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NASCAR Legend Jimmie Johnson Breaks Silence On Retirement Rumors

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated May 24, 2025 3:57 PM ET

NASCAR icon Jimmie Johnson hopes to join an extremely exclusive club of drivers this Sunday when he takes a seat in the Coca-Cola 600.

With just one more race he'll have his 700th race - a mark that only a select few drivers have achieved in over 50 years of NASCAR races. It's an achievement that he should be extremely proud of.

But while Johnson has long-since left the NASCAR Cup Series as a full-time driver, he still gets behind the wheel for big races from time-to-time. Yet there have been rumors that Sunday's race could be the final time that he gets behind the wheel of any NASCAR car for the rest of his life.

The rumors began in response to a video that seemed to hint at Johnson calling it a career.

So when Johnson was asked about it by RACER.com's Kelly Crandall, Johnson seemed surprised. He called the idea of the Coca-Cola 600 being his final race "hilarious" and attributed the confusing video to "great editing" by his team's digital content production.

“Last year I ran nine [races], it was a little too much on the organization. This year, I’m at two. Maybe we do a few more, so as we plan for next year, as long as it doesn’t take away from our full-time cars, we hope to run an unchartered vehicle and have me in it and use, use that to develop talent. And also, help develop partnerships and such. So, it’s part of our plan… Rest assured, there’s more than 700 starts, I’m jumping up and down asking for more races than two," Johnson said.

Johnson isn't exactly a favorite to win the Coca-Cola 600 or any race these days for that matter. He has not won a race on any circuit since 2017.

Even so, it's the thrill of the game that Johnson loves the most these days.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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