Jimmie Johnson’s 83 NASCAR Cup Series victories place him tied for sixth on the all-time wins list alongside Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip. All of those wins came during his tenure with Hendrick Motorsports from 2002 through 2017, a period that defined an era of dominance. Johnson earned a record 11 victories at Dover Motor Speedway, earning him the nickname “The Concrete King”, along with nine at Martinsville and eight at Charlotte, showcasing his versatility across short tracks and mile-and-a-halfs.

His résumé also includes two Daytona 500 wins, four Brickyard 400s, and four Coca-Cola 600s, each cementing his legacy as one of NASCAR’s most clutch performers. But the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, who now splits his time between driving part-time and managing Legacy Motor Club, is inching toward what could be a poetic finish to his career, with an 84th Cup Series victory.

Johnson chasing his final goal

While talking with Sirius XM, Johnson said, “I found a really neat balance with Carvana and their support to allow me to chase these ideas. I was able to chase IndyCar with them and go sports car racing with Ally and Motorsports.”

That balance has defined Johnson’s post-full-time career. After retiring from full-time Cup competition in 2020, he branched out to run the NTT IndyCar Series with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021 and 2022, backed by Carvana. Though success there was modest, with a best finish of fifth at Iowa, the experience allowed Johnson to stretch himself beyond stock cars while maintaining his deep ties to the racing community.

Johnson’s racing portfolio since then reads like a greatest hits tour. “Did the Le Mans and the Garage 56 vehicle back in a Cup car, finished third at Daytona 500,” he said, referencing his participation in NASCAR’s historic Garage 56 program at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.

But beneath all that experience and experimentation lies a simple goal: one last victory. Johnson has 83 career Cup wins, the last coming at Dover Motor Speedway in June 2017. Since then, he’s finished just shy of victory on several occasions, and now, with his No. 84 entry symbolically mirroring that total, there’s a clear narrative arc he’d love to complete. “The right races and for the right reasons, that makes a lot of sense,” Johnson said. “But yeah, I’d love to continue to expand and kick more of these bucket list opportunities off my list.”

An 84th win would do more than cap a Hall of Fame career; it would serve as a full-circle moment. The driver of the No. 84, capturing his 84th triumph before officially stepping away from NASCAR, would be the kind of ending usually reserved for movies. Whether it comes at a place like Dover, the “Monster Mile” where he’s won a record 11 times, or the Daytona 500, where he’s already a two-time winner, the milestone feels like both destiny and closure.

His part-time schedule, though, has made the pursuit of his next milestone more challenging. “Running at a high cadence in the Cup Series is really difficult, and I had a lot of exposure to that last year running the nine events,” he admitted. “Cars are so specific, the way you drive them, the team support, pit stops, all these different elements are really tough to do on a limited schedule.” Despite that, Johnson has been selective with his race entries, focusing on tracks that hold personal meaning or where his experience might give him an edge.

For Johnson, this isn’t about proving anything anymore. It’s about finishing his career on his own terms, in his own car, with a number that now symbolizes both his legacy and his next pursuit. As he put it best, he’s not done racing, just looking for the right moment, and the right win, to ride into the sunset of one of NASCAR’s greatest careers.

Talking about pros and their retirement, Michael McDowell also broke the silence on his.

McDowell isn’t done yet

On one hand, Michael McDowell didn’t win a race this season, in his first season with Spire Motorsports. So though that was a mission unaccomplished but there is also a privilege in that pressure that motivates him. For example, at 40 years old, some in NASCAR would start pondering what comes after driving, and that is especially true for a devout family man who has a wife and five children at home. But no, McDowell is not thinking about retirement.

“Well, do I see that in the future?” McDowell said last weekend at Phoenix when asked during a media availability. “Not in the near future. For me, I have been doing this a long time, but for those who have followed the sport, they know my first 10 years were a struggle, where I was not in a competitive environment or enjoying myself. I was just trying to stay in the sport and stay in a seat long enough to get to where I am now.”

To his point, when making the swap from the Champ Car World Series to NASCAR in 2006, it was with teams not capable of winning races. For the longest time, his most memorable highlight was a vicious barrel roll flip at Texas Motor Speedway while driving for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2008.

There were multiple seasons where he drove start-and-parks or teams in the back half of the garage. It was a grind to get to the point where he joined Front Row Motorsports, won the Daytona 500 in 2021, and then added another win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in 2023.

Now, he’s at Spire Motorsports, another team where he is certainly expected to challenge for the occasional victory, too.

“I’m still very excited about showing up to the race track, knowing we can run well, and challenge for wins. For me, that’s what motivates me to keep going. So I don’t see (retirement) in the near future but you know how this sport is, it’s just a matter of time before the next fast guy comes to replace me and it’s just when is he ready and am I still performing at that point. This is a performance-based business and we all know that. So, I feel like I am performing well right now.”

McDowell finished 22nd in the final championship standings but also departs into the off-season wondering what could have been. He seemingly had the car to beat on the Streets of Chicago and was easily driving away from Shane Van Gisbergen until he broke a throttle cable.