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| Jimmie Johnson is 25/1 to win Clash and 25/1 to win Daytona 500. |
Hometown El Cajon, California
Age 43
Jimmie Johnson on the new rules package:
“With the rules change, we are all at ground zero. I think the cars will be closer together with a lot more passing. I think it will bring some real excitement, but it’s going to put the field on equal footing. Looking ahead, some tracks will showcase the rules package better than others, but all-in-all I don’t care what package is underneath the race car, I just want to win.”
Johnson on winning at Daytona:
“Daytona finishes are always exciting. You never really know if you are going to win until you can actually see the start-finish line. My first win in 2006, when I came out of Turn 3, I saw the push coming and it was behind me, I knew the environment and the way the lanes were, there was no way they were going to be able to pass me, and it was at that moment when the goosebumps hit. I was like, ‘I’m really going to win this thing.' It’s a special feeling I’ll never forget.”
Johnson on working with No. 48 team crew chief Kevin Meendering:
“There is a lot of optimism and excitement on the No. 48 team right now. I am really looking forward to getting into race mode with Kevin at the track. He is a smart guy, has a different approach and it's going to take some getting used to, but we have a great opportunity ahead of us. We’ve got a handful of new faces this year but all great guys – we’ve taken a lot of time this offseason to hang out and get to know each other in a casual setting. The communication is flowing. I can’t wait.”
NEW SEASON, NEW LOOK: Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has a brand new look for the 2019 season. After the team’s full-season partnership with Ally Financial was announced in October, Johnson took to the streets of New York City on Jan. 11 to unveil the long-awaited paint scheme live on "Good Morning America." Click here for the unveil.
MEENDERING AT THE HELM: New crew chief Kevin Meendering is leading Johnson and the No. 48 Ally team in 2019. The Grand Rapids, Michigan, native rejoined Hendrick Motorsports after the 2018 season and has spent the offseason preparing for the DAYTONA 500 and chasing Johnson’s eighth championship. Other new additions to the No. 48 team this season are engineer Adam Wall, interior mechanic Matt Philpott, secondary truck driver Jeff Neuendorf and tire specialist Will Poirierr.
THE SKINNY ON ALLY: Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) is a leading digital financial services company with assets of $173.1 billion as of Sept. 30, 2018. As a client-centric company with passionate customer service and innovative financial solutions, Ally is relentlessly focused on "Doing it Right" and being a trusted financial partner for its consumer, commercial, and corporate customers. Ally's award-winning online bank (Ally Bank, Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender) offers mortgage-lending services and a variety of deposit and other banking products, including CDs, online savings, money market and checking accounts, and IRA products. Ally also promotes the Ally CashBack Credit Card. Additionally, Ally offers securities brokerage and investment advisory services through Ally Invest. Ally remains one of the largest full-service auto finance operations in the country with a complementary auto-focused insurance business, which together serve approximately 18,000 dealer customers and millions of auto consumers. Ally's robust corporate finance business offers capital for equity sponsors and middle-market companies. They are a digital leader in financial services and are committed to “Do It Right” by their customers. For more information, visit Ally.com.
TWO-TIME DAYTONA CHAMP: With two "Great American Race" victories, Johnson is the only multi-time DAYTONA 500 winner expected to compete in this year’s event. The last time there was just one multi-time winner in the DAYTONA 500 field was 1993 (Bill Elliott).
COMPANY MAN: With the addition of Meendering, all four Hendrick Motorsports crew chiefs are “home grown” after starting their careers with the team and working their way up. Meendering began in 1999 as an intern in the chassis shop while he was still in high school. Once he graduated, Meendering became a full-time employee and attended the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. In 2009, he became the assistant engineer of the No. 24 team of Jeff Gordon under the direction of former crew chief Steve Letarte. Like Meendering, Letarte began working at Hendrick Motorsports in his teen years and was promoted through the ranks. Meendering followed Letarte to the No. 88 team of Dale Earnhardt Jr. until he was selected as a NASCAR Xfinity Series crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports affiliate JR Motorsports with veteran driver Elliott Sadler in 2016.
LONE CLASH WIN: Johnson has one win in The Clash exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway, which came in 2005 when the race format was reserved for Cup Series pole position winners who qualified from the previous season.
TWO POLES: As a rookie in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2002, Johnson found success right out of the gate. He scored the pole position in his very first attempt at the DAYTONA 500 with a qualifying lap of 185.831 mph. His second pole for "The Great American Race” came in 2008. Johnson has also earned three second-place starts for the race – in 2005, 2010 and 2015.
KEVIN IS A ‘500’ WINNER, TOO: Crew chief Meendering also has a DAYTONA 500 win under his belt, as he was the lead engineer for Earnhardt's 2014 victory in "The Great American Race." That day, Earnhardt led 54 of the 200 laps to take home the highly coveted Harley J. Earl trophy.
FOLLOW THE LEADER: New to the sport of NASCAR, Ally will be active on social media in support of its sponsorship of Johnson and the No. 48 team. Fans can follow along and engage in the conversation on Twitter (@allyracing), Instagram (@allyracing) and Facebook (/AllyRacing) for behind-the-scenes content and up-to-date news.
HALF-MARATHON: Before Johnson runs the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet in qualifying and The Clash on Sunday, Feb. 10, he will run 13.1 miles in sneakers as he is entered in the Daytona Beach Half-Marathon. Johnson is hoping to break the 1:25 mark on the course that starts on the track at Daytona International Speedway, heads out to the beach then back toward the racetrack. The last time Johnson competed in the Daytona Half, he finished in 1:28:16, which was in 2014. His personal best in a half-marathon came on Dec. 12, 2015, when he ran a 1:27 in the Huntersville (North Carolina) Half-Marathon.
CHAMPIONS RIDE: The NASCAR cycling community is strong. On Thursday, Feb. 14, Johnson, along with other drivers, crew members and personalities in the cycling community will participate in the annual Champions Ride for Bicycle Safety. The event, aimed at creating awareness for road cycling safety is a 45-mile ride beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET from Gatorade Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway. Media interested in covering should contact Amy Walsh Stock.
DUEL PERFORMANCE: Johnson has two wins in the Duel qualifying races, which will take place on Thursday, Feb. 14. He went to Victory Lane in 2010 after edging Kevin Harvick by only 0.006 seconds. Johnson also won a Duel in 2015, which went into overtime and ended under a green-white-checkered flag finish. Last year in the season-opening qualifier race, Johnson made contact with the wall with 14 laps to go and was forced to a backup car for the DAYTONA 500.
HAVE CAR, WILL WIN: Johnson is on the verge of his 84th points-paying NASCAR Cup Series win. He secured his 83rd in June 2017 to tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough for sixth on the all-time wins list. An 84th win would tie Hall of Famers Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison for fourth all-time. Johnson is currently 10 wins behind former teammate Gordon, who has 93 victories and is third on the list. Johnson has the most wins of all active drivers.
OFFSEASON NOTE OF INTEREST: In December, Johnson and his 8-year-old daughter Genevieve participated in the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s Ajax Cup ski race event. It was Johnson’s fourth time competing in the Ajax Cup.
TEAM CHEVY STAGE: Johnson will make a public appearance at the Team Chevy stage at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, Feb. 17, at 10:35 a.m. local time for a question-and-answer session.
VEGAS TEST: Johnson, Meendering and the No. 48 team participated in a two-day test session Jan. 31-Feb. 1 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the 2019 rules package took to the 1.5-mile track for the first time.
Age 43
Jimmie Johnson on the new rules package:
“With the rules change, we are all at ground zero. I think the cars will be closer together with a lot more passing. I think it will bring some real excitement, but it’s going to put the field on equal footing. Looking ahead, some tracks will showcase the rules package better than others, but all-in-all I don’t care what package is underneath the race car, I just want to win.”
Johnson on winning at Daytona:
“Daytona finishes are always exciting. You never really know if you are going to win until you can actually see the start-finish line. My first win in 2006, when I came out of Turn 3, I saw the push coming and it was behind me, I knew the environment and the way the lanes were, there was no way they were going to be able to pass me, and it was at that moment when the goosebumps hit. I was like, ‘I’m really going to win this thing.' It’s a special feeling I’ll never forget.”
Johnson on working with No. 48 team crew chief Kevin Meendering:
“There is a lot of optimism and excitement on the No. 48 team right now. I am really looking forward to getting into race mode with Kevin at the track. He is a smart guy, has a different approach and it's going to take some getting used to, but we have a great opportunity ahead of us. We’ve got a handful of new faces this year but all great guys – we’ve taken a lot of time this offseason to hang out and get to know each other in a casual setting. The communication is flowing. I can’t wait.”
NEW SEASON, NEW LOOK: Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has a brand new look for the 2019 season. After the team’s full-season partnership with Ally Financial was announced in October, Johnson took to the streets of New York City on Jan. 11 to unveil the long-awaited paint scheme live on "Good Morning America." Click here for the unveil.
MEENDERING AT THE HELM: New crew chief Kevin Meendering is leading Johnson and the No. 48 Ally team in 2019. The Grand Rapids, Michigan, native rejoined Hendrick Motorsports after the 2018 season and has spent the offseason preparing for the DAYTONA 500 and chasing Johnson’s eighth championship. Other new additions to the No. 48 team this season are engineer Adam Wall, interior mechanic Matt Philpott, secondary truck driver Jeff Neuendorf and tire specialist Will Poirierr.
THE SKINNY ON ALLY: Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) is a leading digital financial services company with assets of $173.1 billion as of Sept. 30, 2018. As a client-centric company with passionate customer service and innovative financial solutions, Ally is relentlessly focused on "Doing it Right" and being a trusted financial partner for its consumer, commercial, and corporate customers. Ally's award-winning online bank (Ally Bank, Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender) offers mortgage-lending services and a variety of deposit and other banking products, including CDs, online savings, money market and checking accounts, and IRA products. Ally also promotes the Ally CashBack Credit Card. Additionally, Ally offers securities brokerage and investment advisory services through Ally Invest. Ally remains one of the largest full-service auto finance operations in the country with a complementary auto-focused insurance business, which together serve approximately 18,000 dealer customers and millions of auto consumers. Ally's robust corporate finance business offers capital for equity sponsors and middle-market companies. They are a digital leader in financial services and are committed to “Do It Right” by their customers. For more information, visit Ally.com.
TWO-TIME DAYTONA CHAMP: With two "Great American Race" victories, Johnson is the only multi-time DAYTONA 500 winner expected to compete in this year’s event. The last time there was just one multi-time winner in the DAYTONA 500 field was 1993 (Bill Elliott).
COMPANY MAN: With the addition of Meendering, all four Hendrick Motorsports crew chiefs are “home grown” after starting their careers with the team and working their way up. Meendering began in 1999 as an intern in the chassis shop while he was still in high school. Once he graduated, Meendering became a full-time employee and attended the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. In 2009, he became the assistant engineer of the No. 24 team of Jeff Gordon under the direction of former crew chief Steve Letarte. Like Meendering, Letarte began working at Hendrick Motorsports in his teen years and was promoted through the ranks. Meendering followed Letarte to the No. 88 team of Dale Earnhardt Jr. until he was selected as a NASCAR Xfinity Series crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports affiliate JR Motorsports with veteran driver Elliott Sadler in 2016.
LONE CLASH WIN: Johnson has one win in The Clash exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway, which came in 2005 when the race format was reserved for Cup Series pole position winners who qualified from the previous season.
TWO POLES: As a rookie in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2002, Johnson found success right out of the gate. He scored the pole position in his very first attempt at the DAYTONA 500 with a qualifying lap of 185.831 mph. His second pole for "The Great American Race” came in 2008. Johnson has also earned three second-place starts for the race – in 2005, 2010 and 2015.
KEVIN IS A ‘500’ WINNER, TOO: Crew chief Meendering also has a DAYTONA 500 win under his belt, as he was the lead engineer for Earnhardt's 2014 victory in "The Great American Race." That day, Earnhardt led 54 of the 200 laps to take home the highly coveted Harley J. Earl trophy.
FOLLOW THE LEADER: New to the sport of NASCAR, Ally will be active on social media in support of its sponsorship of Johnson and the No. 48 team. Fans can follow along and engage in the conversation on Twitter (@allyracing), Instagram (@allyracing) and Facebook (/AllyRacing) for behind-the-scenes content and up-to-date news.
HALF-MARATHON: Before Johnson runs the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet in qualifying and The Clash on Sunday, Feb. 10, he will run 13.1 miles in sneakers as he is entered in the Daytona Beach Half-Marathon. Johnson is hoping to break the 1:25 mark on the course that starts on the track at Daytona International Speedway, heads out to the beach then back toward the racetrack. The last time Johnson competed in the Daytona Half, he finished in 1:28:16, which was in 2014. His personal best in a half-marathon came on Dec. 12, 2015, when he ran a 1:27 in the Huntersville (North Carolina) Half-Marathon.
CHAMPIONS RIDE: The NASCAR cycling community is strong. On Thursday, Feb. 14, Johnson, along with other drivers, crew members and personalities in the cycling community will participate in the annual Champions Ride for Bicycle Safety. The event, aimed at creating awareness for road cycling safety is a 45-mile ride beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET from Gatorade Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway. Media interested in covering should contact Amy Walsh Stock.
DUEL PERFORMANCE: Johnson has two wins in the Duel qualifying races, which will take place on Thursday, Feb. 14. He went to Victory Lane in 2010 after edging Kevin Harvick by only 0.006 seconds. Johnson also won a Duel in 2015, which went into overtime and ended under a green-white-checkered flag finish. Last year in the season-opening qualifier race, Johnson made contact with the wall with 14 laps to go and was forced to a backup car for the DAYTONA 500.
HAVE CAR, WILL WIN: Johnson is on the verge of his 84th points-paying NASCAR Cup Series win. He secured his 83rd in June 2017 to tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough for sixth on the all-time wins list. An 84th win would tie Hall of Famers Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison for fourth all-time. Johnson is currently 10 wins behind former teammate Gordon, who has 93 victories and is third on the list. Johnson has the most wins of all active drivers.
OFFSEASON NOTE OF INTEREST: In December, Johnson and his 8-year-old daughter Genevieve participated in the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s Ajax Cup ski race event. It was Johnson’s fourth time competing in the Ajax Cup.
TEAM CHEVY STAGE: Johnson will make a public appearance at the Team Chevy stage at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, Feb. 17, at 10:35 a.m. local time for a question-and-answer session.
VEGAS TEST: Johnson, Meendering and the No. 48 team participated in a two-day test session Jan. 31-Feb. 1 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the 2019 rules package took to the 1.5-mile track for the first time.
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