CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Jimmie Johnson is mingling with friends in a wine-and-cheese kind of setting. There's television star Angie Harmon and her famous football husband Jason Sehorn over here. There's a CNN crew shooting a segment over there.

They've all gathered at the Hartz Witzen Gallery in Charlotte's art district to unveil 68 blown-up photographs from a book recently published by Johnson and his wife, Chandra.

Fourteen studios are within the perimeter of this building in historic NoDa, where artists paint, sculpt and perform on a daily basis. Just down the street in this offbeat area are funky restaurants where the typical demographic is much different than you'll find anywhere else in town, way different than a NASCAR crowd.

NASCAR and an art gallery.

What's wrong with this picture?

"I wondered the same thing," says Clint Bowyer, who climbed into Chase contention with a victory in Saturday night's Sprint Cup race. "[Jimmie] makes a lot of money. And when you make a lot of money, you've got a lot of friends that make a lot of money, and apparently they like art.

Jimmie Johnson autographs one of his books, "On the Road," at the Hartz Witzen Gallery in Charlotte's art district. HHP/Gary Eller

"I'm a long ways from art in my life. I don't have a lot of art hanging on my walls. A new Harley is art to me."

Bowyer is joking as usual, but there is some truth in his humor.

"I've got an art gallery," says Johnson's team owner, Rick Hendrick, referring to the warehouse adjacent to his Hendrick Motorsports empire where he houses a lifetime of memorabilia. "Mine's called the Redneck Disney World."

Again, NASCAR and art.

What's wrong with this picture?

Nothing when you consider it is Johnson. The five-time Cup champion, beyond being one of the most talented drivers in NASCAR history, is one of the most diverse.

He is as comfortable at an art gallery in Los Angeles or New York City as he is on a barstool in North Carolina or behind the wheel of the No. 48 Chevrolet.

The 208-page book of pictures photographed by Missy McLamb is called "On the Road." In it you'll get an up-close look into the personal lives of Johnson, Chandra and daughter Genevieve Marie -- Evie for short -- during their 10-week run at the 2011 title that came up short.

"When Jimmie started doing this project, what he wanted to show NASCAR fans, and even other sports figures and people outside the sport, was what he goes through during that grueling 10 weeks," Chandra says.

He shows much more.

"When we initially started the project I was real organized, like, 'OK, 10 weeks. We'll tell a story and what went on,'" Johnson says. "Then as we got into the project it started to open up and become more about the images."

Johnson can't give you some deep meaning or life lesson about each photo. But if you had time he could go one by one and "paint a picture for you."