NASCAR

[Omega]

From NBC Sports:

NASCAR star Jimmie Johnson has tested positive for COVID-19, Hendricks Motorsports announced Friday.

Johnson, a seven-time NASCAR Cup series champion, has not experienced any symptoms and was tested after his wife tested positive. He will miss Sunday's race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Justin Allgaier will race in his place.

“My first priority is the health and safety of my loved ones and my teammates,” Johnson said in a statement. “I’ve never missed a race in my Cup career, but I know it’s going to be very hard to watch from the sidelines when I’m supposed to be out there competing. Although this situation is extremely disappointing, I’m going to come back ready to win races and put ourselves in playoff contention.”

Per NASCAR protocols in accordance with the CDC's guidelines, Johnson cannot return until he is symptom-free and has two negative coronavirus tests at least 24 hours apart. He also must be cleared by his physician before returning.

NASCAR has granted Johnson a playoff waiver. He is currently 12th in the standings.

https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/nasca ... definitely

[VetteMan]

California is pretty much a "Hot' spot right now, I think that Johnson and his family live in California. He probably either owns his own plane, or leases one being that during the racing season, he is flying all over the country.

[VetteMan]

I'm not sure of the end result, as he was involved in a late race skirmish, but he was back in the race car Sunday afternoon at the Kentucky Speedway.

[VetteMan]

I don't know the order of finish, or if Johnson even finished the race, but when I was able to watch part of the race, I did see him hit the wall on his own early in the race. He may have had a tire go down at that point in the race, and I'm not sure if he was involved in a couple other wrecks that occurred after that. Being that he is retiring at the end of this season, it does seem as if he has not had much good luck so far this season.

[VetteMan]

Jimmy Johnson was born on Sept. 17, 1975, his rookie year was 2002. He is a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion at Hendrick Motorsports, where he has driven the #48 Chevrolet for the entirety of his career. He co-holds the record with Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty for the most premier series championships, and is the only driver to win 5 consecutives titles 2006-2010. Johnsons 83 career wins is tied with Cale Yarborough for 6th all-time and is tops among active drivers. He's presently #15 in points, and most certainly needs things to turn around, if he wants a chance to make the playoffs. He has had a very up and down season so far, with a lot more downs than ups. He tested positive for Covid-19, and after only missing I race was able to come back from that. Being that he is set to retire at the end of this season, I'm sure it is probably not the season that he had hoped for.

[VetteMan]

If you think that Jimmy Johnson has a lot of money now, just wait until his racing career is over. Up to now, the current face of NASCAR has earned 120 million in his career. When he finally pulls over and retires, we imagine Dale Earnhardt Jr might lose his place on this list. Johnson isn't letting his wealth and fame cloud his vision, though. The athlete prefers to stay humble, donating large chunks of his earnings while participating in hundreds of charity events. He even has his own non-profit, The Jimmy Johnson Foundation, which works to raise money for K-12 public schools.

[VetteMan]

Jimmy Johnson finally fulfilled his childhood dream of driving an Indy car with a test session. When the seven-time NASCAR champion finished turning laps, he was sold on figuring out how to race next year in the Indy Car Series. It only lit the fire more. I want to do this more than ever before. NASCAR has been so good to me and I'm so proud of the success that I've had. But to try something new, man this was really cool. He won't stop competing though, and Johnson has already put in motion a plan he hopes will get him into some Indy Car events next year. An initial test with McLaren was canceled when sports shut down in the early part of the Covid-19 pandemic. Johnson himself even tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this year.

[VetteMan]

Jimmy Johnson is running out of chances to make the chase this year, as the races are starting to dwindle down, and his only chance would probably be to finally win a race. The Cup Series completes it's weekend double header with Sundays race at Michigan International Speedway. Kevin Harvick seeks to sweep the weekend after his victory on Saturday. The top 20 finishers from Saturdays race will be inverted for the start of the Sunday race. That puts Chris Buescher on the pole.

[VetteMan]

Team Penske teammates crash while racing for the lead. Brad Keselowski said I just lost it, It's my fault. I feel really bad for my teammate Ryan Blaney. He did not deserve that. I just came off of Turn-4 and Kevin Harvick was behind me and gave me a push. I swear I went into the corner 20 mph faster than I had all day. I got past Denny Hamlin and got underneath Blaney and it just slipped. I lost the back a little bit, when I went to collect it, he was there and I just wiped him out. Kevin Harvick won both races, Saturday and Sunday as well.

[VetteMan]

I believe with only four NASCAR races to go to be able to qualify for the chase, William Byron at this stage holds down the final Qualifying spot, 26 pts ahead of both Eric Jones and Jimmy Johnson.

[VetteMan]

I'm not sure if it has been announced yet, as to who will be replacing Jimmy Johnson next year in the #48 car for Rick Hendrick ? Joe Gibbs Racing has announced that Christopher Bell will be driving the #20 car next year which was expected, being that Eric Jones's contract had expired after this season and was not being renewed.

[VetteMan]

Denny Hamlin won Saturdays NASCAR's Drydene 311 at Dover International Speedway. There was no drama at all in yesterday's Drydene 311 as Kevin Harvick pretty much dominated the race. There is still quite a bit of suspense however in the battle to secure the final playoff position in the Cup Playoffs. As of right now William Byron leads Jimmy Johnson by 4 points for the final position to qualify for the Cup Playoffs, with the final regular season race this next weekend at Daytona. Johnson said he was just going to go to Daytona and do the best that he can do, and hope for the best. Being that this is Johnsons final full time cup season, if he qualifies for the Cup Playoffs, he would be competing for a record 8th NASCAR Championship.

[VetteMan]

For any playoff driver, missing a race because of a positive Covid-19 test, doesn't necessarily end their title hopes but will make it more difficult to transfer to the next round. They likely would need to win to advance. The NASCAR Covid-19 policy states that any competitor who has tested positive cannot return to competition until they have two negative tests more than 24 hours apart. if after 10 days, a NASCAR member is unable to produce two negative tests, their return status may be medically reviewed by a NASCAR consulting physician.

[VetteMan]

Bubba Wallace will be driving for a new team in 2021. Richard Petty Motorsports announced Thursday that Wallace won't be resigning with RPM. Wallace, the only Black driver racing full-time in NASCAR, is a free agent at the end of the season, and has driven for Richard Petty Motorsports for the entirety of his Cup Series career.

[cbolt]

Hum I wonder who would pick him up ? He almost always is out of the top twenty and brings a ton of controversy and drama. He might end up being the Colin Kaepernick of Nascar.

[VetteMan]

Hum I wonder who would pick him up ? He almost always is out of the top twenty and brings a ton of controversy and drama. He might end up being the Colin Kaepernick of Nascar.

bolt, I agree with what you're saying, but you can bet that he already knows that he has another ride lined up. There has been some talk about him driving the #42 car after that driver was canned. There were a lot of weeks this season where their was more attention being paid to him, than to the top drivers each week. The pre-race was ten times worse than the race itself.

[cbolt]

Yea that could be. I just figured Petty was tired of the drama and wanted to cut him loose and told him he could resign or be fired like so often happens in big business. We will see I guess but whoever takes him has to know he is a huge liability for little gain. I did read where Petty offered him partial ownership if he re signed but I don't why when he is usually bringing up the rear half. Probably more about marketing than actual race wins. Since I don't follow Nascar that close I looked up his finishes and it's a little better than I thought but nothing spectacular.

[VetteMan]

Yea that could be. I just figured Petty was tired of the drama and wanted to cut him loose and told him he could resign or be fired like so often happens in big business. We will see I guess but whoever takes him has to know he is a huge liability for little gain. I did read where Petty offered him partial ownership if he re signed but I don't why when he is usually bringing up the rear half. Probably more about marketing than actual race wins. Since I don't follow Nascar that close I looked up his finishes and it's a little better than I thought but nothing spectacular.

That has also been mentioned about the marketing aspect of it, like he would have no trouble at all securing sponsor's or sponsorship, therefore possibly a car owner might be more than willing to put him behind the wheel.

[VetteMan]

Jimmy Johnson wasn't kidding when he said he wouldn't be done with racing after his retirement from NASCAR. The seven-time Cup Series Champion announced Wednesday that he would compete for Chip Ganassi Racing in the Indy Car Series for the next two seasons. He said that he will compete part-time and race on the series road and street course races over the next two seasons.

[VetteMan]

Longtime NASCAR driver Mike Wallace has been suspended indefinitely by NASCAR for a violation of the sanctioning body's behavior rules. NASCAR did not specify what led to the penalty as is customary. Wallace was suspended for a social media post. NASCAR simply said that Wallace violated it's member conduct guidelines.