It is official! Jimmie Johnson is coming back to NASCAR, albeit on a part-time schedule. But he comes back as a part owner of the newly renamed Legacy Motor Club, formerly known as Petty GMS.

However, as the deal was finalized, it came to light that Rick Hendrick also wanted him to have a part in the Cup Series giant.

It’s no surprise that Rick Hendrick would want his former star driver to have a part in the team ownership. Even Jeff Gordon is on the ownership side of things at Hendrick Motorsports. Yet, Johnson chose to stick to a much smaller team when he was going out to try his new role as part owner.

Turned out, even the Petty GMS president, and legendary crew chief, Mike Beam, knew about the fact that Johnson had been asked by Rick Hendrick already, as he told Racer.

“When we first started talking to Jimmie, I knew Rick [Hendrick] had talked to him about [being] the 48 part owner for years, and I read that Justin Marks was talking to Jimmie and stuff like that. It’s very fortunate that Jimmie came to the shop and saw how simple we really were and how we could grow.”

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Petty GMS is quite optimistic about the future Legacy Motor Club holds with Jimmie Johnson

Having a seven-time champion owning the team is already huge. But now Petty GMS got another seven-time champion on the owning side of things! It’s crazy to imagine 14 Cup Series Championships in one team. So, of course, they are all pretty optimistic.

Beam even said, “Our future is very bright,”

The president even quoted what Richard Petty said as he added, “When we started this deal (Petty GMS) … he said, ‘All I want to do is just run well,’’ Beam said of Richard. “I said, ‘OK, I got it. Us too. If we’re going to do it, we’re going to try to run well, I promise you.’”

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Maybe it’s the challenge of working with a smaller team and, more importantly, the potential for growth that attracted Johnson. Because Hendrick Motorsports is already the biggest player on the grid. Whatever it is, it’s great to have Johnson back in the sport and we couldn’t ask for a better way to start the 2023 season.