The NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas on 26 March was already set to be a star-studded affair with Jenson Button, Kimi Räikkönen, and Jordan Taylor all set to make one-off starts. On Tuesday, seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson threw his hat into the ring as he will pilot the #84 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Legacy Motor Club with backing from Club Wyndham.
“COTA has been on my racing bucket list for a very long time, but my timing was off by a year or so,” said Johnson. “I was hoping it was going to be on the IndyCar schedule, and it wasn’t, and then they added it to the NASCAR schedule after I left. I’m excited to finally be able to check this one off the list and thankful to Club Wyndham for making it happen. From everything I’ve heard, NASCAR drivers have had a lot of fun racing at COTA, so to say I’m looking forward to it is an understatement.”
Johnson also announced he will race the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on 28 May. He has won the race four times including three in a row from 2003 to 2005, while also claiming the fall event four more times with a pair of season sweeps in 2004 and 2005.
“The Coke 600 is one of those premier races on the schedule,” Johnson continued. “For fans, it’s truly one of the greatest days in motorsports with Monaco, IndyCar’s Indianapolis 500, and then NASCAR’s longest race that starts in the afternoon and ends at night. Last year, I lived out another bucket list item and was able to race in the Indy 500. I’m looking forward to driving this Next Gen car at Charlotte and putting on a great show for Club Wyndham.”
He returned to NASCAR for 2023 after retiring from full-time competition in 2020 and spending two years in IndyCar. Now a co-owner of Legacy Motor Club, he is running a part-time schedule that includes prestigious events like the Daytona 500, where he was caught up in a crash and classified thirty-first, and the inaugural Chicago Street Race in July.
Pending Mike Rockenfeller, Johnson’s entry for COTA means every driver involved with NASCAR’s Garage 56 entry for the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be racing there. Button, the 2009 Formula One World Champion, is making his NASCAR début alongside Taylor, a thrice IMSA champion who works as a driver coach for the Garage 56 programme. Taylor’s start is coming as a substitute driver for Hendrick Motorsports, with whom Johnson won his seven Cup championships.