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| Jimmie Johnson is 25/1 to win Daytona 500. |
“I absolutely can’t wait to get in my race car in Daytona. I’m as fired up for a season as I have ever been, and I’m mentally and physically ready to win races and compete for a championship in my final season. I had a great off-season, its been a ton of fun, but now I am ready to get back to business.”
NEW LOOK: Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 Ally Chevrolet was unveiled in late January on social media and, for the second season, will take to the track with a black base and Ally’s signature colors of plum and grapefruit. The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE is now a matte black, as opposed to the gloss finish as seen in 2019.
DANIELS AT THE HELM, SAUNDERS UNDER THE HOOD: Cliff Daniels, a 31-year-old native of Smithfield, Virginia, will call his first DAYTONA 500 as a crew chief on top of the No. 48 Ally Racing pit box on Feb. 16. Daniels became Johnson’s crew chief last July. Since taking over the top spot, he accumulated four top-10 finishes with the seven-time champ throughout the 2019 season. Veteran Jesse Saunders, a 34-year-old New Glarus, Wisconsin, native also is back with the No. 48 this season, working as Johnson’s car chief. Both Daniels and Saunders have worked with Johnson in different capacities since 2014.
TWO-TIME DAYTONA CHAMP: Johnson has two victories in the “Great American Race” as he powered to wins in both the 2006 and the 2013 DAYTONA 500s. To his credit, he has three wins at Daytona during regular-season events, as he also won the 400-mile race at the superspeedway in July 2013 to sweep the year at the Daytona Beach track.
TWO-TIME CLASHER: In addition to the three wins in the DAYTONA 500, Johnson now has two wins in the Clash exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway. The most recent was the start of the 2019 season in which Johnson took the lead before rain ensued cutting the race short from its expected distance. Johnson also won the event 2005 when the race format was reserved for NASCAR Cup Series pole position winners who qualified from the previous season.
TWO-TIME DUEL WINNER: Johnson has fared equally as well in the Duel qualifier races leading into the DAYTONA 500. He has two wins in the 60-lap events, which came in 2010 and as recently as 2015. Both wins were exciting finishes. In 2010, Johnson edged Kevin Harvick by only 0.006 seconds, while the 2015 Duel went into overtime and ended under a green-white-checkered flag finish.
TWO-TIME POLE SITTER: As a rookie in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2002, Johnson found success right out of the gate. At 26 years old, he scored the pole position in his very first attempt in the DAYTONA 500 with a qualifying lap of 185.831 mph. His second pole for “The Great American Race” came in 2008. Johnson also earned three second-place starts for the race – in 2005, 2010 and 2015. Last season, he took part in a 1-2-3-4 sweep of Hendrick Motorsports at the front of the pack by qualifying third for the prestigious event.
NEW DECADE: Spanning Johnson’s 83-win career, he has accumulated quite a resume. From 2002-09, Johnson won 47 races, making him the winningest driver of that decade. From 2010-19, he won 36 times, making him the third winningest driver of the decade.
DAYTONA HALF-MARATHON: Before Johnson climbs aboard the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet for qualifying and the Clash on Sunday, Feb. 9, he will run 13.1 miles as he is entered in the Daytona Beach Half-Marathon. Johnson competed last year and brought home a time of 1:34:18, which was second in his age group and 15th overall in a field of 763 competitors. Additionally, the Jimmie Johnson Foundation is proud to host a team of 10 runners at the event. The team will try and keep up with the seven-time champ as they run one of the “seven scenic half marathons in America”. #TeamJJF runners have committed to raising a minimum of $1,000 each to benefit the Jimmie Johnson Foundation’s Champions Grant and Team Up For Technology programs. Funds raised will allow K-12 public schools to address their critical needs, ranging from updating classroom libraries to school-wide technology makeovers, plus everything in between.
CHAMPIONS RIDE: The NASCAR cycling community remains strong. On Thursday, Feb. 13, Johnson, along with other drivers, crew members and personalities in the cycling community will participate in the annual Champions Ride for Bicycle Safety, organized by fellow competitor Scott Lagasse. The event, aimed at creating awareness for road cycling safety, is a 45-mile ride beginning at 7 a.m. ET from Gatorade Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway. Media interested in covering should contact Amy Walsh Stock.
HAVE CAR, WILL WIN: There are some huge milestones on the horizon for Johnson. The next time the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion crosses the finish line first, he will have scored his 84th points-paying series win. A win would tie Hall of Famers Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison for fourth all-time. Johnson currently is 10 wins behind former teammate Jeff Gordon, who has 93 victories and is third on the list. Johnson has the most wins of all active drivers with 83.
TEAM CHEVY STAGE: Johnson will make a public appearance at the Team Chevy stage at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, Feb. 16, at 10:25 a.m. ET for a question-and-answer session.
ALLY AT VOLUSIA MALL: Once again this year, Ally is bringing the fun, 48 swag and even a giant cornhole game to fans at Daytona. Look for activation on Saturday, Feb. 15 and 16 at the Volusia Mall, which is across the street from the speedway on International Speedway Boulevard in Daytona Beach. Johnson will make an appearance on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 10:45 a.m. ET for a question-and-answer session.
ONE FINAL TIME: Last week, Johnson took to social media and explained that he "isn’t chasing anything." Meaning, he is no longer using the #Chasing8 to denote his final full-time season in NASCAR Cup Series competition, but rather he is looking at it as #OneFinalTime. Click here for the video.
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