Kevin Harvick calls for Jimmie Johnson to stop racing amid expanded role with Legacy Motor Club

At 49 years old, is this the last year we see Jimmie Johnson in a NASCAR Cup Series car? Kevin Harvick hopes so. The Closer doesn’t want to see Superman continue to race in the No. 84 car for Legacy Motor Club anymore.

It has nothing to do with what he is doing in the car. It has everything to do with what it says about Legacy Motor Club that he is still racing, though.

On the return episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Harvick talked about Johnson. The seven-time champion is racing at Daytona and Charlotte this season. The 500 and the 600, two of the biggest races of the year. If he qualifies and races in both, he will have 700 starts under his belt.

It all feels like a nice bookend on his career. He made his first Cup Series start at Charlotte, why not call it quits there as well? As Johnson becomes majority owner at Legacy, Harvick believes it is time.

“I think that the sooner he can get out of being in that car, the better off he is.” Kevin Harvick explained. “I understand when we had the Xfinity teams of having to drive the car to lure the sponsor. But you know, as far as the marketing side of things, at some point it becomes about performance. I think Danica Patrick was probably the best example of that. At some point, your marketing platform runs out, and I think that performance trumps everything that you can do after its consecutive years of not performing like you need to, and I think that’s what they’re striving for, right?

“They have to get the performance where they need to or sponsorship becomes less and less and harder to sell, and then it becomes harder to sell employees and harder to sell drivers, and everything that you need to run well is all about the people, and if you don’t have the money to pay the people then it becomes harder and harder to get the performance where it needs to be.”

Legacy Motor Club has struggled. New ownership, rebranding, driver troubles, manufacturer swap – all of that is a big deal. Building consistency is difficult. Then again, results are the name of the game. Those sponsors, big ones like Dollar Tree/Family Dollar, Advent Health, and Mobil 1, will eventually ask for those improved results.

Jimmie Johnson is a legend. One of the top-three drivers ever in the sport if we’re talking just championships. His career speaks for itself. Kevin Harvick is right though. The sooner Jimmie is out of the car, the better for Legacy.