Jimmie Johnson’s Mint 400 debut started as poorly as it could’ve gone when he rolled his truck in qualifying. While this left him and Troy Herbst at the back to start the Unlimited Race, they overcame a litany of mechanical troubles to record a solid 12th overall finish. Johnson had such a blast that he plans to return in the future.

Johnson told Marty Fiolka as he was leaving, “I will definitely be back.”

Fiolka, the venerable off-road racing storyteller who doubles as the track promoter at Crandon (a venue that Johnson hopes to visit again someday), covered Johnson’s return to desert racing in a feature for RACER Magazine.

The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, who began his career on the opposite of pavement, has been gradually dipping his feet back into dirt and sand in recent years. His team’s short-lived Extreme E foray and doing the Race of Champions on ice all culminated in him entering the Mint 400 for the first time. It was Johnson’s first desert race since the 1995 Baja 1000, which ended with him crashing at night.

Over 30 years later, he was back in a truck fielded by Terrible Herbst Motorsports. As one of the greatest drivers in stock car history, there was plenty of intrigue about his entry. His close friend and musician Darius Rucker was in attendance, as were representatives from sponsor Carvana, Toyota, and his NASCAR team Legacy Motor Club. There was one major absence, though: Cal Wells III, the man behind Toyota’s short course and desert program in the 1980s and ’90s, could not make it because he was busy running Legacy MC as their CEO.

“You’d be hard pressed to find a more disappointed member of the entire Johnson entourage,” Fiolka wrote.

The Mint is already considered the most famous off-road race in America and draws plenty of big names, but Johnson’s presence seemed to amplify it. SPEED, an online show by Fox Sports starring fellow NASCAR alumnus Kevin Harvick and IndyCar announcer Will Buxton, streamed the race and routinely tapped into Johnson’s radio to interview him while in the cockpit.

With the increased attention, Johnson was hopeful that he could serve as the bridge connecting off-road and asphalt racing by introducing the latter to a discipline they might not be familiar with. He wasn’t the only NASCAR driver in the field either as Robby Gordon also took part, marking their first race together since NASCAR’s 2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350.

Ironically, the qualifying crash might’ve helped out on that too. Plenty of NASCAR-focused outlets that hardly focus on off-roading honed in on the story like Athlon Sports and On3.

The race itself was anything but easy for Johnson and Herbst, dealing with flat tires and even having to rip off the body paneling from tehir truck. Despite the tribulations, Johnson completed his stint and Herbst brought it home in 12th overall and sixth in Unlimited Truck 2WD.

Fiolka asked Johnson, “Did the memories of ’95 fade with every mile here?”

Johnson: “It never crossed my mind.”