Before their meeting, Janway had graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in business communications. She made the move to New York to pursue a career in modeling and had been working for the modeling agency Wilhelmina when she was introduced to Johnson. After their marriage, the couple began the Jimmie Johnson Foundation in 2006 to help underprivileged children achieve their dreams.

The foundation’s mission reads “dedicated to assisting children, families, and communities in need throughout the United States.” Janway currently serves as its vice president and oversees its operations. The organization has raised over $13 million to date to help fund various other non-profits.

Family fun in Texas pic.twitter.com/bTM1UVCbNX

— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) March 22, 2022

Their first child, Genevieve Mari Johnson, was born on July 10, 2010. Their second daughter, Lydia Norris Johnson was born on September 6, 2013. Janway is a huge supporter of Johnson’s racing career and could regularly be spotted cheering for him from the stands. Of his two children, Lydia is the one with an affinity for racing.

The icon said in a 2021 interview, “Lydia has a little desire to race and will ride anything until it’s out of gas. And it’s great to just have a Sunday off. Load up the bikes and pack a cooler and go to the track and ride for 4 or 5 hours, come home, get the pressure washer out, clean the bikes, and just hang with her.”

Tragedy struck the Johnson family in 2023

Things were going great for the Johnsons but then tragedy struck the family. Just last year, Johnson’s in-laws and nephew were found dead in their house in Oklahoma on June 27, 2023. In what is believed to be a case of murder-suicide, the “suspect” was Janway’s mother Terry (67). Later on, speaking about the incident in an interview, Johnson thanked fans for their support of his family and gave an update on the situation.

He said, “We’re managing the best we can, and that’s really all you can do, so thank you for the support and the continued support.” Janway had earlier lost her brother Jordan (27) in 2014 when a skydiving accident took his life. The 2024 Daytona 500 marked Johnson’s return to a Cup Series race since his withdrawal from the 2023 Chicago Street Course event owing to the tragedy.

The post Jimmie Johnson Relationship Timeline: Details About Marriage and Children of the NASCAR Driver appeared first on The SportsRush.

It all comes down to the business side of things. Besides being a part-time driver, he is also the co-owner of a full-fledged NASCAR team, that houses two full-time entries: the driver of the #42 machine John Hunter Nemechek, and the driver of the #43 Toyota, Erik Jones.

So naturally, the pressure of living up to the expectations of his sponsors is huge.

“It’s heavier,” Johnson admitted. “I feel the weight of the partnerships, from corporate partners to my partner Maury Gallagher action everybody at Legacy Motor Club. I’ve always had a sense of team and have felt that I’m out there representing a team.”

“This just had a much different feeling of representing a lot more people on a lot deeper level.”

Amidst qualifying miseries, can Jimmie Johnson snap his winless streak?

While talking about the general lack of pace in the new Toyota Camry XSE, Jimmie Johnson told Bob Pockrass that he has expected more out of himself and his team. “I had higher expectations for sure,” he said. “We are lumped right there with the other Toyotas. The #43 car got a little bit more out of it, so I wish we got a bit more out of ours, but it is what it is.”

“I’ve never been in this position… I came down here mentally prepared to race my way in if that was required. Spent a lot of time studying the environment in the Duels, and the way the race will unfold and just get out there and race hard,” he added.

Jimmie Johnson on not locking into the Daytona 500 field during single-car qualifying with his fate determined by the duels Thursday: “I thought we were going to be in a little better position than this. But it is what it is. We’ll go to work.” pic.twitter.com/XxCG76wXHB

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) February 15, 2024

In general, Johnson’s usual self, or the self most NASCAR fans associate him with, hasn’t been seen since his return as a part-time driver last season. All three races he took part in last year ended up with a DNF result. Johnson also has an active 133-race-long winless streak going on to Sunday’s race at Daytona International Speedway.

But then again, he is a 7x Cup champion, a Hall of Famer, a 2x Daytona 500 winner who really has nothing to prove anymore.

The post “I Feel the Weight”: Jimmie Johnson’s Honest Disclosure of NASCAR Ownership Ahead of the Daytona 500 appeared first on The SportsRush.

It seems like the seven-time Cup Series champion cannot stay away from stock cars. But looking at his illustrious Hall of Fame career, one would wonder why Johnson still has the itch to race. Is it just this 48-year-old man’s love for the sport or is it something else?

In an interview with Fox Sports, the veteran racer and team owner said, “I, in my mind, have had this kind of 10-race window that I am open to, and I think fits well with my business adventures, my family adventures in the fulfillment that I still chase driving race cars. So I was very excited to expand to the nine races.”

That’s not all. He would love to take part in a 10th NASCAR race or perhaps a classic or a sports car race. But in NASCAR, is there any specific type of race track that Johnson should race on? Perhaps a road course because Johnson’s only road course win since 2002 was at Sonoma in 2010. It goes without saying why Charlotte is in Johnson’s schedule this year. But why just Charlotte? why not Chicago? Can’t the Grant Park 220 be the 10th race in Johnson’s schedule?

“Chicago was certainly on the list,” said the LMC owner, “but trying to manage personal business and racing, I hope to be traveling with my family in July and we wanted to leave that window of time open.”

Jimmie Johnson makes a risky late-race move to qualify for the 2024 Daytona 500

This year, Johnson would have fallen short of making it into the final rumble. On the last lap of the qualifiers at Daytona, Johnson realized that if he could just beat J. J. Yeley, he could just make it past the qualifying and get his spot in the main event. “I’m like, ‘I’m not going to make it, not going to make the Daytona 500,'” Johnson recalled.

“I’m going to have to call all our partners. I’m going to have to stand in the suite during the 500 and shake hands, not drive a car. This is running through my mind – ‘I have to figure out a way,'” he added. After all, Johnson won the Daytona 500 twice in 2006 and 2013 for Hendrick Motorsports. Plus, he switched to a Toyota this year, marking the first time when the seven-time legend would sit behind the wheels of a Toyota racecar in the Cup Series. Therefore, it might have been a bit disappointing for him as well as his fans had he not qualified for the race.

But thankfully, he pushed himself, and on that closing lap; he took a dangerous three-wide pass through the last turn and got locked into his 21st Daytona 500. Meanwhile, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick went on to win the 150-mile Duel 1, while Christopher Bell swept the Duel 2, making the pair of days an absolute Toyota showdown.

The post Why Is Jimmie Johnson Racing So Much in 2024 After NASCAR Retirement? appeared first on The SportsRush.

“I had higher expectations for sure, but we are lumped right there with the other Toyotas,” Johnson said on Wednesday. “The #43 car got a little more out of it, so I wish we had a bit more out of ours, but it is what it is.”

“We will go out and race hard (Thursday) night and try to make the 500.”

Johnson claimed he came to Daytona “mentally prepared” for a scenario he now finds himself in to make it to the race on Sunday. However, this strange spot is still a strange spot. “Much more nervous now,” the 2x Daytona 500 winner said when asked if he was feeling the nerves.

“I thought we were gonna be in a little better position, but it is what it is and we’ll go to work.”

Jimmie Johnson on not locking into the Daytona 500 field during single-car qualifying with his fate determined by the duels Thursday: “I thought we were going to be in a little better position than this. But it is what it is. We’ll go to work.” pic.twitter.com/XxCG76wXHB

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) February 15, 2024

Shift to Toyota has been a big change for Jimmie Johnson ‘in the greatest of ways’

Last year, Legacy Motor Club announced they’d be parting ways with Chevrolet and switching over to the Toyota camp. This shift made sense in many ways for the struggling organization, but it was still a major change. And Jimmie Johnson was aware of it.

“It’s been overwhelming in the greatest of ways. The amount of data that we have; the tools that are included with that, tools that we need to design and create,” he said as per Motorsport.

The driver-owner of Legacy revealed how they had to hire software coders to create the right tools for the new systems and software. Having said that, the NASCAR Hall of Famer emphasized that the change has been “a great journey” so far.

The post “I Had Higher Expectations”: Jimmie Johnson After Daytona 500 Setback appeared first on The SportsRush.

After having narrowly missed out on winning the 1996 Winston Cup championship, Jeff Gordon’s crew chief Ray Evernham felt that his team was too tensed to bring out their A-game in the upcoming season opener at the 2.5-mile, tri-oval track in Florida. Therefore, he decided to record the BTS of the team’s Daytona 500 project, which gave birth to the famous documentary “Refuse to Lose”. And it served its purpose. Not long after, Gordon won his first-ever Daytona 500 in 1997. Little did Evernham know that the winning momentum that his little film brought to the team would assist Gordon to win two more Daytona 500s in 1999 and 2005.

Gordon’s winning momentum was carried on by the 7X Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. In 2006, the Hall of Famer picked up his first victory at the famed racetrack. He held off a fast-charging Dale Earnhardt Jr. to grab the checkered flag. Thereafter, Johnson sailed to the victory lane once again in 2013.

The last victory at the 500 to have ever been brought home by a Hendrick Motorsports driver was way back in 2014 and that too, by the hands of none other than Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 National Guard Chevy.

What does the 2024 Daytona 500 mean to Hendrick Motorsports?

Amidst the unparalleled joy of winning the 2014 Daytona 500, Junior clicked a selfie with the Harley J. Earl Trophy and posted it on his Twitter account, saying, “Tonight seemed like as good a night as any to join Twitter. How is everyone doing? #2XDaytona500Champ.” Sure, it was a day of celebration for everyone behind the HMS garage. But since then, it’s been a decade and the winningest team in NASCAR has never seen the face of victory in “The Superbowl of NASCAR “.

So what does this year’s Daytona 500 mean to the team?

Needless to say, every driver is hyped up for this race. Be it Elliott, Kyle Larson, Bowman, or William Byron, everyone wants to check that one box off their list. Elliott recalled his best finish of 2nd in 2021 and admitted that winning this year would be “a big one”.

Even Larson wants his first-ever win at the most important race of the season. Although he hasn’t been great at NASCAR’s superspeedways, especially on the plate tracks, the #5 speedster regarded the 500-mile race as the biggest and the most prestigious race of the year.

However, Larson might face some competition from his teammate, Alex Bowman. After all, Bowman has a record of six straight front-row starts at the Daytona 500. He was the pole sitter for the 2023 race and has also won the pole twice before in 2018 and 2021. “Daytona 500 qualifying means a lot to Mr. H and we do our best to help it,” said the number 48 driver. “Hopefully, we can do it again. Making it to the end of that race and winning would be really cool as well.”

Byron is exceptionally optimistic. His first Cup Series victory came at the 2020 summer race at the Daytona International Speedway. And capitalizing on the chemistry between his spotter and himself, Byron feels like his otherwise hit-or-miss performances at the superspeedways will this time turn into a full-fledged hit.

The post Every Daytona 500 Win in Hendrick Motorsports History Ft. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. appeared first on The SportsRush.

The Daytona 500 grid is made up of 40 cars of which 36 entries belong to teams with charters and the other 4 are for those without (Open Cars). As things stand, five drivers including Jimmie Johnson will be vying for those 4 open spots. The Daytona garage will lift its gates on Wednesday and the teams must enter their cars for qualifying on the same day.

Who’s ready for the 2024 Daytona 500 on FOX? pic.twitter.com/qONptIl1Fk

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 6, 2024

Wednesday night will feature the single-car qualifying event. Every entry runs a lap around the 2.5-mile Daytona track to determine the front row (top 2 entries) for the main race on February 18 and the starting order for the Daytona Duels. Both the Duels will be held on Thursday with the entries being divided in two halves.

The highest finishing open car from each of the Duels and the fastest two open cars in single-car qualifying will gain entry to the main race. Rows 2-19 are set by the results of the Duels. The first duel’s entries will fill the inside row and the second’s will fill the outside. The final row will be formed by the last two open cars to enter on speed.

The 2024 Daytona 500 schedule, entry list and broadcast

Post the qualifying sessions, teams will have practice runs on Friday and Saturday in preparation for the main race. The final event will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. The lineup for the 2024 grid includes the names of seven past winners.

Denny Hamlin will enter the venue as the winningest Daytona 500 driver (2016,2019 and 2020) on the current grid. Should two-time winner Jimmie Johnson qualify, he will be running to equal Hamlin’s number by the end of the race. Additionally, drivers such as Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Austin Cindric each have one Daytona 500 win.

Fox Sports will broadcast the Daytona 500 week in the United States beginning Wednesday. The main race telecast will begin with the pre-race coverage on FS1 at 11 a.m. ET on February 18. Every session of the week, including the single-car qualifying and the Duels will be cast live on FS1.

The post Daytona 500 Format: Qualifying, Entry List, Lineup in 2024 appeared first on The SportsRush.

First, the victory is awarded to the car that led the highest number of laps before the last lap of the race. If that doesn’t solve things, NASCAR will review the highest number of laps the tied contenders completed in 2nd place, 3rd place, and so on until the tie is broken.

If a decision is still not reached at this stage, the car that scored the highest position on any lap will be declared the winner. In the case of the highest position scored being the same, the car that scored the highest position at the earliest time in the race will be the winner. With NASCAR’s advanced technologies in place, it is nearly impossible for positions in a race to end in a tie.

The closest finish for first place was when Ricky Craven beat Kurt Busch by 0.002 seconds at Darlington back in 2003.

The closest first-place finishes in NASCAR Cup Series history

Atlanta saw one of the most incredible racing finishes in 2001. A young Kevin Harvick was trying to prove himself as a worthy successor to Dale Earnhardt’s car, but Jeff Gordon did not make it easy for him. A tough battle later, Harvick emerged the winner by edging out Gordon in the last lap by 0.006 seconds.

NASCAR often finds itself in situations where it introduces a rule to prevent something from happening and it occurs immediately after. A similar case was in 1993 when it introduced the electronic scoring system. Dale Earnhardt and Ernie Irvan raced at Talladega and churned out one of the closes finishes in history that year by marking a difference of 0.005 seconds.

The 2011 season holds the incredible distinction of nearly witnessing two different ties. First, Tony Stewart and Card Edwards tied each other in season points after the finale and the former was awarded the championship title based on wins. Second, Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer all but tied each other with a narrow time difference of 0.002 seconds in the Talladega race that year. Though it wasn’t Johnson’s biggest win, it was one of his most enthralling.

The post Tied NASCAR Races: What Happens When a NASCAR Race Ends in a Tie appeared first on The SportsRush.

More about that later. First, let’s take a look at the drivers who have won the highest number of Busch Clashes in the history of NASCAR.

• Dale Earnhardt

There is just one word that can possibly describe Earnhardt’s records at this historic race. Dominance. The intimidator won the race six times over his first nine starts, all of which came between 1980 and 1995. He made three more starts after 1995, where he finished third, third and second.

Dominance.

Dale Earnhardt won the #BuschLightClash six times over his first nine starts in the event. This came between 1980 and 1995.

He made three additional starts after 1995, finishing third, third and second. pic.twitter.com/kGyj3diWqt

— NASCAR Classics (@NASCARClassics) January 30, 2024

• Jeff Gordon

The NASCAR legend won his first Busch Light Clash in just his third year with Hendrick Motorsports in 1994. However, his win at the Busch Light Clash in 1997 was even more special for a different reason. Only six times has a driver won the Clash and also the Daytona 500. Jeff Gordon represents Chevrolet on that elite list with his 1997 triumph.

• Jimmie Johnson

The most recent inductee of NASCAR’s Hall of Fame ties Gordon in the number of victories at the Busch Light Clash. His first victory came in 2005, which was also his fourth full-time Cup Series season. Over a decade and almost a half later, he recorded his second win at this race in 2019.

Nevertheless, the Busch Light Clash today is nothing like it used to be when it hosted its first-ever event back in 1979. And here’s how.

From merely nine to a 36-car line-up, the Busch Light Clash has come a long way

Six years before introducing its coveted All-Star race, Anheuser-Busch and NASCAR joined hands to host a non-points event, featuring the fastest cars in the sport. It began as a 20-lap-long race along the 2.5-mile track. The winner received $50,000, and the event was aired by CBS on a Sunday afternoon.

The event started as a means to spark interest in the minds of the viewers regarding the Cup Series and also the Daytona 500. But the prerequisite to compete in this race was to win poles in the previous year. While the 1981 version of this event houses only seven cars, today, the sport doesn’t care about the number of entries in this race. It is open to anyone and everyone. It’s simply an exhibition race that aims to attract new fans to the sport.

The maiden race accommodated only nine drivers, eight of whom had won the pole in 1978. The ninth driver was a wildcard entry from the names of the drivers who had led the second round of the qualifying laps in the year before. Buddy Baker won the inaugural race, holding off Darrel Waltrip by a car length, registering a blazing fast speed of 193.384 mph. Interestingly, there were no cautions throughout the entire race. However, the format is much different today.

The top five drivers in each of the first four 25-lap heat races will move on to the feature.The non-qualifiers will race it out in two 50-lap races and the top three will join the previous 20 drivers in the main event. The rest of the field will be completed by the highest-finishing drivers on points in the previous Cup Series season. Indeed, a stretch from what the Light Busch Clash once used to be.

The post Who Has Won the Most NASCAR Busch Clashes in History? Ft. Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson appeared first on The SportsRush.

He said in an interview on Today, “The Champion’s journal is something that was started over a decade ago and all the champions write in it. So each year it gets handed off to the next champion. It is a fantastic idea.” The contents of the book are a top kept secret and Ryan Blaney affirmed that even his soon-to-be-wife Gianna hasn’t seen what’s in it.

He continued to compare the journal with the President’s Book from the National Treasure movie series and expressed how excited he was to hand it off to the next champion. He’d also talked about it to NASCAR last month and said, “It was cool. Seeing all the champions in there, Jimmie and Tony (Stewart) and all those guys. It’s just neat. I’m excited to make my own entries.”

Though Blaney mentions that he is excited to be handing it off, he will no doubt enjoy keeping it to himself for yet another year by defending his 2023 title.

What do other Cup Series champions say about the Champion’s Journal?

The journal has entries from coveted drivers like Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, and others. The 2021 champion Larson said of it, “That was the thing that I was most excited about from winning the championship, was to receive that. I hope I can win other championships down the road to see what’s been passed on since me.”

Elliott’s only wish was that the journal tradition had been started earlier. He said, “It’s a great honor to have seen that and read what’s in it and be able to pass that along… I wish they had started it sooner. Having been a champion and having a chance to read it, I just wish it went back further. I think it would be incredible.”

Joey Logano has the honor of receiving the journal twice, in 2018 and 2022. He said, “That’s the best part about this is that nobody even really knows what it is. Nobody knows … what’s written in it.” 

The secretive book will be up for grabs once again when the season officially kicks off at Daytona.

The post What Is the NASCAR Champion Journal? Ryan Blaney Explains appeared first on The SportsRush.

Talking on the ‘Dale Jr. Download’ podcast regarding his initial days on a bike, Junior revealed how he’d been flipped off by a stranger during one of his cycling sessions. Junior had taken notice of how his fellow drivers in the Cup Series were joining Johnson to cycle before their races and had wanted to join them. And so, he’d flown his bike down to the Atlanta Motor Speedway where he joined Johnson, Matt Kenseth, and Alan Gustafson to ride outside the track when the incident occurred.

He said, “I’m wobbling all over the damn road, and this guy goes by and flips me off. I guess I kind of kicked him off. But anyway, I was surprised at how rude drivers are on the road.” Junior had not been able to be stable on his bike for some reason on the day. He wondered on the podcast if being in the midst of his experienced cyclist friends had made him nervous.

One other problem that Junior had was with his spandex. He admitted, “I am still not quite over the self-consciousness of wearing the spandex. I don’t know – I’ll get there.” The racing icon’s tryst with his spandex had gone to the length of drawing a jab from cycling legend Lance Armstrong.

When Lance Armstrong trolled Dale Jr. publicly for his cycling attire

Following his dislike for the spandex, Junior posted on social media complaining about them. This caught the eye of Armstrong who sent a message to Jimmie Johnson about how Junior needed to get some socks first. He’d written, “Dude, seriously? Your boy gotta get some taller (expletive) socks.”

Armstrong had then posted his exchange with Johnson on his social media handle and captioned it, “So I see this tweet from @dalejr and he’s whinin’ about having to wear spandex since he’s taken up #cycling recently. Then I spot these super low socks he’s rockin’ and I’m like, ‘c’mon bro.’ Despite the funny onslaught, Junior took it in a good stride and sent Johnson his shoe sizes for Armstrong to send him some free goods.

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