Tragic Past: Family of Jimmie Johnson's Wife Suffered Previous Deadly Heartbreak

NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson's wife, Chandra Janway, endured an unimaginable loss years before the tragic death of her parents, Jack and Terry, as well as 11-year-old nephew in an apparent murder-suicide.

RadarOnline.com has learned the Janway family was rocked by the sudden loss of her 27-year-old brother, Jordan, who died in 2014 after a skydiving accident in San Diego.

Jordan suffered a mid-air collision with another seasoned skydiver while practicing a maneuver called "tracking" after leaping out of a plane around 13,000 feet in the air.

The impact that happened somewhere between 10,000 and 6,000 feet knocked him unconscious and left him unable to open his parachute, and a further means to protect him was not used that fateful day.

The owner of Skydive San Diego, where he was employed, said a chip that would have automatically deployed the chute in the event of emergency, was undergoing maintenance at the time. Due to the fact that Jordan had gone on more than 1,000 jumps, KNSD reported he was not required to have it on him and went without it.

"We pride ourselves on our safety and everything we do as far as our equipment, our airplanes," owner Buzz Fink said of Jordan, who was training other employees.

"However, it is skydiving and things can happen and generally you do everything we can to prevent it."

Johnson described his brother-in-law as a free spirit in his own statement, adding that he died doing what he loved and will forever be missed by those closest to him.

"He was a very adventurous guy — base-jumping and parachuting and wearing the squirrel suits, like you see the guys flying along the cliff sides, that's what he did. He's in a lot of those videos shooting that footage," the seven-time NASCAR champion said.

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The Johnson family has since requested privacy as they cope with the latest tragedy.

Jack and Terry were found dead on Monday in their Oklahoma home in what appeared to be a shocking murder-suicide committed by Terry amid an ongoing investigation.

Johnson and Janway's 11-year-old nephew, Dalton Janway, was also found dead.

The pro driver later announced that he bowed out of the upcoming Chicago race.