Jimmie Johnson doesn’t run many races at this stage of his NASCAR semi-retirement, but there is one he keeps showing up for each year.
The Daytona 500.
This season, the 50-year-old is guaranteed a spot in the field on Feb. 15 after NASCAR approved his Open Exemption Provisional request.
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The OEP was created before the 2025 Great American Race to guarantee a position on the grid for world-class drivers without a charter seat. It served as a backup plan if those drivers failed to qualify for a race through traditional means. Helio Castroneves became the first to use it when he debuted in a Trackhouse Racing ride at Daytona International Speedway.
NASCAR revised the provisional last spring to mandate a 41-car field when it is granted.
Feb 16, 2025; Daytona Beach, Florida, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (84) walks onto the driver introduction stage to greet fans before the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images
Johnson, a two-time Daytona 500 champ, will not be eligible to receive championship points or prize money. But with 83 career victories, seven Cup Series titles and a 2024 NASCAR Hall of Fame induction, he certainly fits the world-class driver bill.
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He retired from full-time NASCAR competition after the 2020 campaign and sat out the next two years before returning for select events in 2023. In the interim, he drove two seasons of IndyCar racing in 2021-22.
Back in NASCAR, he drives the No. 84 Toyota for Legacy Motor Club, of which he is the majority owner.
Last February, following finishes of 31st in 2023 and 28th in 2024, Johnson tallied his first top-five in the Daytona 500 since 2015, placing third. He entered just one more race in 2025, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, but slumped to 40th.
This summer, he is scheduled for the June 21 Cup Series street race at Naval Base Coronado near his hometown of El Cajon, California. He’ll also make his second career Truck Series start — and first in 18 years — that same weekend at the active military base in San Diego.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Jimmie Johnson will run Daytona 500 with Open Exemption Provisional
