Description

In the storied history of NASCAR auto racing American race car driver Jimmie Johnson is one of the most accomplished and decorated professional athletes of his era and is the only race car driver ever to be named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year. His historic seven NASCAR Cup Series championship titles are shared with NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt as the most all-time. One More Lap, Jimmie Johnson and The #48 memorializes the record-breaking career of this extraordinary athlete who began racing motocross at five years old in his hometown of El Cajon, California with a laser focus on becoming a racing champion. After switching from dirt bikes to off-road vehicles, Johnson quickly graduated into pavement racing, receiving mentorship from another NASCAR legend, Jeff Gordon. By 2002, Johnson was competing in NASCAR s Sprint Cup Series as part of the fabled Hendrick Motorsports racing team and began to capture the imagination of racing fans across the globe. Over the course of his career, Johnson recorded 83 wins, 232 top-five, 374 top-10 finishes and 36 pole positions en route to seven championships, including five in a row from 2006-2010. Johnson ranks sixth on the NASCAR all-time wins list and is a two-time Daytona 500 winner. Johnson s life changed in 2004 when he married Chandra Janway, later welcoming daughters Genevieve Marie in 2010 and Lydia Norriss in 2013. Chandra had a keen interest in art; the two began collecting, and in 2015 she opened the SOCO contemporary art gallery in Charlotte, North Carolina. Johnson began exploring his passion for art and photography by hiring photographers such as Andrew Moore and Danny Clinch to record behind-the-scenes at many of his races. With forewords from racing and sports legends, Jeff Gordon and Troy Aikman, this volume captures photographs from Johnson s early life and the beginning of his illustrious career and also features exhilarating racing snapshots by renowned photographers, Sebastian Kim and Peggy Sirota, as well as images taken Johnson himself. Revelatory, inspiring, and truly thrilling, Johnson s story will appeal to NASCAR enthusiasts, sports lovers, photography fans, and anyone interested in the story of a childhood dream that came true.