

In a recent podcast appearance, Jimmie Johnson opened up on his wife's role in his career and her support during his switch to IndyCar. Johnson married Chandra Janway in December 2004, and through the years, she has seen her husband rise to the top of NASCAR as he eventually became a 7x Cup champion.

After Johnson retired from NASCAR in 2020, he announced his interest in running full-time in IndyCar. However, due to the transition and no prior experience in that discipline of racing, Johnson had to take part in several tests to get up to speed with the different types of races and cars in IndyCar.

Talking about how he convinced his wife about his IndyCar interest in the latest episode of the High Performance podcast, Jimmie Johnson said he had to do his 'best salesman job'. The former HMS driver opened up on the 'long slow process', which at one point included his wife running away upon seeing the incredible speeds of IndyCar at one of Johnson's tests in Texas.

This prompted the podcast co-hosts to ask Johnson how he reacted to this. He revealed that he and his wife had 'a good laugh about it', adding:

"It's funny because racers are racers and I think we look at our risk assessment differently and she's gotten used to that. Although her risk assessment is far different than mine but I mean, she's my biggest supporter. She wants me to chase my dreams and ultimately that's what she allowed me to do," Johnson said [at 55:20].

During the same podcast, Johnson also discussed what goes through his mind before getting on the track.

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Jimmie Johnson opens up on 'his risk assessment' as a racecar driver

During the aforementioned conversation on the High Performance podcast, Jimmie Johnson was asked about the factors he considers while assessing the risks on the track. The co-hosts prefaced their question by mentioning the fact that the 7x Cup champion is a father of two young girls.

Johnson revealed that when he puts on his helmet, he detaches himself from the personal aspects of his life and does away with any hesitation, elaborating:

"I've always believed that when the helmet moment goes on and if you start worrying about those details, in my opinion, you keep yourself out of harm's way by making offensive decisions. When you start making defensive decisions, that split second timing, the difference in timing, I think you put yourself in harm's way more often. So the day when I put my helmet on and I worry about that, I'm not going to put the helmet back on, and that that hasn't happened," he said (55:44).

Currently, Jimmie Johnson is no longer driving full-time in NASCAR or IndyCar. However, the 49-year-old remains a part-time driver for Legacy Motor Club, the Cup team he co-owns, and has made 13 starts in the Cup Series in the last two seasons.