Jimmie Johnson First NASCAR Driver to Test Positive for COVID-19, Out of Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400

As the NASCAR season rolls on this weekend with a stop at the famed Brickyard of Indianapolis Motor Speedway for its 12th race since their restart, things have been going pretty well all things considered. Ratings have been up for the most part as the sport benefits from being one of the lone sports going on since their return on May 17. Fans were allowed in attendance, albeit it in small numbers, at Homestead and Talladega last month. Everything has pointed in the right direction for the sport over the last six or seven weeks, making for some entertaining racing along the way.

On Friday, the sport took one of its first hits as Jimmie Johnson announced that he was pulling out of the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Sunday afternoon at the Brickyard after testing positive for COVID-19. Johnson is asymptomatic but will not return to racing until he is cleared by doctors. He chose to get tested after his wife tested positive earlier in the day after suffering from allergy-type symptoms. On the plus side, his two children, ages six and nine, were also tested but those results came back negative.

The diagnosis brings to a halt a consecutive race streak that had reached 663 for Johnson, who is in his final year of full-time competition on the NASCAR Cup circuit. In his stead, Justin Allgier will be behind the wheel of the 48 car Sunday and possibly beyond. Johnson stands 12th in the playoff chase, 63 points above the cutoff line and has been granted a playoff waiver by NASCAR, who stated: "Jimmie is a true battle-tested champion, and we wish him well in his recovery.”

Johnson is the first driver on any of the NASCAR circuits to be diagnosed with COVID-19, which is an impressive statistic given how things have gone in that regard in other sports, many of which have yet to return to action. He expressed his disappointment about being out for this week’s race in his statement Friday regarding his diagnosis:

"My first priority is the health and safety of my loved ones and my teammates. I've never missed a race in my Cup career, but I know it's going to be very hard to watch from the sidelines when I'm supposed to be out there competing. Although this situation is extremely disappointing, I'm going to come back ready to win races and put ourselves in playoff contention."

Rick Hendrick, the owner of Hendrick Motorsports who fields Johnson’s 48 car, added his own thoughts on the situation. "Jimmie has handled this situation like the champion he is. We're relieved he isn't showing symptoms and that Chani is doing great, and we know he'll be back and ready to go very soon. It's going to be difficult for him to be out of the car and away from his team, but it's the right thing to do for Jimmie and everyone involved."

It’s been a tough final season for Johnson, who has just two top-five finishes and six top-10s in 15 races this season. He finished second at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway last month but was disqualified after failing a post-race inspection. His last victory came at the AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover on June 4, 2017, which was 110 races ago. This season, his best finish that counted was a third-place showing at Bristol on the final day of May. Johnson hadn’t finished better than 16th in the last four races, which came on tracks that he had previous success at in Homestead, Talladega and Pocono.

With his withdrawal, Johnson missed a chance to build on his impressive resume at the Brickyard. He has four wins, six top-fives and seven top-10 runs on the track in his 18 races there. Had he been able to race and pull out the victory Sunday, he would have joined Jeff Gordon and Formula One driver Michael Schumacher as the lone five-time winners at the Brickyard. Instead, that one will go by the boards and remain out of reach barring him deciding to come out and race again next season or beyond, even as a one-off.

We wish Johnson and his wife a speedy recovery as they battle the coronavirus in an effort to get back to some sense of normalcy.