Jimmie Johnson says 'the opportunity could be there' to delay retirement, return in 2021

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season is supposed to be Jimmie Johnson’s last before the seven-time champion retires from racing full time.

He made that announcement back in November just after the 2019 season ended — months before the 2020 schedule began and obviously before NASCAR and the sports world came to a halt because of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the lead of several other sports organizations — including the NBA, MLB, NHL and NCAA — NASCAR postponed two race weekends at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 13, and three days later, it postponed the next five races, putting the season on hold through May 3.

But as more and more states authorize stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders, the return of real-life racing — as opposed to NASCAR’s iRacing events on Sundays now — seems unlikely to happen in early May.

NASCAR has maintained that it will do whatever it can to get all 36 races races in this season — double-headers, mid-week races, whatever — despite only having four so far. But the future for everyone is uncertain, so hypothetically, if NASCAR can’t get a full season in this year, would Johnson consider postponing his retirement season until 2021?

“I don’t know,” the 44-year-old driver told For The Win by phone from his North Carolina home. “I wouldn’t know yet.”

The No. 48 Chevrolet driver also said he hasn’t thought about that hypothetical situation yet.

But with his primary sponsor, Ally Financial, being on board for the 48 car through the 2023 season, putting off retirement for another year could be a realistic option for him. Plus, Hendrick Motorsports has not yet announced his replacement, which is understandable this early in the season.

“Honestly, I feel like Mr. Hendrick doesn’t want to see me step away yet, 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 when pressed about the idea of coming back in 2021 for what would hopefully be a normal season.

“But I haven’t had any of those discussions. I think the opportunity could be there for me. We’ll just have to see how things unfold.”

So far, NASCAR’s race weekends at Atlanta, Homestead, Texas Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Richmond Raceway, Talladega Superspeedway and Dover International Speedway have been postponed, not canceled. And as a temporary replacement, NASCAR and iRacing partnered for the exhibition Pro Invitational Series, in which Johnson has been competing.

But there will likely be more issues beyond putting those seven races back into the schedule.

The Cup race at Martinsville Speedway (in Virginia) is currently scheduled for Saturday, May 9, and it’s followed by back-to-back weekends at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the All-Star Race and Coca-Cola 600. This week, the governor of Virginia issued stay-at-home orders through June 10, and it includes a ban on gatherings of 10 or more people. North Carolina also had stay-at-home orders take effect this week, but they’re through April 29 — although that could be extended.

Johnson certainly doesn’t have to make any decisions about his future just yet, but he is getting a small taste for what that retirement life could be like.

“There are a ton of benefits and quality time with my family,” Johnson said. “That’s something that I’ve been really longing for and, honestly, something that’s led to making 2020 my final full-time year. So in that aspect, I’m having so much quality time with [my wife] Chani and the girls, so that part has been the silver lining.”