Jimmie Johnson Is 1st NASCAR Driver To Test Positive For COVID-19

Jimmie Johnson / Twitter

44-year-old Johnson is the first driver in any NASCAR series to test positive for COVID-19. The news was released on Friday, July 3, 2020 and the seven-time NASCAR champion missed the 4th of July weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

On July 4th, 2020, Johnson posted a video on Twitter thanking his friends and followers for their support during this time:

“Morning everybody happy 4th of July. Wow, crazy times. As many of you know my wife and I tested positive for the coronavirus. We are in our home in Colorado locking things down and doing our very best to keep our kids from having a positive test. Got an interesting couple of weeks ahead of ourselves here and certainly hoping that our symptoms stay asymptomatic and that our kids do not end up with the virus. But I just want to take a quick second and thank everybody for their support, the texts, the phone calls, the support on social media. Very thankful for all the well wishes, certainly wish my team the best this weekend and hope that Cliff and Justin Allgaier filling in for me can have a great day on track. [I’ll] be watching as a fan unfortunately and certainly hope that I can be reinstated and be free of this virus very soon so I can get back to my day job. And certainly hope for my family’s safety and wellness, that this virus passes quickly and isn’t any more intrusive than it’s been so far. Once again, thank you for your support and wish everybody the best on this 4th.”

NASCAR driver, Justin Allgaier reached out to Johnson via Twitter and wished him a speedy recovery.

NASCAR’s rules state a driver must be symptom free and have two negative coronavirus tests in a 24-hour span to return and has also granted Johnson a playoff waiver.

Watch the video below to see the statement Johnson made.