Jimmie Johnson’s relationship with retirement has never been quite as straightforward as fans might have expected. After stepping away from full-time NASCAR competition in 2020, the seven-time champion returned to the Cup Series for the 2023 Daytona 500 and made more starts that season. He kept coming back in 2024 and 2025, too, proving that leaving full-time racing didn’t mean leaving the sport behind. Now, with his final Cup Series start set for Daytona in 2027, Johnson is preparing to close this chapter. Before that farewell, he has one more meaningful connection to reflect on.

“I think my family’s finally going to believe me this time. It’s my last Cup race, so there’ll be some closure there, but more than anything, I’m ready,” Johnson said on the Door Bumper Clear podcast.

For a driver who spent decades competing at NASCAR’s highest level, walking away has rarely been as simple as stepping out of the car. But now, the seven-time champion has finally put a date on his departure.

The choice of venue carries its own significance. Johnson has won the Daytona 500 twice, in 2006 and 2013, and believes superspeedway racing gives a part-time driver a realistic chance of competing for a victory. He wants to finish his career at an event where he can genuinely contend, rather than simply make one final appearance. As he explained when announcing the decision, he is hoping for a memorable walk-off moment.

And this farewell will include a particularly special reunion. In July 2026, Rick Hendrick announced that Johnson would return to the iconic No. 48 for his final Daytona 500, with Hendrick Motorsports, Ally and other partners helping make the arrangement possible.

Johnson spent the overwhelming majority of his Cup career driving that number, collecting all 83 of his victories and seven championships with Hendrick. For him, the No. 48 represents far more than a familiar paint scheme. It brings back the people, relationships and memories that shaped his career.

Yet as Johnson prepares to close that chapter, he also sees pieces of his championship past in the current generation. Asked about similarities between Kyle Larson and crew chief Cliff Daniels and his own partnership with Chad Knaus, Johnson didn’t hesitate to draw a comparison.

“Without a doubt,” he said.

Johnson pointed to Daniels’ passion and work ethic, and to the way he supports a driver. He traced the connection to 2019, when Hendrick brought Daniels back into the No. 48 group midway through the season after he had been working in the organization’s competition systems group.

The connection between Johnson and Daniels makes that comparison especially personal. Daniels first joined Johnson’s team as a race engineer in 2014 and helped him win the 2016 title before becoming his crew chief midway through the 2019 season.

Johnson recalled how quickly they connected, explaining that Daniels brought an energy and enthusiasm that felt familiar. He even found himself talking to Daniels more often than Kevin Meendering, his crew chief at the time, as the new engineer became increasingly involved with the team.

Johnson saw those same qualities in the way Daniels and Larson have built their working relationship. Daniels understands how to communicate with a driver, support him through difficult stretches and keep the team focused on performance. Johnson believes that combination of technical ability and personal connection echoes what made his partnership with Knaus so successful.

Larson himself has previously acknowledged Daniels’ similarities to Knaus. Ahead of the 2021 season, he described Daniels as a perfectionist who holds everyone to high standards, noting that he had heard the crew chief was like a “mini-Chad.” Larson hoped their partnership could build a résumé comparable to Knaus and Johnson’s.

The results have given that comparison plenty of substance. Larson won his first Cup championship in 2021 with Daniels, then captured a second title in 2025. He also signed a five-year extension with Hendrick Motorsports in February 2026, keeping him in the No. 5 Chevrolet through 2031, while Daniels agreed to a multiyear deal of his own.

Johnson leaves the Cup Series with Larson signed through 2031 and Daniels on a multiyear deal, so Hendrick keeps the kind of long-term pairing that powered the No. 48 team. The No. 5 group has won two titles in its first five seasons together, and Johnson and Knaus finished with seven. Whether Larson and Daniels can reach that mark will depend on how many more championships they add over the next five years.