Early and Personal Life
Johnson was born in El Cajon, California, on September 17, 1975, the son of Catherine Ellen "Cathy" (née Dunnill) and Gary Ernest Johnson. He attended Granite Hills High School, while he raced motorcycles during the weekends. He was a varsity water polo player, diver and swimmer and graduated in 1993. The number 48 is retired from all sports teams uniforms at his school and Johnson was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame. He has two younger brothers, Jarit and Jessie. Johnson lives in Charlotte, North Carolina like many other NASCAR drivers. He is married to the former Chandra Janway, the two having known each other since 2002. In January 2010, Johnson signed a mini-series deal with HBO for a NASCAR based reality show 24/7 Jimmie Johnson: Race to Daytona. Cameras followed him from January 2010 to the 2010 Daytona 500. On January 4, 2010, the Associated Press reported that the Johnsons were expecting their first child. On July 7, 2010, Chandra gave birth to their daughter, Genevieve Marie.
Read more about this topic: Jimmie Johnson
Famous quotes containing the words early, personal and/or life:
“I don’t believe one grows older. I think that what happens early on in life is that at a certain age one stands still and stagnates.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“Life is not an easy matter.... You cannot live through it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless you have before you a great idea which raises you above personal misery, above weakness, above all kinds of perfidy and baseness.”
—Leon Trotsky (1879–1940)
“Some things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse
When you’re chewing on life’s gristle
Don’t grumble, give a whistle
And this’ll help turn things out for the best ...
And ... always look on the bright side of life.”
—Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Mr. Frisbee III (Eric Idle)