Ahead of Second Coming in NASCAR, Jimmie Johnson Will be Keen to Emulate One Hendrick Teammate and Avoid the Fate of Another Teammate

In the current era of NASCAR, many Cup Series drivers have become part-owners of various teams. People like Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, and most recently Denny Hamlin, have taken this step. Even the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr has his own NASCAR team, albeit in the Xfinity Series. Now, Jimmie Johnson is the latest one to dip a toe in the driver-owner pool. This was after he bought an ownership stake at Petty GMS Racing, and he will also race part-time.

Stewart, Busch, Keselowski, Hamlin, and Earnhardt Jr. have been very successful at this gig. However, there were other NASCAR drivers who went down this route and it just never worked out. The biggest casualty of this is none other than Hendrick Motorsports legend, Jeff Gordon. Back in 1999, he teamed up with Ray Evernham to establish Gordon/Evernham Motorsports, which later became JG Motorsports.

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What went wrong with Jeff Gordon and will it happen to Jimmie Johnson?

Around then, Gordon’s then-wife teamed up with Evernham to establish a Busch Series team in 1999. The four-time Cup Series champion competed in six races that year with the fledgling organization. During that period, he recorded four Top 5 finishes, including a race win at Phoenix. A year later, Evernham left the organization, and the team evolved into JG Motorsports. Rick Hendrick soon. began to play a bigger role in the organization, though Gordon was leading the project.

In 2000, Gordon snatched another win for his team, this time at Homestead-Miami, his last start in the Busch Series. Safe to say, the team was in a good run of form in his hands, so where did it all go wrong? Apparently, a large part of the blame lay in Gordon’s desire to focus on his Cup Series career. In other words, Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports ties kept him back, while Evernham opted to explore different pastures.

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As a result, there was practically little reason for the JG Motorsports team to keep running. Of course, it is hard to say if Johnson will suffer the same fate. After all, he is teaming up with the legendary Richard Petty. Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt Jr has been incredibly successful with his JR Motorsports Xfinity Series outfit.