Jimmie Johnson will add some right turns to his 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule. On Sunday, he announced he will enter the Chicago Street Race on 2 July in the #84 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Legacy Motor Club.
Johnson hopes to make his return to the Cup Series with the Daytona 500 on 19 February. He ended his legendary full-time career after 2020, which was followed by a two-year stint in the NTT IndyCar Series before joining forces with fellow seven-time Cup champion Richard Petty to create Legacy Motor Club from the latter’s Petty GMS Motorsports. His IndyCar sponsor Carvana followed him to NASCAR and will appear on his #84.
Until Sunday’s announcement, the Daytona 500 was Johnson’s lone confirmed date but he intends to run other races throughout the year. His #84 car does not have a charter, meaning he will need to qualify for each of his attempts if there are more than forty cars on a given entry list.
The inaugural Chicago Street Race will mark a change of pace for the Cup Series as its first pure street race. Johnson, who has one road course win (Sonoma in 2010), ran a healthy diet of street circuits during his time in IndyCar though with not much success compared to his oval performance.
Both Chicago and Daytona add to what will be an eventful 2023 for Johnson. In June, he will make his 24 Hours of Le Mans début in a Garage 56 entry, sharing a modified NASCAR Next Gen Cup car with Jenson Button and Mike Rockenfeller. The effort is overseen by Hendrick Motorsports, with whom Johnson won his eighty-three Cup races and seven titles.
With Johnson as part-owner alongside Petty and Maury Gallagher, Legacy M.C. fields the #42 for Noah Gragson and #43 for Erik Jones.