Time, in NASCAR as all things, marches on. But for a few moments in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on Friday, June 19, at Naval Base Coronado, fans got a glimpse of days past: Jimmie Johnson, eyeing the lead and waiting for his moment to take it.
And once he did, he drove away with like he’d robbed a bank on the way to the office.
It was vintage Johnson, calculating and ruthless when he sniffed the lead. Johnson led a couple of laps before pit strategy dropped him into the pack and electric issues with his truck ended his bid for the win.
And that’s the thing: for the first time in a long time, Johnson looked like he could have won. He struggled in his last couple of years as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver and more so on a limited schedule. It’s not that the driver — and the drive — wasn’t still there. Johnson finished third in the 2025 Daytona 500, but the Cup car has changed drastically since the days when fans watched races hoping that someone else, anyone else, would win this week.
Prior to Coronado, Johnson had just one Truck Series start. He led laps in that race, too, at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2008, before crashing and finishing 34th. At the time, it was a distraction. He didn’t need it.
But now? Free of obligations behind the wheel, Johnson could run a few races a year. And if Friday was any indication, he could be competitive with a little more seat time. The list of drivers who have won in all three national series is short; just 41 drivers have done it.
Johnson would have to work for it; there are some talented drivers in Trucks, and they have the advantage of running every week. But Johnson was strong this past weekend on his worst type of track. He’d probably need to run a decent partial schedule to contend, but there are enough companion races to the Cup Series, where Johnson is a team owner, that he could race on Friday or Saturday and support Legacy Motor Club on Sunday.
He looked good on Friday, like there was an itch he was finally able to scratch. If he wanted to do it again, it would be a great fit for him.
And the series would benefit from a driver like Johnson. He’s not a full-time Cup driver and hasn’t been in six years. He wouldn’t be out picking trophies from kids, because he’d have to work for them, probably harder than the regulars.
And he’d be good for the series.
Johnson was critical after the race of how many of the youngsters raced, claiming they lacked discipline and respect.
Some of that is probably a perspective issue. Many of the Truck Series drivers are young and relatively inexperienced. They’re racing to be noticed by Cup teams. Some came through the ranks with money to burn, and that produces a different mindset than a driver like Johnson, who had a more blue-collar approach as a youngster. The series has seemed to be a little more rough-and-tumble than it used to be.
Young drivers learn from veterans who run a few races a year. When Kyle Busch ran Trucks on a limited basis in the last couple of years, he was not the nearly automatic winner he had been earlier. He won a handful of races, and he earned them by racing smart and clean. He hadn’t always done that, but in the last couple of years, he became the driver the youngsters should have been watching and emulating. He raced hard but without the chip on his shoulder that he’d carried when he was younger.
Johnson could bring the same thing to the series. He’s the type of driver young drivers should emulate: focused, calculatedly aggressive, smooth and carrying himself with class. He’s not wrong about the unnecessary damage that often happens in Truck Series races — and damage is expensive. Those teams aren’t running on a Cup-level budget.
Johnson isn’t a full-time Cup driver and doesn’t bring high-dollar equipment to the Truck Series. Sure, his Toyota affiliation landed him a TRICON Garage ride, and it is one of the top teams, but Johnson is a little rusty and isn’t out to steal the show in any case.
For Johnson, at this point it boils down to whether it’s fun. He doesn’t have to prove anything, though he’s competitive enough that dangling the chance to be a three-series winner might be enough of a carrot to entice him into the driver’s seat again.Â
Provided he wanted to run a few more races to chase that win, though, Johnson would be an asset to the series. He’s not overly aggressive. He will certainly make mistakes along the way and probably have some bad nights and crashes that might have been avoidable, but he’ll also race with the same bulldog mentality that brought him seven Cup titles and probably bring some of his fans along for the ride, which is always good for the Truck Series.
It could be a match made in Truck heaven.
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.
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