Fast Facts: 2013 Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson

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We can’t call Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson “Five-Time” anymore – that’s because he just wrapped up his sixth Cup Series championship in eight seasons. Catch up with Johnson in this special Sprint Cup Series championship edition of Fast Facts.

• Jimmie Kenneth Johnson was born Sept. 17, 1975 in El Cajon, California (near San Diego), and attended Granite Hills High School. 
• He began his racing career at age 5 on 50cc motorcycles, moving to 60cc bikes at age 8. He went on to compete in off-road racing on four wheels, and took numerous wins and championships in the SODA, SCORE, and Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group series.
• He switched to stock cars in 1998, racing in the American Speed Association (ASA) and later in the Nationwide Series, winning the ASA Rookie of the Year award in 1998. When his Busch (now Nationwide) Series team lost their sponsor, Johnson looked to Cup Series veteran Jeff Gordon for advice; they kept in touch afterward, and Hendrick Motorsports later signed Johnson to a development deal on Gordon’s recommendation. He began his full-time Cup career in 2002 in the familiar No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, a team and a sponsor he drives for to this day.
• Through the 2013 season, Johnson has 66 wins and 272 top 10 finishes in the Sprint Cup Series, along with six titles (2006 through 2010 and 2013). He is the first NASCAR Sprint Cup champion to win five consecutive titles. Johnson was also named the 2009 Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year and is a four-time Driver of the Year (2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010).
• The Jimmie Johnson Foundation, founded in 2006, assists children, families, and communities in need around the country, working with Make-A-Wish, the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, and the Victory Junction Gang Camp among others.
• Johnson is married to the former Chandra Janway (December 11, 2004), and is the father  of two daughters – Genevieve and Lydia. He is a football and baseball fan, following the Atlanta Braves, the Carolina Panthers, and his hometown teams, the San Diego Chargers and San Diego Padres.
• Find out more about Johnson at www.jimmiejohnson.com, www.lowesracing.com, www.hendrickmotorsports.com, and jimmiejohnsonfoundation.org.