Johnson was born in El Cajon, California and began racing motorcycles in 1980 at the age of four. Three years later he won the 60cc class championship, despite injuring his knee. He attended Granite Hills High School — where the number 48 was later retired from all sports teams uniforms in his honor — and competed in water polo, diving, and swimming before graduating in 1993.
Johnson moved to off-road racing, competing in the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group (MTEG) Stadium Racing Series, the Short-course Off-road Drivers Association (SODA), and SCORE International. In 1996, he drove for Herzog Motorsports in the off-road truck series. By 1997 he had reached SODA's Class 8, the class of two-wheel-drive Trophy Trucks generating around 800 horsepower, where he battled Scott Taylor and Brendan Gaughan for the championship. A memorable SCORE result came at the 1995 Baja 1000: after leading more than 900 miles, Johnson fell asleep at the wheel and wrecked his Trophy Truck. Across the three off-road series he accumulated over 25 wins, 100 top-three finishes, and six championships, earning Rookie of the Year honors in all three leagues.
In 1997, Johnson began racing on asphalt ovals in the American Speed Association (ASA), making his debut at Hawkeye Downs Speedway. Driving for Herzog Motorsports, he won the ASA Pat Schauer Memorial Rookie title in 1998 and finished third in the standings in 1999. He made his NASCAR Busch Series debut at the 1998 Indianapolis Raceway Park event, finishing 25th for ST Motorsports. Moving to a full-time Busch schedule in 2000 with Herzog, he had a severe brake-failure crash at Watkins Glen International on lap 46, going head-on into the Styrofoam barriers at over 150 mph, but climbed out unscathed. In 2001 he recorded one Busch win at Chicagoland Speedway.
Johnson's talent was noticed by Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon, who convinced owner Rick Hendrick to sign him for a Winston Cup full-time ride in 2002, with Gordon as a part-owner of the car.
Johnson formally moved to Hendrick in 2002, driving the No. 48 Lowe's-sponsored Chevrolet. He earned his first career pole for the Daytona 500, becoming only the third rookie to do so. In his thirteenth career start, he won the NAPA Auto Parts 500 at Auto Club Speedway. He became the first rookie driver to lead the point standings and to win twice at the same track in a season by sweeping both races at Dover. He finished fifth in points with three wins — tying the rookie record set by Tony Stewart in 1999.
In 2003, Johnson won three races (including the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and both New Hampshire races), two poles, and finished second in the championship, ninety points behind Matt Kenseth.
In 2004, Johnson swept both Pocono races and recorded eight wins total. The Subway 500 at Martinsville on October 24 was overshadowed by tragedy: owner Rick Hendrick's son Ricky, twin nieces, brother, chief engine builder Randy Dorton, and four others were killed in an airplane crash en route to the race. Johnson again finished second in the championship.
In 2005, Johnson won the Coca-Cola 600, beating Bobby Labonte by .027 seconds in a record-setting race for yellow flags, and earned four consecutive wins at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He lost the championship at the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway after a mid-race crash caused by a tire problem, finishing fifth in points.
In 2006, Johnson won the Daytona 500 to open the season with Earl Barban as his new spotter. He also won at Las Vegas, Talladega, Indianapolis, and Martinsville. Despite mishaps in the first four Chase races — including a DNF at New Hampshire and a penalty at Kansas — he rallied with five straight Top 2 finishes including a Martinsville win to claim the championship from eighth in the standings. He was named Driver of the Year and won a total of seven championships across his career, receiving the Driver of the Year Award in 2006.
In 2007, Johnson won ten races, sweeping both events at Richmond, Atlanta, and Martinsville. He won his second consecutive championship with an average Chase finish of 5.0, and added his 33rd career win, placing him eighteenth on the all-time list.
In 2008, Johnson became the second driver to win three consecutive NASCAR Cup championships (after Cale Yarborough). He won seven races including a sweep at Phoenix — five of those seven wins starting from pole — and recorded a career-high six poles. He was also named Driver of the Year and won an ESPY as Best Driver. During the season, in his first-ever NASCAR Craftsman Truck race at Bristol, he led 28 laps before spinning out.
In 2009, Johnson won his fourth consecutive championship — the only driver in history to win four back-to-back titles. He won seven races including a third straight Checker Auto Parts 500 and both Dover races. He won his third Driver of the Year Award, tying Jeff Gordon, Mario Andretti, and Darrell Waltrip, and became the first racing driver named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year.
In 2010, Johnson won his fifth consecutive championship, becoming the only driver to qualify for the Chase every year since its 2004 inception. He scored six wins including at Auto Club, Las Vegas, Bristol, Sonoma (his first and only road course win), New Hampshire, and Dover. At New Hampshire, Kurt Busch bumped him for the lead, and Johnson returned the favor two laps later to win. He won his fourth Driver of the Year Award, joining Jeff Gordon as the only four-time recipients.
In 2011, Johnson won two races. The most dramatic was the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, where he won by 0.002 seconds over Clint Bowyer — the closest recorded finish in Talladega history, tying the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 for the closest margin of victory in NASCAR history. He finished sixth in points.
In 2013, Johnson won the Daytona 500 — his second, and first with crew chief Chad Knaus — leading the final restart with five laps to go and holding off Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin. He led the points standings for nearly the entire regular season, including leading 346 of 500 laps at Martinsville for his eighth win at that track. He won a record fourth All-Star Race. He recorded six wins for the season and secured his sixth championship at the Homestead season finale.
In 2014, Johnson went winless through the first eleven races before winning the Coca-Cola 600 and Dover back-to-back. He dominated the fall Texas race to end an eighteen-race winless streak, but was eliminated from the Chase at Talladega with a 24th-place finish and ended eleventh in points — the first time in his Cup career outside the top ten.
In 2015, Johnson won at Atlanta, Texas, Kansas, Dover, and in the fall Texas race. His Kansas win set a Cup record of 23 wins on 1.5-mile tracks, his 200th top-five, and his 300th top-ten finish. His Dover win made him one of four drivers to win ten or more races at a single track and gave him 74 career wins, two short of Dale Earnhardt's then-record 76.
Johnson began 2016 at Atlanta Motor Speedway winning his 76th career race, tying Dale Earnhardt for seventh on the all-time wins list. He won his second race at the Auto Club 400 in overtime. In the Chase, he led 155 laps to win the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte — his eighth win at the track — and won at Martinsville to lock into the Championship 4. In the season finale at Homestead on November 20, after starting from the rear due to a pre-race inspection fault, Johnson progressed through the field and avoided a late massive crash triggered when Carl Edwards hit the inside wall, then won the race and the championship on the final restart, passing Kyle Larson. This tied him with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for seven all-time championships.
In 2017, Johnson won back-to-back at the O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 in Texas and the Food City 500 at Bristol. He then won at Dover in June — his record-holding 11th Dover win and 83rd career victory, tying Cale Yarborough. This was his final NASCAR Cup Series win. At Pocono in the same season, his brakes failed at over 200 mph and he impacted the SAFER barrier; Jamie McMurray behind him also suffered brake failure, igniting a large vehicle fire. Both were uninjured. Johnson qualified for the 2017 playoffs but was eliminated at Phoenix when a tire blew in turn three on lap 148. He finished tenth in the standings.
In 2018, Johnson and long-time crew chief Chad Knaus parted ways after seventeen years — the longest partnership in NASCAR history. Johnson went winless for the first time in his full-time career, with only two top-fives and eight top-tens, finishing fourteenth in points.
Johnson went winless again in 2019 and missed the playoffs for the first time in his career. The 2020 season was announced as his last full-time year. On July 3, 2020, he tested positive for COVID-19, missing the Brickyard 400 and ending a 663-race Cup start streak; he was cleared to return on July 8. He finished his final full-time season with ten top-ten finishes, the lowest of his career, and missed the playoffs for a second consecutive year. In his final non-playoff race at Darlington, he ran a throwback scheme combining those of Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty to honor the two other seven-time champions.
In 2021 and 2022, Johnson competed in the IndyCar Series for Chip Ganassi Racing. Initially racing only road and street courses, he ultimately agreed to run ovals and made his Indianapolis 500 debut in 2022, leading two laps and being named Rookie of the Year despite a late-race crash. He collected his first IndyCar top-five at Iowa Speedway on July 24, 2022. In December 2021 he had announced he would contest the full 2022 schedule.
In sports car racing, Johnson competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona multiple times, finishing second in 2005 with Howard-Boss Motorsports and again in 2008 with Bob Stallings Racing (alongside Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty), and a third second-place finish in 2021 for Action Express Racing alongside Simon Pagenaud, Kamui Kobayashi, and Mike Rockenfeller. At the 2002 Race of Champions, he was eliminated by world rally champion Marcus Grönholm but won the teams' championship for Team USA alongside Jeff Gordon and Colin Edwards.
In November 2022, Johnson purchased an ownership stake in Petty GMS Motorsports. On January 11, 2023, the team was rebranded as Legacy Motor Club, with Johnson running the No. 84. In 2025, Johnson was named majority owner of Legacy Motor Club. At the 2025 Daytona 500, he finished third — his highest finish at that race since winning in 2013.
Johnson's 83 career points-paying victories placed him sixth on the all-time Cup Series wins list at the time of his full-time retirement. He is tied first with Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty for most NASCAR Cup Series championships (7) and holds the record for most consecutive championships (5). He is the all-time winningest Cup driver at Auto Club Speedway (6), Charlotte Motor Speedway (8), Dover International Speedway (11), Las Vegas Motor Speedway (4), and Texas Motor Speedway (7). He qualified for the NASCAR playoffs in 15 consecutive seasons, the longest such streak. Johnson won the Driver of the Year Award five times (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2013).
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