“I hope I can get in the car a few more times this year if circumstances present themselves. And then next year and our evolution into a third car here at Legacy Motor Club.” Jimmie Johnson addressed the rumors about his retirement ahead of the Coca-Cola 600. 700th start for the 7-time champion sounded the perfect way to bow out, but Johnson feels he’s got more in his tank to go the distance.

Given his troubles with the Next Gen car and his team, Legacy Motor Club, unable to get up to speed with a switch to Toyota, is Johnson risking tarnishing his legacy? We’ve seen this story unfold before. Bill Elliott found himself in a similar situation after hanging up his boots from racing in 2003. Yet, multiple part-time runs from 2004 to 2012 saw him just hit new lows in his racing career. He couldn’t bag a single win in part-time racing for almost a decade, and his best was a top 10 finish at the Brickyard in 2004.

Now, it’s hard to directly compare Jimmie Johnson’s career achievements to those of Elliott, but there is a trend that cannot be ignored. And Large from Rubbin is Racing podcast rallied behind this sentiment for the former Hendrick Motorsports star driver, while his co-hosts had a different opinion.

How long does Jimmie Johnson plan on continuing the run?

“He’s fu— done. Especially after talking to him last week. Didn’t it seem like he’s fu— done?” said insider Large on his podcast. The comparisons being drawn with Bill Elliott are not rooted in disrespect, but rather concerns from the NASCAR community regarding the driver’s performance. Jimmie Johnson’s 700th career NASCAR Cup Series start, which should’ve been a celebratory milestone, ended in heartbreak, a 40th-place finish at Charlotte. “That’s his last one, right? Can we all be in agreement that Jimmie wanted to get to 700?” continued Large.

But this wasn’t an isolated incident. Since returning to part-time racing with Legacy Motor Club as a co-owner, Johnson has struggled to find his competitive pace. Crashes, DNFs, and last-place finishes have become very frequent and visible. He ran nine races last year and couldn’t break into the top 10 in a single race. Now, it can be because of a lack of experience with the new car, but Johnson isn’t as competitive as he was during his dominant era. “He’s just getting a lot of those deep in the field finishes, though. Yeah, but then again, I mean, but he’s also Jimmie Johnson,” said Quips in the podcast. And this is where the story flips, and Spider also chimed in, rallying behind the veteran driver.

“But I would like to keep him around. I thought he did a great job this weekend. He was at the Indy 500. He took Tom Brady in a car, as like two seven-time champions, led the field to Green, and then he was back in Charlotte. So, I loved it. I thought it was great. I think it’s good keeping him around,” said Spider. Remember, he had a P3 finish at the Daytona 500 this year? And there’s also the element of him working with Toyota in bridging the performance gap for his team.

LMC doesn’t have a star driver or a poster child who can guide them through this rough patch. Transition from Chevy to Toyota hasn’t been easy, and having a 7-time champion around as a mentor and a co-owner is huge. Unlike 23XI Racing, LMC doesn’t have a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing, they are building their program from scratch. And, it is tough to judge Johnson just based on his part-time runs, especially when the rest of the competition can work their way around the Next Gen car consistently.

“I also think the second year part-time driving it’s way harder,” said Spider. “It’s a lot easier when these guys are getting looks every single week for 36 out of 52 weeks, to build momentum and find results even if you’re maybe not the best, most skilled driver in the field, which I’m certainly not saying that about Jimmy Johnson.” But, it’s not just Large who is worried about Jimmie Johnson’s decline in terms of performance. Kevin Harvick also touched on this topic, sharing his take on why he feels Johnson is delaying his retirement.

Kevin Harvick spills the truth about Jimmie’s refusal to retire

As Johnson celebrated his 700th career Cup Series start at the Coca-Cola 600, he spoke about his future as a driver and not being a numbers guy when it comes to retirement. “I’m not a numbers guy, but I literally have not been paying attention to this. It would have been amazing to plan at being done at 700 or some element of, but that’s really not the case,” he stated. Despite finishing last at Charlotte, the 3rd place finish at Daytona might have reignited his belief that he can still run in the right circumstances.

But with all the love and support, Kevin Harvick, who recently transitioned to broadcasting, offered a harsh but humbling view on Johnson’s continued racing pursuits. Speaking on his ‘Happy Hour’ podcast, Harvick said, “I think Jimmie, he struggled a little bit at the end at Hendrick, and then went to IndyCar, and it didn’t go great. I think you’re searching for what you do next, when you’re on the road all the time and have this lifestyle that goes with what you do, things you like to do, getting in the car, it’s just tough to step away from it… It’s not just the same when you’re not there on a week-to-week basis, every single week.”

Harvick’s own clear path to shift from racing to broadcasting made it easier to walk away, something that he feels Johnson is still searching for in his next phase. Johnson’s part-time schedule in 2025 has kept him visible, but not competitive. While he explored other opportunities outside NASCAR, he could not stick to something permanently to let go of his earlier passion. Now that Johnson has acquired a majority stake at LMC, he can shift his attention towards an executive role that is on the table. But, hey, he has earned every right to go the distance, and who knows, he has his eyes on the 84th win and draw level with Darrell Waltrip on the all-time win list.