Jimmie Johnson sees 'opportunity' to delay retirement following NASCAR's coronavirus suspension
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jimmie Johnson planned to retire at the end of the 2020 NASCAR Cup season, but could his one “One More Time” motto end up stretching into one more year?
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The seven-time champion told USA Today that he thinks “the opportunity could be there” for him to drive for his Hendrick Motorsports team in 2021, amid the uncertainty about how this season will play out due to the current suspension caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
NASCAR is still trying to come up with a way to run a full 36 races, with 32 still to go, but that may require holding doubleheader weekends at certain tracks, rather than a traditional schedule that visits all the venues as planned.
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Johnson told the outlet that he hadn’t really thought about it and that he hasn’t had any discussions regarding a delayed retirement, but that the pieces are in place for it to potentially happen.
“Honestly, I feel like [team owner] Mr. Hendrick doesn’t want to see me step away yet, [sponsor] Ally is signed up through 2023 — there are all these things that are there that I think would give me the opportunity to do it,” Johnson said.
Johnson has been taking part in the virtual eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series that’s filling the gap while the season is on hiatus, and also competed in the first race of the similar IndyCar iRacing Challenge series.
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Johnson is planning to give real IndyCar racing a shot at a couple of events after his NASCAR career is over, but a planned test in one of the open-wheel racers has been postponed for now.