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KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Jimmie Johnson, seven-time champion and two-time father, took the kids to lunch Wednesday ahead of his upcoming business trip to Kansas.
It wasn’t Genevieve and Lydia occupying the car seats in Johnson’s dad-mobile, however. It was his 2018 Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Alex Bowman and William Byron.
Just taking the kids to lunch.@AlexBRacing @WilliamByron pic.twitter.com/gWrBDVNB08
– Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) October 18, 2017
The duo – who, ages combined, have a mere one year over the 42-year-old veteran – will respectively step into the roles previously filled by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 Chevrolet) and Kasey Kahne (Byron will take over the No. 24 Chevrolet, with incumbent Chase Elliott switching to the No. 9 with his current 24 crew) next season.
Despite being locked into the zone of his own championship pursuit in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs – with the prospect of being on the wrong side of the cutoff line looming in Sunday’s Kansas Lottery 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN) – Johnson has begun to take the future of Hendrick Motorsports under his wing.
The lunch was more than just grabbing some food (perhaps tacos, at Johnson’s new Charlotte restaurant, Southbound) – it offered a chance for the upstarts to get inside the mind of one of NASCAR’s most prolific drivers of all time.
And part of that mentality? Just having a good time, cracking jokes and enjoying life.
“We were just going out to lunch; as a group we were just doing some things in the simulator and stuff like that. It was fun to kind of take that picture,” Byron said Friday before hitting the 1.5-mile track for practice ahead of Saturday’s XFINITY Series Playoff race, the Kansas Lottery 300 (3 p.m. ET, NBC). “The funny part was supposed to be being in the car seats. That was funny.”
More seriously, Johnson has spent time in the simulator over the past few weeks with his pupils, guiding the protégés and offering his tips and tricks to particular tracks.
The lessons are invaluable, and could pay dividends immediately. Johnson is the all-time wins leader at the Kansas City track — his three wins tied with Jeff Gordon — and Byron is aiming to continue his run atop the playoff standings with a solid showing in his first XFINITY start here.
Thanks to Johnson’s tutelage, Byron enters the weekend with a champion’s mindset.
“That was cool to kind of spend time with him and pull from his knowledge and just learn how he was going to approach this weekend,” said Byron. “It seems like he’s really ready to go. “We’re going to take the same approach and try and execute this weekend and hopefully have a good weekend.”