Jimmie Johnson unplugged: Seven-time NASCAR champ on IndyCar, Kyle Larson and COVID-19

At 45, Jimmie Johnson will retire from NASCAR Cup competition following the 2020 season.

The seven-time Cup series champion didn’t make the playoffs this year with his iconic No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro, missing the postseason by a sliver after having to sit out a key race due to a positive COVID-19 test he still has his doubts about.

Johnson begins a new adventure in 2021. He plans to race an IndyCar in about a dozen road and street course events for Chip Ganassi Racing and perhaps compete in an occasional NASCAR event. Johnson’s seven Cup titles tie him with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the most ever.

In 2001, Johnson made his Cup series debut at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He will race there for the last time as a full-time Cup driver Sunday in the Bank of America Roval 400. He has won at CMS more often than any other driver.

Johnson and his wife, Chandra, live in Charlotte, along with their two daughters. His one-on-one interview with The Charlotte Observer has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity:

Scott Fowler: You have won a ton of races at CMS — four Coca-Cola 600s, four Bank of America 500 wins and four All-Star race wins. But when did you actually move to Charlotte?

Jimmie Johnson: In April of 1997. I’ve lived here longer than anywhere else.

Before I raced there at Charlotte Motor Speedway, I’d rush over there on race weekends. I’d hear the cars, smell the tires and the fuel. The excitement, the fans — I just wished I could race on that track someday. I would imagine what it would be like. And it turned out to be one of my best tracks, in Hendrick Motorsports’ backyard. That’s pretty cool.

SF: Now that you are almost done with the Cup series on a full-time basis, living in Charlotte won’t be as necessary for work-related reasons. Will you and the family stay here?

JJ: We don’t have any plans to leave. Our kids are in school here. It’s funny, though, because we are kind of batting that around. We don’t have to be here. We don’t know yet.

The COVID-19 mystery

SF: We’re three months removed from your COVID-19 diagnosis that kept you out of one important race at Indianapolis. With the benefit of hindsight, what do you think happened?

JJ: I don’t know. I’m pretty certain my wife had it, but it was asymptomatic. Our children did not pick up the coronavirus, so we were very thankful about that.

Mine is really confusing. As I look back, I really wish that I would have taken another test right away to see if I had two positives. Because a couple of days later I had double negatives.

This sport, and this job, are highly impacted by your attendance. I feel like if a double negative is required for reinstatement, a double positive should be required in order to sit someone out.

So I still am really frustrated. My antibody tests contradict my COVID tests, and I never had a symptom, I never felt bad. Never anything. So it’s unfortunately a mystery and I wish I could have some closure on it, but I really don’t know if I will have that opportunity.

SF: So do you now believe that you had a false COVID-19 positive test?

JJ: I don’t know. That’s the thing that eats me up. What I do know is I missed the playoffs by six points. And all I had to do was finish 32nd or better in the Brickyard 400, and I get my six points. So it’s like: Really?

SF: You believe you should be in the playoffs right now?

JJ: Yep.

SF: And the record of 663 straight starts that COVID-19 positive test also took away, did that eat at you as well?

JJ: For sure. To speak to that, I’ve raced with the flu. I’ve raced with broken bones. ... Maybe I was asymptomatic like my wife was, and my frustration is uncalled for. But the confusion really again makes me wish it was a requirement for a double positive to park you, so it’d be equal to the reinstatement process.

2021 and IndyCar

SF: Explain to me what you envision 2021 being like for you. Because you will still be racing, but not in the full-on way you’re used to.

JJ: A better balance in a more calm and relaxed environment. It takes so much to run the Cup series at the highest level, year after year. I really just hope to have a more relaxed environment to live in and be in, not only for myself but for my family — shifting priorities more toward family than toward my professional goals.

SF: Although you are retiring from full-time NASCAR Cup racing, you are also slated to run about a dozen IndyCar races in 2021. Why?

JJ: My childhood dream was to race an Indy car. To sit where I do with my accomplishments and the opportunities that can bring. I asked myself, ‘Why not?’ It’s what you wanted to do. I have no clue how I’m going to perform. And I have a really, really steep learning curve ahead of myself, but I love a challenge, and again this was a childhood dream to race an Indy car. So why not? Let’s go get uncomfortable and have some fun while doing it.

SF: What are you doing and not doing on the IndyCar circuit in this two-year deal you’ve signed?

JJ: I’ve committed to the road and street circuits. I feel the windscreen — the aeroscreen as they call it — has added a great deal of safety to their cars. But I still just don’t feel like the ovals are for me. You always take some kind of risk jumping in a race car, but I feel the street and road circuits — I’m good with the risk that’s involved there. The ovals are just a little outside of my comfort zone right now.

SF: What do you think your chances to win an IndyCar race are like?

JJ: I think the odds — especially in Year One — are pretty low. I’ve only driven the car once. I have 124 laps in an Indy car.

As I get more seat time, I’ll understand the deficit I need to make up. So I still have a lot of question marks at this point. Unfortunately, in a year with COVID-19 that has eliminated testing, and then just the way racing is trending with less testing, it’s not a good time to be a rookie. Even though I’m a 45-year-old rookie.

The first year, I’m not going to put a lot of pressure on myself to win. And then, in Year Two, I think my expectations will ramp up dramatically.

Larson’s big mistake

SF: Kyle Larson lost his job after saying the ‘n’ word in a public forum in April. Do you think he should drive a Cup car again?

JJ: You know people make mistakes, big and small. And I feel if those mistakes are handled correctly, and you have a chance to really learn and grow from that, you deserve a second chance. I really do.

I was shocked when that happened. That’s not the Kyle I know or have been around. And, you know, if he has done the growing and maturing and learning he needs to, I believe he deserves a second chance.

SF: What will you miss the most about being a full-time NASCAR driver?

JJ: I guess the team atmosphere — the mission of working towards a common goal. Week in and week out, just pouring your heart and soul into it, together. Obviously, there’s an experience in driving the car I will miss. It’s a way of life. It’s been my life. But life is going to be a lot different here soon.

SF: Do you foresee running a NASCAR Cup race or two next year, like the throwback race at Darlington or something else?

JJ: I’m open. I’m open to an opportunity and a quality ride that has a chance to win a race. I have not been approached by anyone yet.

SF: Coming into the Roval, you just had a DNF at Talladega — I’m guessing you won’t miss plate racing when you retire from the Cup series

JJ: (Laughs) You’re right on that front. When you win, man, it’s the highest of highs, because you feel like you walked up to the roulette table and hit big. Other than that, it messes you up.

Scott Fowler

The Charlotte Observer

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Columnist Scott Fowler has written for The Charlotte Observer since 1994 and has earned 26 APSE awards for his sportswriting. He hosted The Observer’s podcast “Carruth,” which Sports Illustrated once named “Podcast of the Year.” Fowler also conceived and hosted the online series and podcast “Sports Legends of the Carolinas,” which featured 1-on-1 interviews with NC and SC sports icons and was turned into a book. He occasionally writes about non-sports subjects, such as the 5-part series “9/11/74,” which chronicled the forgotten plane crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 in Charlotte on Sept. 11, 1974. Support my work with a digital subscription