Legacy Motor Club announced Thursday that seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will race in the season-opening Daytona 500, driving the No. 84 Carvana Toyota in the 2026 “Great American Race.”
The organization revealed the design of the owner/driver’s entry on Thursday morning, highlighting the fifth year of Johnson’s partnership with Carvana with halo accents and neon details in the paint scheme. He’ll attempt to make the field as an open, non-chartered entry in a bid for his 23rd Daytona 500 start on Feb. 15, 2026 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, HBO Max).
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“Carvana has been an incredible partner, and every season we’ve found new ways to celebrate what makes racing so special,” Johnson said in a release provided by the team. “This year’s scheme is sharp, it’s fresh, and I can’t wait for fans to see it on the track in Daytona.”
Johnson, 50, is now scheduled for two part-time starts next year, with the potential for more. He previously announced his intentions to enter the inaugural Cup Series race in San Diego on June 21 at Naval Base Coronado, competing just a half-hour’s drive from his hometown of El Cajon, California.
Johnson has raced a partial Cup Series schedule the last three seasons. He retired from full-time competition after the 2020 season, amassing a record-tying seven titles and 83 victories — figures that earned him a landslide election to the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024.
Johnson sits at exactly 700 Cup Series starts, reaching that milestone in last year’s Coca-Cola 600. His only other appearance on the Cup grid last season came in the Daytona 500, where he collected a respectable third-place finish.
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Johnson is a two-time winner of the “Great American Race,” prevailing for the first time in 2006 as a springboard to his first Cup Series championship. His second 500 victory came in 2013, a year in which he made a season sweep of Cup events at Daytona International Speedway.