Seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson announces plans for 2025 season

The 83-time Cup Series winner and two-time Daytona 500 champion has not won the "Great American Race" since 2013. Like the veteran Martin Truex Jr., who also confirmed that he will attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500 on Thursday, Johnson is not locked into the race and will have to either make it in on qualifying speed Feb. 12 or race his way in through his duel on Feb. 13.

This will be the fifth season that Carvana has partnered with Johnson. Along with Daytona, the company will be on Johnson's car for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte on May 25, a race he has won four times.

"I'm thrilled to be returning to competition in 2025," Johnson said in the team's news release, per NASCAR.com. These two races hold a special place in my heart, and I've always loved the energy and excitement that surrounds them. The Daytona 500 is a crown jewel of NASCAR - there's nothing like it. Charlotte Motor Speedway is where I made my first start in the NASCAR Cup Series, and it's always felt like home to me."

Assuming Johnson qualifies for Daytona and Charlotte, he would be the 21st driver all-time to make 700 career starts when he takes the green flag in NASCAR's longest race on Memorial Day Weekend. While nothing is guaranteed, it is hard to imagine Johnson not making the Daytona 500 and putting himself in a position to achieve the massive accomplishment at the place his Cup Series career began in 2001.

Johnson joins an esteemed list of drivers and teams that are not locked into the Daytona 500. That includes Truex, four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves of Trackhouse Racing and 2024 Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier, who will pilot JR Motorsports' first Cup Series entry through a partnership with country music star Chris Stapleton's Traveller Whiskey brand. Although Castroneves can take advantage of NASCAR's new open-exemption rule that allows a high-profile driver from another racing series to be granted a 41st starting position if they fail to qualify, that is a lot of star power just to get in the show.

The Daytona 500 takes place Feb. 16 (2:30 p.m. ET, Fox, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with the Coca-Cola 600 set for May 25 (6 p.m. ET, Prime Video, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).