Johnson retiring at end of next NASCAR season
Seven-time NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson announced 2020 will be his final season of full-time racing.
The winningest driver of his era will have a 19th season in the No. 48 Chevrolet and once again chase a record eighth championship. Johnson made the announcement Wednesday in a video posted on social media.
“I am so thankful for 18 incredible years of racing in NASCAR,” Johnson said in the black-and-white video comprised of highlights from his career.
Johnson has 83 career victories, tied with Cale Yarborough for sixth all-time. The California native’s seven titles are tied with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for most in the Cup Series.
The 44-year-old Johnson has been in a two-year slump and last won a race in 2017. He had two different crew chief changes this season and missed the playoffs for the first time since the format began in 2004.
Johnson finished 18th in the final standings. He won his seventh title in 2016.
Baseball: The Yankees released oft-injured OF Jacoby Ellsbury with more than $26 million left on his seven-year, $153 million contract. Ellsbury, 36, who hasn’t played since 2017, hit .264 with 39 HRs, 198 RBIs and 102 stolen bases in 520 games in six seasons with the Yankees.
College basketball: The NCAA cleared Memphis freshman C James Wiseman to return to game action Jan. 12. Wiseman will have sat out a total of 12 games. Wiseman withdrew his lawsuit against the NCAA on Nov. 14 after Memphis played him in the Tigers’ first three games of the season. The NCAA had ruled Wiseman was “likely ineligible” due to $11,500 coach Penny Hardaway gave the center’s family for moving expenses from Nashville to Memphis in the summer of 2017. The NCAA also announced that Wiseman must donate $11,500 to charity of his choice to regain his eligibility.
Golf: World No. 1 and four-time major champ Brooks Koepka withdrew from next month’s Presidents Cup because of a lingering knee injury. U.S. captain Tiger Woods replaced him with Rickie Fowler, who has played in the last two Presidents Cups. The match takes place Dec. 12-15 at Royal Melbourne in Australia.
Soccer: English Premiere League club Tottenham named Jose Mourinho its manager. Mourinho, 56, who has won 25 major trophies as a manager, had been without a job since being fired by Manchester United in December. He also managed Chelsea on two occassions, winning the league title three times. Mourinho signed a contract until the end of the 2022-23 season. He replaces Mauricio Pochettino, who was fired Tuesday after Tottenham won just three of its first 12 league matches this season . ... Top players in the MLS will meet their Mexican league counterparts in next season’s MLS All-Star Game. The contest will take place July 29 at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles.