Background and career
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for Tricon Garage. Johnson has won seven Cup championships, including five consecutive titles, tying him with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the most all-time. He is widely considered one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history.
Johnson was born in El Cajon, California and began racing motorcycles at the age of four. After graduating from Granite Hills High School, he competed in off-road series. He raced in Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group (MTEG), Short-course Off-road Drivers Association (SODA), and SCORE International, winning rookie of the year in each series. In 1998, Johnson and his team, Herzog Motorsports, began stock car racing. He moved to the national American Speed Association (ASA) series for late model touring cars and won another rookie of the year title. In 2000, he and Herzog moved their operations to the NASCAR Busch Series (now O'Reilly Auto Parts Series).
Johnson's talent was noticed by Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon, who convinced owner Rick Hendrick to sign him in the Winston Cup Series full-time for 2002, with Gordon as a part-owner of his car. After finishing fifth in the points in his first full season, he was second in 2003 and 2004 and fifth in 2005. Johnson won his first Cup Series championship in 2006 and with further wins in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010, he became the first and only driver in NASCAR history to win five consecutive championships. Johnson finished sixth in the points standings in the 2011 season and third in 2012 before winning his sixth championship in 2013. In 2016, Johnson won his seventh championship, tying Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the most Cup Series championships of all time. Johnson is also a two-time winner of the Daytona 500, winning in 2006 and 2013. Between 2002 and 2017, Johnson recorded seven championships, 83 career race wins, 222 top fives, 341 top tens, and 35 pole positions. From 2021 to 2022, Johnson competed in the IndyCar Series for Chip Ganassi Racing, and has competed occasionally in sports car racing throughout his career.
Johnson started racing motorcycles in 1980 when he was four. Three years later, he won the 60cc class championship, despite injuring his knee. Afterward, he moved to the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group (MTEG) Stadium Racing Series, where he won several more awards. In 1993, Johnson was given the opportunity to drive for Herb Fishel. He refused the deal and continued racing buggies and trucks in off-road stadium and desert races. He also reported for ESPN in the Short-course Off-road Drivers Association (SODA). Three years later, Johnson drove for Herzog Motorsports in the off-road truck series in 1996. By 1997, Johnson had progressed to SODA's Class 8; Class 8 is short-course off-road racing's class of two-wheel-drive Trophy Trucks which generate about 800 horsepower. He battled Scott Taylor and Brendan Gaughan for the championship. That year, Johnson won both races at Lake Geneva Raceway's first race weekend in May. He also won the season's third event at Antigo before finishing second to Gaughan at Antigo's second race. Johnson returned to Lake Geneva in July, winning the Saturday race and finishing second on the following day. Taylor ended up winning the championship with Gaughan second and Johnson third.
In SCORE, Johnson won races and had a few memorable finishes, like that in the 1995 Baja 1000, after leading over 900 miles, he fell asleep behind the wheel and woke up to find himself going off course. His Trophy Truck, Butch (the paint scheme of which was used for a throwback for Johnson's 48 car in the 2019 Southern 500, and the car that was used by Larry Ragland in wins such as the 1991 Baja 1000), was wrecked.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth, in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
