Jimmie Johnson sends message to Simone Biles, Team USA Olympic gymnastics team
Jimmie Johnson has a message for Simone Biles as she competes in the 2024 Olympics in Paris. In a video posted by NASCAR, Johnson wished Biles and the rest of the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team luck.
“I’m Jimmie Johnson, seven-time NASCAR champion,” Johnson began. “I want to wish Simone Biles the best of luck going for gold this year in the Olympics at Paris.”
NASCAR shared Johnson’s message on Tuesday because the team is competing in the final of the Olympics. The U.S. comes into the final as the top-qualifying team is looking to win its third gold medal in the last four Olympics. In the 2021 Olympics (originally scheduled for 2020), Team USA earned a silver medal after Biles withdrew early from he team event due to “the twisties.”
“America hates me. The world is going to hate me. I can only see what they’re saying on Twitter right now,” Biles said about he decision on the Call Her Daddy podcast earlier this year (per NBC News). Biles added, “If I could’ve gotten on a plane and flown home, I would’ve done it. I thought I was going to be banned from America, ’cause that’s what they tell you: ‘Don’t come back if not gold. Gold or bust. Don’t come back.”
Jimmie Johnson and Simone Biles know how to win championships
Johnson knows what it’s like to be Biles when it comes to winning. As Johnson mentioned, he has won the NASCAR Cup Series championship a record seven times. He has also won the Daytona 500 twice and has racked up 83 Cup Series race victories. Before entering the 2024 Olympics, Biles has earned seven medals in two Olympic games. She has also won 30 world titles, the most all-time in gymnastics.
While Biles shows no signs of slowing down, Johnson stopped racing in NASCAR full-time after the 2020 season. He continues to race part-time, as the last Cup Series event came last week when he finished 33rd in the Brickyard 400. Johnson has also competed in IndyCar and is the co-owner of Legacy Motor Club.
“I didn’t think it would be this tough,” Johnson told IndyStar after the Brickyard 400. “It’s a tough sport, and we have a great vision and have made a massive commitment to that long-term vision, so we’re on the journey.
“But I thought last year, we were kinda at the bottom — and then we went down a little lower and found a lower bottom. I do think we’re climbing our way out now, but there’s just so much that goes into it, and we’re getting the pieces in place and moving it along.”