To say that Jimmie Johnson’s success places him in elite company would be a massive understatement: He is one of just three drivers to achieve seven championships in the top-level NASCAR Cup series—with the other two being none other than Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Even more incredible is that five of Johnson’s championships were earned sequentially in the 2006–2010 Cup seasons.

Johnson began racing for Hendrick Motorsports behind the wheel of the #48 car in 2001, going full-time in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series the following year. Steadily building momentum after a strong rookie season in 2002, Johnson earned his first Cup championship title in 2006.

He was just getting started. The California native did even better the following year, winning a remarkable 10 races to clinch the Cup title a second consecutive time.

This Chevrolet Impala SS NASCAR, chassis number 48-461, was a key component of Johnson’s repeat championship. A representative of NASCAR’s then-new “Car of Tomorrow” chassis, Johnson drove this chassis to victory at the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway on 1 April, beating Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon. Notably, this was only the second NASCAR race at which the new Car of Tomorrow appeared.

Johnson would again pilot chassis 48-461 at the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on 11 November. The second-to-last race of the season, Johnson’s victory at Phoenix brought him tantalizingly close to his eventual championship title, which he secured at Homestead-Miami the next weekend. Johnson would drive 48-461 seven times in total from 2007–2009, helping him earn two further Cup championships.

Following its retirement from racing, chassis 48-461 was restored by Hendrick Motorsports to its November 2007 Phoenix race-winning appearance, complete with the instantly recognizable Lowe’s livery. As an accompanying certificate of authenticity from the outfit attests, it was “re-built by Hendrick Motorsports race shop team members, to Hendrick Motorsports specifications, using authentic Hendrick Motorsports raced parts.”

With two victories and seven starts under its belt, and presented now in expertly restored condition, this 2007 Chevrolet Impala SS played an important role in Jimmie Johnson’s second consecutive NASCAR Cup championship and was also driven in two additional championship seasons. An impressive piece of American motorsports history forever connected with one of stock car racing’s most remarkable modern talents, this is also a fully functional racing machine with awesome potential for show display or exhibition use.