Jimmie Johnson to make Nationwide start with JR Motorsports

CHARLOTTE, NC - JANUARY 18: Jimmy Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowes, looks around in the garage during NASCAR Testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway on January 18, 2013 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR)
CHARLOTTE, NC - JANUARY 18:  Jimmy Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowes, looks around in the garage during NASCAR Testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway on January 18, 2013 in Charlotte, North Carolina.  (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR)
CHARLOTTE, NC – JANUARY 18: Jimmy Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowes, looks around in the garage during NASCAR Testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway on January 18, 2013 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will return to the NASCAR Nationwide Series for one race for JR Motorsports this season. Johnson will enter the March 2 Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway the team announced Thursday.

Johnson will drive the No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet in the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200. It will be Johnson’s first Nationwide Series race since finishing second in a JR Motorsports car at Watkins Glen International on Aug. 13, 2011.

“I appreciate Junior letting me run one of his cars,” said Johnson of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate and JR Motorsports owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. “My goal is to make my team owner so proud that, perhaps, he’ll invite me back more often than once every two years. MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.