NASCAR: Will Jimmie Johnson compete in IndyCar in 2021?

Jimmie Johnson has competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series since the 2002 season. Could he compete in IndyCar in 2021?

Jimmie Johnson’s NASCAR Cup Series career, which began in the 2001 season before he became a full-time driver in the 2002 season, has been one of the most successful careers in Cup Series history.

The 43-year-old El Cajon, California native has only ever driven for Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup Series, and he has won a record-tying seven championships. His career victory total of 83 ranks in a sixth place tie on the all-time wins list.

Last summer, Johnson signed a contract to continue driving for Hendrick Motorsports through at least the 2020 season, and with Lowe’s, his lone primary sponsor over the course of his career, no longer sponsoring him with the 2018 season being in the books, Ally Bank stepped up to sponsor him in both the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

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But after the 2020 season, which would be his 20th overall season and 19th season as a full-time driver in the Cup Series, Johnson does not have a contract to continue driving.

There is a good chance that Johnson will retire after the 2020 season, especially given his recent drop in form that led to him finishing in a career-low 14th place in this past season’s championship standings with zero victories after he had won at least two races in each of his first 16 full seasons in the sport. He also recorded a career-low two top five finishes, 9,764 laps completed and 40 laps led.

There has already been speculation regarding who might replace Johnson behind the wheel of the #48 Chevrolet, the only car that he has ever driven in the Cup Series, in the 2021 season and perhaps beyond that.

Will one of NASCAR’s most successful drivers of all-time end up competing in IndyCar in 2021? Here is what he had to say about the possibility after he participated in a seat swap with two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso at Bahrain International Circuit, according to Yahoo Sports.

"“Without a doubt (I’m interested in IndyCar). 2020 is my last year under contract with Hendrick (Motorsports), and I’ve been approached many times about the Indy 500.“I grew up in Southern California in the ’80s and ’90s and NASCAR wasn’t around. It was just a southern sport and I didn’t know much about it at all. All of my dreams were to race IndyCar…Rick Mears came through the same form of auto racing that I did. Robby Gordon. Roger Mears, so that was the plan. I’ve always loved driving different cars. I’ve watched a lot of open wheel racing as a kid growing up and I’ve always had a great interest in Formula 1.“I’m not overly excited about those fast ovals, but I think with my status and relationships I could put together some road course races in IndyCar. I’d look at anything. I’ve done sports car racing in the past. I’ve finished second in the Rolex 24 a couple of times in the Prototype division. Would love to get back to doing that. Anything is open. I’m far from done. I want to keep driving and hopefully I can find some good opportunities.“I feel like drivers at a young age have to decide if they want to race sedans or open wheel cars. I don’t know if it’s right for that judgement to take place and I look back at my heroes…and when you look at Parnelli Jones, Mario (Andretti), Dan Gurney, Emmo (Fittipaldi), they raced anything. And I don’t know where that got lost. In the ’80s or ’90s, it was, ‘You’re just open-wheel and you’re just sedan.’“I don’t know why that’s there. I feel like an open-minded driver – and one that’s ready to work – could cross and go either direction. We’ve seen quite a few open-wheel guys try NASCAR and they’ve been competitive. I don’t think there’s been as many victories as some would have thought, but they’ve been competitive. No one has gone the other way. So I would love to see somebody go the other way.”"

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Do you believe that Jimmie Johnson will compete in IndyCar in some capacity in the 2021 season? If so, how big do you believe his commitment in the sport will be? If not, do you believe that he will return for yet another season in the NASCAR Cup Series that year?

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