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Jimmie Johnson 'optimistic about the future' following Lowe's exit

Nick Bromberg
·College football and motorsports writer

Jimmie Johnson sure didn’t appear too concerned with the future his team is facing following the announcement that Lowe’s is getting out of NASCAR.

Hendrick Motorsports announced Wednesday that the home improvement store would stop sponsoring Johnson’s No. 48 car at the end of the season. Lowe’s is the only primary sponsor Johnson’s had throughout his 18-season Cup Series career.

“There are so many levels to it that I am very, very thankful for and proud of,” Johnson said Friday. “Of course I wish we could finish it out together, but that’s not the circumstance. But then, to look forward, I’m very optimistic about the future and myself and our race team have an opportunity we haven’t had before to go out and shop our deal and see what’s out there and what we can do from a branding standpoint for a new company. Now that the announcement is out, we can get to work on that and see what the future holds for our team.”

Finding a new sponsor for Johnson may be tricky. Yeah, he’s having a slow start to 2018 but that’s probably more of a blip than anything else. But the seven-time Cup Series champion is 42 and signed through the 2020 season. He’ll be 45 at the end of that year. Will he want to drive for more years after that?

If he does, it probably won’t be too many more. So whatever company (or plural) signs on to sponsor Johnson will be making a relatively short-term commitment. And will be doing so in the shadow of one of the most iconic driver-sponsor combinations in the history of NASCAR.

But Johnson said Friday that he’s optimistic the team will be able to find a new sponsor to take over for Lowe’s. And he said he didn’t view the decision by Lowe’s to leave as a statement of NASCAR. While he may certainly feel that, it’s nearly impossible for us and many others not to. Lowe’s joins companies like Home Depot, Sprint, Target and UPS among others who have left the sport in recent seasons as NASCAR television ratings fall precipitously.

“I really don’t view it as a statement of our sport,” Johnson said. “I see our sport growing. I see many new sponsors coming into Hendrick Motorsports. I see a returning sponsor coming to NASCAR. I’ve seen full grandstands. It’s been an exciting start to the season. I really don’t feel it has a reflection on the sport. It’s a business decision that Lowe’s needed to make and that stuff happens. Again, if you look at how long they’ve been in the sport, I’m not sure there’s been a sponsor that’s stuck around this long. I’m very proud of their contributions to our industry.”


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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

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