J. Johnson

J. Johnson

Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American NASCAR race car driver. He currently drives the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet SS for Hendrick Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series.

Johnson was born in El Cajon, California, and began racing motorcycles at the age of four. After graduating from Granite Hills High School he competed in off-road series. He raced in Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group (MTEG), Short-course Off-road Drivers Association (SODA) and SCORE International, winning rookie of the year in each series. In 1998, Johnson and his team began stock car racing. He moved to the national American Speed Association (ASA) series for late model touring cars, and won another rookie of the year title. In 2000, he switched to the NASCAR Busch Series (now Nationwide Series).

He moved to Hendrick Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series in 2002. After finishing fifth in the points in his first full season, he was second in 2003 and 2004 and fifth in 2005. Johnson won his first Cup series championship in 2006 and with further wins in 2007, 2008, 2009 and in 2010 became the only driver in NASCAR history to win five consecutive championships. During the 2011 season, Johnson finished sixth in points, while he finished third in 2012. Between 2002 and 2013, Johnson has recorded 61 wins, 251 top-tens, and 29 pole positions.

Johnson became the first racing driver to become Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year (U.S.) in 2009, and has won Driver of the Year four times, most recently in 2010. He also topped Forbes.com's Most Influential Athletes list for two consecutive years (2011, 2012).