Chandra Janway founded SOCO Gallery, a contemporary art space in Charlotte, North Carolina that Vogue, Forbes, and Architectural Digest have all covered since it opened in 2015. She is also married to Jimmie Johnson, the seven time NASCAR Cup Series champion, and most of what gets published about her stops there.
She was born Chandra Lynn Janway on July 16, 1978, and grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma. She has run SOCO for more than a decade, alongside her role as vice president of the Jimmie Johnson Foundation, which she and Johnson started in 2006.
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At a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Chandra Lynn Janway |
| Born | July 16, 1978, Muskogee, Oklahoma |
| Education | University of Oklahoma, business communication |
| Spouse | Jimmie Johnson, married December 11, 2004 |
| Children | Genevieve Marie Johnson (2010), Lydia Norriss Johnson (2013) |
| Career | Founder, SOCO Gallery, Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Nonprofit role | Vice president, Jimmie Johnson Foundation |
Growing Up in Muskogee
Janway’s father, Jack Janway, was a chiropractor in Muskogee, and her mother, Terry Janway, raised the family there alongside him. Janway studied business communication at the University of Oklahoma. She has said in an interview with StyleBlueprint that she also modeled in Europe during part of her college years before returning to finish her degree.
After graduating, she moved to New York City and signed with Wilhelmina Models. Modeling put her in the same social circle as Ingrid Vandebosch, who was married at the time to NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon. In 2002, Vandebosch introduced Janway to one of Gordon’s fellow drivers, Jimmie Johnson.
Meeting and Marrying Jimmie Johnson
Johnson proposed in 2003 during a snowboarding trip to Beaver Creek, Colorado. The two married on December 11, 2004, on the island of St. Barts. They honeymooned on a yacht loaned to them by Rick Hendrick, the owner of Hendrick Motorsports, the team Johnson raced for at the time.
A Foundation and Two Daughters
In 2006, Janway and Johnson founded the Jimmie Johnson Foundation, which supports public schools and children in need. Janway has served as its vice president since it started. The foundation reports that it has directed more than $13 million toward schools and community programs, primarily in California, Oklahoma, and North Carolina.
Their first daughter, Genevieve Marie Johnson, was born on July 7, 2010. In 2012, Janway and Johnson self published a photography book called On the Road, with images by photographer Missy McLamb. Their second daughter, Lydia Norriss Johnson, was born on September 6, 2013.
The Death of Jordan Janway
In March 2014, Janway’s brother, Jordan Janway, died in a skydiving accident near San Diego. He was 27 and had worked as a skydiving instructor with more than 1,000 jumps to his name. He collided in mid air with a student while teaching a maneuver called tracking. A statement from the Johnson family at the time described him as “an incredible son, brother, uncle and friend.”
Building SOCO Gallery
That same year, Janway began staging pop up art shows around Charlotte, starting with an exhibition by photographer Lyle Owerko at the Mint Museum. In 2015, she opened a permanent space in a renovated 1920s bungalow in the Myers Park neighborhood and named it Southern Comfort Gallery, now known as SOCO.
“Opening a gallery was never a goal of mine,” she told StyleBlueprint. She has said the idea grew out of a genuine interest in specific artists, rather than a plan to become a dealer, and that she wanted to bring people whose work she admired to Charlotte. She described the gallery’s atmosphere to Cultured Magazine this way: “I think artists love coming here,” she said.
SOCO is now a member of the New Art Dealers Alliance and shows work at fairs including the Dallas Art Fair, The Armory Show, and NADA Miami. Charlotte Magazine named Janway its Charlottean of the Year in 2017, and she sits on the boards of the Mint Museum and the North Carolina Museum of Art. The gallery added an annex space next door in 2021, and later opened a project space in New York’s Chinatown. Artists who have shown work there include Shara Hughes, Summer Wheat, and Clare Rojas. Janway has described her approach to collecting art, to Artsy, as “an addiction.”
The Deaths in Muskogee, Oklahoma
On June 26, 2023, police in Muskogee, Oklahoma found Janway’s parents dead alongside their 11 year old grandson. Officers had responded to a 911 call reporting a disturbance and a gun inside the house. Investigators identified the victims as Jack Janway, 69, his wife Terry Janway, 68, and their grandson, Dalton Janway, 11. Terry, who went by her middle name, Lynn, was named the suspect. A medical examiner’s report later concluded that she shot her husband and grandson before turning the gun on herself.
Johnson withdrew from that weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Chicago. He did not address the deaths publicly until a month later, when he wrote on Instagram: “Our family is devastated by the profound loss of Lynn, Jack and Dalton Janway.” Janway has not commented publicly on the deaths. Her husband’s Instagram statement and his race team’s brief comments remain the only public record from the family.
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Chandra Janway Today
Johnson became majority owner of Legacy Motor Club in January 2025. Their older daughter, Genevieve, left home for boarding school that fall, something Johnson has said was harder on him than he expected. He continues to race part time in the NASCAR Cup Series and the Craftsman Truck Series, and made the field for the 2026 Daytona 500 earlier this year.
SOCO Gallery remains open in Myers Park today, more than a decade after Janway staged her first pop up show there, and she continues to run it alongside her work at the Jimmie Johnson Foundation. She turns 48 next week.
