Chad Johnston to Crew Chief Jimmie Johnson's No. 84 in 2025

Chad Johnston, a seven-time race-winning crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series, is set to return to the pit box for a part-time campaign in 2025.

A native of Mooresville, North Carolina, Johnston will be paired with seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB confirms to Racing America On SI, as he contests a two-race schedule in the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE.

Johnston has been working as a NASCAR Cup Series crew chief for more than a decade, spending time at organizations such as Michael Waltrip Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, and Chip Ganassi Racing.

In November, Johnston was hired by LEGACY MOTOR CLUB to serve as the team’s Manager of Race Engineering, focusing on leading the team’s engineering fleet within the competition department being led by Brian Campe and Jacob Canter.

The 44-year-old crew chief has spent the last two seasons partnered with Ryan Preece and the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse at the now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing, where the pairing recorded two top-five and seven top 10 finishes.

Jimmie Johnson is the majority owner of LEGACY MOTOR CLUB and widely considered to be among the best drivers in NASCAR Cup Series history, collecting a record-matching seven championships at NASCAR’s top-level, five of which were in consecutive seasons.

This season, driving a third part-time entry for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, Johnson is scheduled to compete in a pair of NASCAR Cup Series events, beginning with the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Johnson will also be competing in the Memorial Day Weekend event at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Coca-Cola 600.

Since his retirement from full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition at the conclusion of the 2020 season, Johnson has been exploring other avenues, including a pair of seasons in the NTT IndyCar Series, and starting in 2023, team ownership.

Johnson has returned to the NASCAR Cup Series on a part-time basis over the last two season, amassing 12 starts in the seventh-generation racecar for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, securing a best finish of 26th in last season’s season-finale at Phoenix.

Getting behind the wheel of a part-time entry, Johnson is not guaranteed a spot in the Daytona 500, and will have to qualify his LEGACY MOTOR CLUB entry into the 40-driver field, via his single-car qualifying speed on Wednesday, or his Duel race on Thursday.

Speedweeks at Daytona will begin with practice and single-car qualifying on Wednesday, February 12, and the Duels at Daytona on Thursday, February 13. Should Johnson qualify for the Daytona 500, the event will take placec Sunday, February 16 at 2:30 PM ET on FOX.