Incredibly humble off-track, legendary American professional racing driver, Jimmie Kenneth Johnson, in a huge contrast, is a complete beast during competitions. Having immortalized the number 48, Johnson, who now competes in the NTT IndyCar Series, however, earned himself a legendary motorsports status while previously competing in the NASCAR Cup Series championship. Notably, the American motorsports star had his first NASCAR Cup Series race in 2001 in Charlotte.

Johnson’s frightening NASCAR accomplishments in a career that spanned almost 20 years couldn’t have been predicted by anyone, not even Jeff Gordon, the NASCAR driver who recommended him to Hendrick Motorsports. During his time at the premier division, the amazing driver amassed a total of 83 wins, 374 top ten, and 36 pole positions in 686 races, with awards too numerous to count. Officially among the greatest ever professional racing drivers, we’ve also collated some interesting details about the amazing athlete, the legendary Jimmy Johnson.

10 Born In California

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via: People.com

Jimmie Johnson is the first of Catherine Ellen and Gary Ernest Johnson’s three sons, and he was born on September 17, 1975, in El Cajon, California. His two younger brothers are Jarit and Jessie. Also, Jimmie Johnson is married to the former Wilhelmina model, Chandra Janway Johnson (born Chandra Janway on July 16, 1978) having known each other since 2002.

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via: Pinterest

Chandra Johnson is a native of Muskogee, Oklahoma and their marriage has produced two daughters, Genevieve and Lydia.

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9 Began Racing At Four

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via: Pinterest

The best time to get someone into any sport whatsoever is to introduce them to the sport while they’re still very young. Jimmy Johnson was introduced to motorsport in 1980 at a very tender age of four, racing motorcycles. He would later opt for four-wheelers instead, competing through a variety of off-road series before he eventually moved to stock cars.

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via: Pinterest

Having started early, Johnson was already well-groomed and adept in the intricacies, rules, and laws guiding motorsport at a tender age.

8 Has Several Rookie Awards

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via: Pinterest

After Johnson had graduated from high school, he applied to compete in off-road series. The adventure took him through Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group (MTEG), SCORE International, and Short-course Off-road Drivers Association (SODA). Incredibly Johnson won the rookie of the year in each of those series.

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via: MLive

In 1998, he began stock car racing before moving to the American Speed Association (ASA) series where he competed in the late model touring cars, winning the rookie of the year yet again.

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7 Won First Championship In 2006

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via: Barrett-Jackson

Rising through the ranks, Johnson eventually switched to the NASCAR Busch Series in 2000. He kept displaying his skills for his potential to get noticed, but it’ll take him another two years before his talent was noticed by Hendrick Motorsports driver, Jeff Gordon.

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via: Pinterest

Having beheld Johnson’s awesomeness, Gordon would convince his team owner Rick Hendrick to sign the young driver in 2002. Johnson got the ground running immediately, twice finishing second before capturing the championship in his 5th try, in 2006.

6 NASCAR's Only Driver With Five Consecutive Championships

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via: Twitter

Johnson’s first series Cup Championship in 2006 would later become just a mere curtain-raiser in a career that’s riddled with a plethora of amazing top podium finishes. He followed up the first win with incredible consecutive wins in the 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 seasons to become the first and currently the only driver in the entire NASCAR history to have achieved five consecutive championship wins.

5 Wins
via: PInterest

However, the next two seasons didn’t live up to expectations, as Johnson finished 6th and 3rd in those seasons.

5 Has 7 Championship Wins, A Record

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via: PlayersRamp

The two winless seasons might have had NASCAR enthusiasts thinking Johnson was done, but far from it. In 2013, the legendary driver took to the podium again with his sixth championship win.

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via: CBS Sports

Furthermore, Johnson would cement his name in the championship history books in 2016 with a record 7th win to tie Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the highest number of championship wins ever by NASCAR drivers. He claimed the 7th championship by winning at Homestead on November 20.

4 First & Only Racing Driver Athlete Of The Year Winner

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via: Flickr

Looking to get into the best of shape for greater success in his career, in December 2007, Johnson started routine workout sessions which include a run schedule, all aimed at balancing his strength. The sessions were supervised by popular American fitness professional John Sitaras.

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via: Twitter

Two years on, Johnson’s strength and stamina shot up, while his fat percentage dropped remarkably, leading to him becoming the first-ever racing driver to be named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the 2009 season.

3 Owns A Foundation

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via: Pinterest

In 2006, Johnson along with his wife Chandra launched the Jimmie Johnson Foundation. Since its launch, more than $12.4 million has been donated to several organizations. Also, the foundation is currently focused on financing K-12 public education through its Champions Grant program.

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via: Jimmie Johnson Foundation

Furthermore, the Jimmie Johnson Foundation works with Make-A-Wish Foundation to fulfill the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses — thereby achieving its mission statement of “assisting children, families, and communities in need throughout the United States.”

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2 Competed In The Boston Marathon

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via: Hendrick Motorsports

Johnson is an all-around great athlete. In effect, he took interest in, and he also regularly participates in triathlons and long-distance races. Furthermore, his foundation called the Jimmie Johnson Foundation has a ‘wellness challenge’ program that organizes triathlons for its members and other participants, as a means of promoting fitness.

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via: Men's Journal

Remarkably, in 2019, Johnson enrolled and competed in the Boston Marathon, getting to the finish line in a time of 3:09:07 to place 4,155th overall. He called it an “amazing experience.”

1 Lucky Number 48

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via: Motor Racing Network

When Johnson joined the Hendrick Motorsports team, he adopted the number 48 as his racing number, and with all he’s achieved in the sport, it’s no doubt a special number. Immortalized in NASCAR racing folklore, the number 48 has a story to its adoption.

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via: Flickr

Johnson particularly liked the numbers 4 and 8 because he had done great things with them when he was younger. However, those two numbers were unavailable at Hendrick Motorsports, hence, Johnson settled for 48, a mix of both, and the rest is history!