Jimmie Johnson Insists that NASCAR Hasn’t Seen the Last of Him: “I’m Not Gone Forever”

It is no secret that Jimmie Johnson is competing in his final full-time season this year. Of course, the operative word is, ‘full-time’, so this opens up opportunities for sporadic appearances in the sport. After the second race in Dover, he spoke to NBC Sports about the possibility of him stepping away from NASCAR for good.

With the Dover race done and dusted, Johnson has just one race left to try and make it into the playoffs. He is currently locked in a close battle with Matt DiBenedetto and teammate, William Byron, with 10 points separating them. Johnson told NBC that he was not going to keep worrying about the race.

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He said, “Go down there, say a few prayers. Maybe say a prayer per lap and see how that plays out. We’ll race hard, but if it’s meant to be, its meant to be.”

Johnson also admitted that he would have liked to achieve more at Dover and he knows that he can do it. He also insisted, “I’m not gone forever, I’m just trying to slow down a little bit. I’ll be holding a steering wheel for years to come and it’s all about trying to win races.”

What else did Jimmie Johnson say?

Talking about the race itself, he confessed that he enjoyed being so high up for the final restart. Jimmie Johnson was also wary of the Kevin Harvick threat, so the game plan was to clear him into Turn 1 and break away.

The bad news was that his left front and rear tires were extremely worn out. He rued the lost opportunity because the car was quick and Crew Chief Cliff Daniels made a brave call to strap on two tires.

Sadly, he wasted a lot of time and grip trying to make up some track position. The pit stop was not so clean, so the Hendrick Motorsports team had to really gamble.