Things are going to be a little different for Jimmie Johnson this season. 

Ron Malec, the car chief for Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 team for the last 16 years, is coming off the road to work as the vehicle final assembly manager for Hendrick’s Monster Energy Cup Series program according to Motorsport.com.  

“My asphalt career, we started that together,” Johnson told Motorsport.com. “We both started out at the bottom of the food chain in both our professions. We shared our racing dreams together, and then were actually able to experience them from the lowest level to the highest level over the last 20 years. It was 1997 when we first got our apartment. So to experience all that together is pretty awesome.”

During his tenure, the team has won seven Cup titles, 83 wins, 35 poles, 222 top fives and 341 top 10s in 579 starts. In May of 2017, Malec was presented with the Brian Lunniss Lifetime Achievement Award by Mechanix Wear.

“It’s been one hell of a ride for sure,” Malec said. “I wouldn’t change anything that we’ve done. I was so fortunate to meet Jimmie when we were younger—get hooked up with such a great person and be part of his career the way I have been. It’s been incredible. I hope that I can continue to help our organization at the shop in my new position and try to make all four teams successful for Hendrick Motorsports.”

Last year, Johnson had three wins, four top fives and 11 top 10s.

“There’s a major portion of this job that is more than just racing,” Malec said. “You get to be with your team and the guys that you travel with every week. And the friendships--I’ve worked with so many great people. So many friends come and go from this team, and I’m working with a great group right now, some of my closest friends. That’s what I'm going to miss the most,” he said.