It’s difficult to find a form of racing that seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson doesn’t enjoy. That’s perhaps best exemplified by him racing in next month’s Mint 400, the famed 400-mile off-road race in the foothills of Las Vegas.
Want to see how Johnson fares? Well, he revealed during the FOX broadcast of Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, the OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 at St. Petersburg, that the Mint 400 will be live-streaming on FOX’s “SPEED With Harvick And Burton” YouTube page. Moreover, there will be an in-car camera of Johnson during the race that can be seen on “SPEED on FOX” social channels.
What piques the NASCAR legend’s interest in this race?
“I’ve always wanted to go back. I thought maybe short-course racing would be that kind of reentry point,” Johnson said on the latest edition of “SPEED With Harvick and Burton” about racing in the Mint 400. “I grew up racing with the Herbst family, and they have second-, third-generation racers now in that series, and, obviously, Riley Herbst is in the Cup Series. But Troy Herbst has offered so many times: ‘Come play. Come back. You won’t believe what the trucks do.’
“The last Trophy Truck race I was in was in 1995, and so, I’ve had some curiosities around it, and I went and tested it in October, and it just blew my mind. I’m like, ‘I got to do this.’”
[Jimmie Johnson: “I’m One Of Those Idiots Who Keeps Going”]
The Mint 400 takes place from March 6-7. Then, three months later, Johnson will race for TRICON Garage in the Truck Series street race at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego on June 19.
Of course, Johnson, who drove two seasons on the INDYCAR circuit for Chip Ganassi Racing (2021-22), is the crew chief for INDYCAR legend Dario Franchitti, who’s competing in Saturday’s Truck Series race in St. Petersburg, FL and started in sixth place. Meanwhile, the 50-year-old Johnson also drove in the 2026 Daytona 500.
