CORONADO, Calif. — Judging by Jimmie Johnson’s social media and general right-at-home vibe, his nostalgia meter is pegged. Returning to his old haunts and connecting with old friends from his nearby hometown of El Cajon has been like spinning memory lane’s greatest hits, and every traditional taco stand in the area has seemingly been the benefactor of Johnson’s corporate card.
After years of being away from the Southern California area, the seven-time Cup Series champion is indulging in the familiar surroundings.
“There’s nothing like going home,” says Johnson, who has shared in the anticipation with the rest of the NASCAR industry for the inaugural San Diego street race at Naval Base Coronado. Johnson’s eagerness to participate carries extra meaning. He’s here as a hometown favorite for an event that blends his personal life with his professional walk, his past with his future.
“I didn’t make it all the way back to see my childhood home,” Johnson said of the 20-mile drive, “but to be in the area to drive around and see everything, the memories just come flooding back.”
Johnson aims to make more treasured moments when the green flag waves on Sunday’s Anduril 250 (4 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), which brings NASCAR’s top division to the San Diego area for a first-time showcase on an active military base. Johnson will be participating for the Legacy Motor Club team that he co-owns in what’s scheduled to be his next-to-last race before he wraps up his Cup Series driving days in the Daytona 500 next February.
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Johnson’s part-time competition schedule since his sunset ride-off from the full Cup Series circuit has been a mix of all sorts of motorsports disciplines and big-ticket events that most racers would covet. Sunday’s show presents an opportunity, both in exposing the sport to a new spectator crowd and for Johnson to mark another sought-after race from his post-retirement checklist. It’s a moment that he couldn’t foresee.
“No way,” Johnson said. “I mean, especially with all the tracks that were here when I was growing up, they’re all gone. So to be able to bring this temporary street circuit and have it here is a unique opportunity that I never saw coming, and I think that it’s really wise for NASCAR to do this. There are so many pockets of race fans around the country that can’t get close to NASCAR, and the amount of race fans here and the racing culture that’s in the San Diego area is deep. All my off-road friends are here and have never been to a Cup race, so this is really going to do well for the racing world.”
Johnson has had his hand in many motorsports realms in his journey, from his racing upbringing to his more recent late-career explorations. Ron Malec, his longtime car chief during his Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 team heyday, has a connection to Johnson that predates both of their Cup Series tenures. He rattles off all sorts of machines that Johnson has been exposed to, and even an incomplete list is an impressive one — sand buggies in the desert, trophy trucks, four-wheelers, hydroplanes, and the grassroots short-track American Speed Association (ASA) circuit where they first crossed paths in Malec’s home state of Wisconsin.
The vehicular versatility served Johnson well, both in his rise to racing’s majors and in his golden-year extracurriculars. So has his “California cool” demeanor.
“You have to be able to adjust to all those different conditions, so I think that helped him a lot,” Malec told NASCAR.com earlier this week. “I think his personality probably developed from all those different sports he was in, and it’s just kind of a West Coast personality. It seems like they’re very outgoing. He was very outspoken and easy to talk to, and seemed like everyone always got along with him, which is a huge trait that has obviously propelled his career to where it is now. That’s a gift, for sure.”
Johnson’s aplomb in any garage area and his Hall of Fame credentials have gained him entry into racing events that most mortals can only lust after. In recent years, he’s competed in the Indianapolis 500, teamed up for the Garage 56 project’s participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and has become a regular in prestigious vintage events at the Goodwood Revival meet in England. Add San Diego to his personal list this weekend.
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“I’m looking at a few other different championships to dabble in next year,” Johnson said casually in his Saturday morning availability at Coronado, hinting at another off-road return, potential events in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series, or who-knows-what with four wheels and an engine. He’s managed to balance those personal on-track aspirations with his oversight of the growing Legacy M.C. organization, staying competitive on the team executive side as well.
“I see all the races he does and all the events, and the only thing I question is owning your own race team,” Malec said with a laugh. “It’s a lot of work, but obviously he loves the sport and he wants to invest in it and keep it growing and going the way that he’d want it to, and that’s excellent. Obviously, it’s hard to get away from racing once you’ve been involved in it, and I mean I still stay involved locally around here, and it’s what you know and it’s what makes you happy, and it’s really cool to see him living out those dreams. Indy 500 and Le Mans, those are bucket-list items that not a lot of drivers will ever get to do, and he does it and he excels at it, which is all cool to see.”
Malec has kept his own involvement in racing going since his departure from Hendrick Motorsports nearly five years ago. A Wednesday phone conversation overlaps with driving his family to a go-karting event, and he’s also made some local sprint-car starts, restored race cars and competed in vintage events all while working as a manager at a manufacturing facility for Milwaukee Tool.
Like Johnson, he’s also had a homecoming of sorts in America’s Dairyland, settling down in Elkhart Lake — home of the picturesque Road America circuit.
“It’s just cool to go to your hometown. I know what it’s like,” Malec says, noting the parallels that Johnson is experiencing this weekend. “I mean, I moved back to Wisconsin for a reason. It’s just, it feels like you’re at home, you know. It’s the fans, and it’ll be family there and people that he probably hasn’t seen in a while. It’ll be special for sure.”
Reminiscing isn’t the only objective this weekend. Johnson will pull double-duty, racing the No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota in Sunday’s main event, two days after making his first Craftsman Truck Series start in 18 years in a Tricon Garage entry. A charmed moment came early in Friday’s first Cup Series practice, when Johnson spun at the exit of Turn 1, looping his car completely around and keeping it rolling without the contact that has snared so many others on the 3.4-mile Qualcomm Circuit.
“Just did an awesome 360,” Johnson reported on the team communications. Stoked, radical and gnarly all in one.
Veteran crew chief Chad Johnston was among those on the other end of that transmission, and he has a sense of this weekend’s importance for his driver/employer. As a Hoosier native, Johnston has savored similar feelings in trips to the Brickyard through his career. “They all pay the same points, but I know how special Indianapolis is to me every time we go there and how cool it would be to win,” Johnston said. “So I can imagine how cool it is for him to be able to race in his hometown, it’s got to be similar.”
The competitive fires still burn for Johnson, who at age 50 will be the oldest driver in Sunday’s field. He’s wiser and a little more silvery through the beard and temples, but still showed some of that familiar, spry talent in Friday’s Truck Series go, qualifying among the top five and leading laps before the race’s frantic nature jostled him from contention.
Post-race, Johnson bristled at the lack of decorum among the younger crop of racers who make up the series’ core of regulars, noting the carnage that he was eventually caught up in. While he’s noted that having fun and delighting in the experience are top priorities, there’s still a desire to put forth his best effort when he straps in for Sunday — something the newer generation might learn from.
“You never take that out of somebody like him,” Johnston said. “He’s a seven-time champion, what he’s won 80, 90-some races in the Cup Series? You don’t lose that, right, whether you do it full-time or not. I used to crew chief full-time, and I have a hard time watching the races, just because I can’t watch them for fun, because I’m so competitive. So I don’t think you ever lose that. When he’s 80 years old, I think he still has that.”
