Robby Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have a lot in common as SoCal natives who started out in off-road before heading to pavement racing, competing in IndyCar and NASCAR. Although their specific career progressions differ, they’re more than familiar with each other from the two decades of racing together in short course, Baja, and eventually stock cars.

In March, the two will renew their acquaintances at the Mint 400, competing in the Unlimited Race. Gordon won the race in 2012, whereas Johnson is making his Mint debut and return to desert racing for the first time since the ’90s.

Obviously, most people hearing their names together will think of their shared 12 years in the NASCAR Cup Series from Johnson’s first start in 2001 to Gordon’s last in 2012. Both became full-time drivers in 2002, with Gordon racing for Richard Childress and Johnson for Hendrick Motorsports.

As Johnson went on to become a legend with his five straight titles from 2006 to 2010, Gordon was known for his hotheaded personality. He was an owner-driver with modest-at-best equipment during Johnson’s five-peat, never winning again like he did with RCR but was still a perennial contender on the road courses.

By comparison, Johnson struggled with road racing for much of his early career. Ironically, he scored his first road course victory at Infineon Raceway in 2010 by beating Gordon in the last run to the finish. Even then, one could argue Johnson only got his chance because Marcos Ambrose turned off his engine to save fuel under caution and stalled.

In 334 Cup races together, Johnson unsurprisingly finished ahead of Gordon more frequently with 265 “wins” to Gordon’s 69. Their final race together was the 2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma, where Johnson was fifth and Gordon retired.

Gordon shifted back to off-road racing on a permanent basis after that, overseeing the Stadium Super Trucks and competing in SCORE and the Dakar Rally. Johnson continued to race NASCAR, winning two more titles before retiring from full-time competition in 2020. Since then, the latter has dabbled in a variety of disciplines like IndyCar and sports cars in addition to co-owning Legacy Motor Club, but as of late has been looking back at his off-road roots.

Long before NASCAR, both were regulars in MTEG. Gordon won the national title in 1989 while Johnson was a youngster in Super Lite trucks. Gordon juggled his stadium schedule with Baja, where he won the Baja 1000 overall twice during this period.

Johnson later got his chance in SCORE when Chevrolet invested into the discipline in 1995, competing alongside Gordon in Trophy Trucks. By this point, Gordon’s priority was IndyCar but he occasionally returned to the desert in his time off. For example, he flew by helicopter from the 1995 CART season finale at Laguna Seca to Nevada for the SCORE Laughlin Challenge. Gordon was dogged by throttle issues all day and exceeded the time limit, while Johnson earned a $7,500 prize for the longest jump but was also a DNF.

At the Baja 1000, Johnson was taken out by a nighttime crash while leading whereas Gordon placed 11th. Chevrolet eventually pulled back its factory funding, so Johnson went to SODA before competing in stock cars.

Three decades later, Johnson is looking to dip his feet into the non-pavement realm once more. Legacy Motor Club had a short-lived Extreme E division in 2024, while Toyota bought a Pro 4 truck for Johnson to potentially do some Championship Off-Road last year though that didn’t work out.

Gordon will enter the Mint as the AORC Unlimited Truck 4WD points leader after winning the season-opening Parker 400. Johnson is coming off a 29th in Sunday’s Daytona 500 after being hindered by pit road issues that left him stuck in traffic; it is his penultimate 500 as he plans to finish his Cup career for good after the 2027 race.

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