Jimmie Johnson

Corey LaJoie is finally getting a chance to drive for Hendrick Motorsports this week. He wanted so badly to drive the No. 48 car a few years ago when Jimmie Johnson was stepping away that he penned a letter to team owner Rick Hendrick. The ride went to Alex Bowman and LaJoie ended up with Spire Motorsports. But with Chase Elliott suspended for Sunday's race at World Wide Technology Raceway for his intentional wreck of Denny Hamlin, LaJoie will be driving the No. 9 car. Carson Hocevar will take his place in the No. 7 car for Spire.

Ryan Blaney pulled away late to win the rescheduled Coca-Cola 600 on Monday at Charlotte Speedway, giving team owner Roger Penske a sweep of the Memorial Day weekend’s top races in the United States. Josef Newgarden won a record-extending 19th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday for Team Penske. It marked the first time Team Penske has earned a sweep of the two races in the same year.

William Byron avoided a wreck between Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson on a restart six laps from the end and held on to win the Goodyear 400 in overtime at Darlington Raceway. Byron was pushed out of the lead by eventual winner Joey Logano two laps from the end here a year ago. This time, Byron watched as Chastain and Larson collided, then drove away from Kevin Harvick for his third win this year and the seventh of his career.

It's been quite the week in the NASCAR Cup Series for Toyota, which got a win in Monday's rain-delayed race at Dover with Martin Truex Jr. and Joe Gibbs Racing, then picked up Jimmie Johnson's two-car team for next season. Now, with the Cup Series headed to Kansas Speedway, the momentum could very well continue.

To mark NASCAR's 75th season, The Associated Press interviewed 12 key contributors to the industry on multiple topics. According to the survey, developing new stars and engaging a younger audience are among the biggest challenges facing NASCAR in the coming years. NASCAR viewership was down nearly 500,000 viewers during the six races Chase Elliott missed earlier this season with a broken leg.

Tyler Reddick scored his first victory with new team 23XI Racing by holding on over multiple late restarts to win in triple overtime Sunday at Circuit of the Americas. The race was the first on a road course on this year’s NASCAR schedule. Reddick’s victory was the first of the year for Toyota and his first since joining the team co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan.

NASCAR's first road course race of the season at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas feature two former Formula One champions. Kimi Raikkonen won the F1 championship in 2007 and Jenson Button won the title in 2009. Both are among a group of “road course ringers” that also includes Jordan Taylor. 

William Byron won his second straight NASCAR Cup Series race, taking advantage of a pair of late cautions to give Hendrick Motorsports a victory in overtime at Phoenix Raceway. Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet got a great start in overtime with two laps left, and just like he did a week earlier at Las Vegas, he overtook teammate Kyle Larson for the win. 

Kyle Busch sent Fontana off in style. The veteran stormed up from the back after an early penalty and earned his first victory for Richard Childress Racing while winning on this Southern California track for the fifth time. Busch held off Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain in NASCAR’s final race on the gloriously weathered asphalt at Auto Club Speedway, which will soon be demolished to make room for a half-mile track.

Most of NASCAR's Cup Series drivers feel like they're saying their final goodbye to a dear old friend this weekend. Auto Club Speedway has a track that's seemingly adored by every professional wheelman on the continent. Those two miles of gloriously weathered asphalt have allowed racers to be their best selves with the ideal combination of grip and space during a quarter-century of memorable Sundays.

Noah Gragson is ready to making winning fun again racing for a team co-owned by Jimmie Johnson. Gragon is making the full-time jump to the NASCAR Cup Series this season. He's driving for Legacy Motor Club. Johnson has served as a mentor already. Gragson has adapted a healthier lifestyle and cut back on his drinking. Gragson is ready to make a run Sunday at winning the Daytona 500. He has an automatic spot this season after two years of trying to earn his way into the race.

Jimmie Johnson gave the best years of his athletic life to NASCAR and received plenty in return.

Hendrick Motorsports is the winningest team in NASCAR — the stock car version of the Lakers or the Celtics, perhaps the New York Yankees of motorsports.

While this weekend was one of NASCAR's more exciting of the season, what with Chase Elliott winning at Talladega in grand fashion, it was a stacked weekend for athletics in general. Playoff hockey and basketball continued in full swing, and of course, the 2019 NFL draft consumed the city of Nashville, Tenn. In honor of the NFL draft, where professional teams take turns selecting the best ...

It's a question no NASCAR fan truly wants the answer to, and yet it still bears asking: Are we witnessing the beginning of the end of Jimmie Johnson? As NASCAR's offseason trudges on, and final sponsorships or driver deals are announced, Johnson finds himself involved in the shakeup for seemingly the first time ever. Next season, his 19th at the Cup Series level, will be his first without ...

Something, or someone, will save NASCAR. We aren't sure who, or when, but it will happen. Because it has to. That NASCAR needs help should be beyond dispute by now. I say this as America's premier motorsport circuit crowns its season and celebrates itself this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the massive racetrack tucked amid agricultural land 40 miles southwest of downtown. It's the 17th ...