For the time being, the NASCAR champion’s journal is in firm possession of Team Penske.
The most confidential document in the Cup Series isn’t the much-ballyhooed charter document. It’s a journal created in 2010 by Jimmie Johnson to be passed down every year. The book is best compared to the nuclear football or the letter penned by an outgoing president to his successor.
It’s such a secret that 2023 champion Ryan Blaney says he never even showed his to his wife over the past year.
“That’s a secret,” Blaney said during the NASCAR Awards event earlier in the month. “The Champions Journal is something that, you know, a driver started, you know, over a decade ago and all the champions write in it. Each year it gets handed off to the next champion and the next champion. It was a fantastic chance. Only champions get to read.
“I haven’t shown it even to Gianna because it is a closed eyes’ only thing. It’s like the President’s Book in ‘National Treasure 2’. I kind of relate it to that. I try to put it on that level. So I’m Nick Cage in “National Treasure”. No, it is a cool tradition and I’m excited to hand it off.”
At the time, Blaney said he hadn’t yet filed his entry to Joey Logano, which itself is a unique moment in the history of the journal. Logano won the 2022 championship and then got to pen a letter to his teammate, who in turn gets to write one right back to him.
“I know Ryan really well, obviously, because he has been a teammate for such a long time. Now he’s writing a letter back to me. It’s fun and I’m looking forward to it.”
Blaney said he intended to file his entry that night before the awards banquet, meaning Logano likely has it now.
“I’ve been thinking about it through the year a little bit but so it would be unfortunate to let that thing go but I hopefully I would be able get it back,” Blaney said. “It was a pleasure to read all through it and read the words of some guys wrote down that I really admired growing up and it’s pretty neat. So hopefully, I would be able to see it again sometime.”
It’s something that Kyle Larson valued about his time as champion, holding the journal after the 2021 season.
“It’s definitely an amazing tradition,” Larson said. “I’m glad that Jimmie was able to start it. I’ve gotten to read the nice things that drivers have written to the next champion. It’s pretty cool. It is a pretty secretive book. I don’t think anybody really talks about what is written in there, but it’s just a lot of respect. It’s cool to read all that and have my piece in there.”
Logano shared that sentiment.
“They’re all neat in their own way, fun, unique to read,” Logano said. “It’s fun that it’s such a big secret and that everyone wants to know what it looks like. We do a good job keeping it a secret. It’s honestly one of the coolest things about winning the championship.
“All the credit to Jimmie for starting it. I’d have never thought of something like that. I’m pretty sure he wrote a couple of letters to himself at some point before handing it off the first time.”
Johnson won five straight championships from 2006 to 2010 and Logano indicated that the journal may have started somewhere in the middle of that run, but again, no one shares the details.
“I can’t wait to read through them all again,” said Logano, now a three-time champion. “It’s interesting because sometimes you don’t know the driver well that you’re writing to but not this time.”
Just like when he wrote to Blaney in the first place.
“Everyone has their own little message in there and it’s neat to seeing names in there and see how guys write differently their stuff but not one in particular,” Blaney said. “They’re all pretty neat for me to read through.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.
