Jimmie Johnson joining forces with Richard Petty, becomes co-owner of Petty GMS Racing

The last time Jimmie Johnson was at a track with ties to NASCAR, he was at Phoenix Raceway initiating a celebratory passing of the torch to Chase Elliott in his final full-time season of 2020.

On Friday he returned, and ambushed the media center with news that left the room in a champion’s haze.

Johnson, who just wrapped up his second season racing in IndyCar, sat alongside fellow seven-time champion Richard Petty and delivered the news that he’d be returning to NASCAR as a co-owner at Petty GMS Racing.

Petty's been around since the inception of NASCAR and with 200 wins it's hard to surprise “The King.” But when he received the news from Maury Gallagher, majority owner of Petty GMS, that Johnson had an interest in jumping aboard, he was taken back.

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“I just sort of went off the edge and said, ‘This has got to be one of the biggest things that has happened to the Petty crowd and GMS,’” Petty said. “We joined cahoots last year, got a pretty good start this year, but with Jimmie adding on with his popularity and the people he knows, it had to be a heck of a deal.

“From my standpoint, it’s a big step, not just for one year, but I’m looking further down the road. If Jimmie comes in, does his deal — I’m 85 years old, so I’m not going to be here for another 15-20 years — then Jimmie can kind of take over.”

For Johnson, NASCAR was always on his mind had IndyCar plans not been set in stone for 2023. Becoming a part-owner wasn’t. He had aspirations of running a limited schedule, so when he got the chance to do both, it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass on.

Johnson will indeed return to the driver’s seat in 2023 beginning with the 65th running of the Daytona 500. No additional races have been announced, but he’s aiming to compete in eight to 10 events.

“It’s an opportunity that I have to give back,” Johnson said. “Through the years, especially once I hit my peak in Cup, young drivers would talk to me. I’ve always been a resource. I’ve always felt like people helped me get to this point by giving and that I should give back.

“In the ultimate scheme of things, I will have that opportunity, I’ll be challenged to do so and I’m really excited to share when I can and how I can. I don’t think I have all the answers and I have so much to learn, especially with this new role. I know one aspect of this sport, but there are many more for me to learn.”

Johnson will also assume the role of mentor to the likes of Erik Jones and Noah Gragson, similar to what Jeff Gordon was to Johnson when he first began his career in NASCAR. Jones described his relationship with Johnson as “casual,” as they were competitors in Cup for five years and they share the same agent.

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“I’m just excited to work with him,” Jones said. “To have Jimmie get in there in an ownership role and then to actually race the car, work with the guys, work with our technology and see how everything works — and then to feedback off of that — I think it’s going to be pretty substantial for us.”

Gragson, a future Rookie of the Year contender and title favorite on Saturday in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, is not one to mince words. He opened up about his prior relations with Johnson and expressed his excitement as he makes the jump to Cup in 2023.

“It was hard to believe at first,” Gragson said. “I leaned on (Johnson) quite a bit when he was racing. I was first getting into the Xfinity Series and probably annoyed him pretty bad, just texting him and asking him for advice. I felt like a little brother wearing out a big brother, in the sense where I was trying to gain as much knowledge as I could from him.”

Johnson's and Petty's combined 14 titles and 283 wins loom large over Petty GMS. While it will take quite a bit of time for the organization to achieve that on its own, the partnership breeds a much-needed championship pedigree that should be felt throughout NASCAR.

“I know that I have so much to learn on the ownership side,” Johnson said. “I do feel that what I’ve done the last two years racing IndyCar and fundraising for IndyCar, that I have more experience in this space, and think I have some I can offer there to the company.

“There are a lot of layers to it that I don’t quite understand now, but I’m taking this very seriously and this is the chance of a lifetime that I’m very excited about. I believe in the product, I believe in the sport, I believe in NASCAR; this is where I want to be.”

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Jimmie Johnson joining forces with Richard Petty as part owner, driver