On December 10, 2004, Jimmie Johnson and his wife Chandra Johnson married on the Caribbean island of St. Barts. They first met in New York in 2002 through Jeff Gordon, a mutual friend and former teammate of Jimmie’s.
Jimmie proposed to Chandra on top of a mountain during a snowboarding trip in Beaver Creek, Colorado, a year after their first meeting.
Chandra initially mistook Jimmie’s proposal for a joke, but when she realized it was genuine, she gave her approval.
Genevieve Marie Johnson and Lydia Norris Johnson, the couple’s daughters, were born on July 7, 2010, and September 6, 2013, respectively, and make up the Johnson family of four.
Who is Chandra Johnson, Jimmie Johnson’s Wife?
Jimmie’s wife, Chandra Janway, was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, in 1978 and is a former model and actress best known for her role in the 2007 film Devil’s Canyon.
In 2000, she earned a bachelor’s degree in business communication from the University of Oklahoma.
She soon joined Wilhelmina Models, a well-known modeling agency in New York, to pursue a career in modeling and fashion.
Chandra is currently in charge of the Jimmie Johnson Foundation, which the couple founded in 2006 with the goal of funding K-12 public schools through their Champions Grant Program.
Furthermore, the foundation works with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses.
While little is known about her family, her brother’s death is well-documented. Jordan, Chandra’s younger brother, died in a skydiving accident in March 2014 after falling to the ground unconscious. The twenty-seven-year-old is said to have collided with another diver while in the air.
Jimmie Johnson’s Wife Backs Him Up
Chandra is the polar opposite of most celebrity wives who avoid the spotlight. She is a motor race fan who travels with her husband and is frequently seen cheering and celebrating his victories during his races.
After Jimmie won the 2013 Sprint Cup Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Chandra was photographed with her daughter Genevieve Marie and husband, clearly overcome with emotion.
She has also been seen accompanying her husband to a number of sporting awards ceremonies and red carpet events. In 2008, Chandra was present with Jimmie at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards, which were held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. On December 4, 2013, she joined her husband Jimmie at The Palazzo in Las Vegas for the NASCAR Evening Series.
Similarly, the model-turned-actress has visited the White House several times to honor her husband’s accomplishments. Former US President George W. Bush joined Chandra and Jimmie on February 5, 2008, to honor Jimmie’s Sprint Cup Series victory in 2007.
They also met former President Barack Obama, who hosted the couple in the Red Room before a ceremony honoring Jimmie’s 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory on September 7, 2011.
Chandra was photographed in the east room at the same event with former Army Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno, who tragically died on October 8, 2021.