NASCAR icon and co-owner of Legacy Motor Club, Jimmie Johnson, is expanding his racing horizons beyond the United States this year. He had set a goal of participating in nine Cup Series races before the season kicked off. Following a challenging return to stock car racing, Johnson is now gearing up for the prestigious Goodwood Revival event.
The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion is set to compete for the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy. Before the main event, he took the wheel of the No. 46 Aston Martin DB4 GT Lightweight, a car steeped in racing history. This very vehicle was famously driven to victory by the legendary Formula 1 driver Stirling Moss during its debut at Goodwood on Easter Monday in 1960.
The weather conditions on the track were far from ideal, with persistent rain and typical British gloom making it tough for drivers to achieve their best lap times. Nevertheless, Jimmie Johnson was determined to set the pace rather than just acclimate to the slippery conditions. He clocked an impressive best lap time of 1:56 seconds right at the beginning of the practice session.
Unfortunately, Johnson couldn’t escape the misfortune that has plagued him at this event in the past. As he pushed the Aston Martin to its limits in search of a better time, he lost control on the wet track and collided with the tire barriers. “The track changed from one lap to the next. After running 3-4 laps, I thought the conditions were stable, but a sudden rain shower and a puddle caught me off guard,” Johnson reflected after the crash.
While the driver emerged unscathed, fans remain fixated on the unfortunate trend of him crashing every time he gets behind the wheel. Some expressed concern for the legendary race car’s well-being.
Fans are in disbelief over Jimmie Johnson’s luck this season.
The seasoned driver has struggled to secure a top-20 finish in his last six Cup races. More often than not, he has found himself slamming the No. 84 Toyota Camry into the wall or getting tangled up in others’ mishaps. This unfortunate streak, which many would expect to be confined to American ovals, has inexplicably followed him all the way to the UK. After Johnson’s practice session crash, one fan remarked, “If you had told me two decades ago that Jimmie would be wrecking more cars than the Sauter brothers, I would have laughed, but here we are.”
Others viewed this incident as a potential boost to the value of the classic Aston Martin. Once driven by British F1 icon Stirling Moss, the addition of a seven-time NASCAR champion’s story to this car only enriches its legacy. And since it was merely a practice run, just imagine the HMS legend taking this vehicle to victory lane in the main event. Echoing this thought, a Reddit user commented, “If a seven-time NASCAR champion scratched my car during a track day, I’d consider it a badge of honor.”
While vintage cars certainly deserve a place in a museum, shining in their original glory, their true purpose was to hit the racetrack. Jimmie Johnson embodied this spirit with his race car, but it seems Lady Luck has not been on his side lately. “I always say I’d prefer to see a historic car on the track, even if it gets damaged, rather than gathering dust in a museum. Thankfully, this one wasn’t too heavy,” remarked another racing enthusiast. Will Jimmie Johnson recover from this challenge, or will he face more hurdles in the main event? Only time will tell.
