IndyCar: The huge impact of Jimmie Johnson’s announcement

By Asher Fair | Oct 25, 2020

Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing, IndyCar (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

Jimmie Johnson is set to run a 13-race IndyCar schedule for Chip Ganassi Racing with Carvana as his primary sponsor in 2021, an announcement which has a huge impact for the team beyond Johnson simply landing a ride.

When seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson signed a multi-year contract to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing’s IndyCar team in the road and street course races, there was never a guarantee that he would actually get to compete behind the wheel of one of Chip Ganassi’s Honda-powered open-wheel race cars.

The reason for this was the fact that the 45-year-old El Cajon, California native needed sponsorship, as is the case in all forms of motorsport.

He got it, as online auto retailer Carvana signed on for his entire 13-race effort for 2021.

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But as big of an announcement as it was to officially confirm Johnson’s road and street course effort next year, marking a switch to open-wheel racing for one of stock car racing’s all-time greatest wheelmen, this announcement goes deeper than simply confirming Johnson’s effort for Chip Ganassi Racing.

While neither Chip Ganassi Racing nor Arrow McLaren SP have confirmed the departure of Felix Rosenqvist after the 2020 season, it has been reported by multiple sources that Rosenqvist will be vacating the #10 Honda, which is sponsored by series title sponsor NTT Data, following this afternoon’s season finale on the streets of St. Peterburg, Florida to replace Oliver Askew behind the wheel of the #7 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren SP.

But Johnson isn’t moving to the #10 Honda, nor will he be backed by NTT Data.

Johnson is set to continue to use the number 48, which he has used throughout his entire Cup Series career driving a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

Most importantly, the #48 Honda will NOT be a part-time car; it is set to be a full-time entry, meaning that the team are set to announce an oval driver at a later date.

As for the rest of Chip Ganassi Racing’s 2021 driver lineup, Scott Dixon is set to return for another year behind the wheel of the #9 PNC Bank Honda while Marcus Ericsson is expected back for another season behind the wheel of the #8 Huski Chocolate Honda.

So we’re looking at a situation where Chip Ganassi Racing have one seat to fill for an entire season and another one to fill just for the four oval races on next year’s 17-race calendar.

Could Kevin Magnussen, who is set to lose his ride with the Haas Formula 1 team at the end of the year and has expressed his desire in IndyCar in the past, be a good fit for the full season, especially after the team picked up ex-Formula 1 driver Ericsson?

How about Askew, whom Rosenqvist is slated to replace? After all, he did impress the team in a test at Portland International Raceway last year, and the 2019 Indy Lights champion is a promising young driver.

And how about Tony Kanaan for the oval drive? Kanaan’s 2020 season was supposed to be his final season doing only the oval races for A.J. Foyt Enterprises, but he doesn’t want that to be the case with how the season turned out.

This would give the 2004 series champion and 2013 Indy 500 winner a chance to return to the team he drove for from 2014 to 2017 behind the wheel of a competitive car for four races at three tracks where he has had previous success.

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Johnson’s sponsorship announcement was a huge deal for obvious reasons, but it is only one small step toward determining what Chip Ganassi Racing’s entire driver lineup will look like next year. With just one race to go in the 2020 season later today, a race in which Dixon is favored to clinch his sixth career championship, the focus will undoubtedly begin to shift in that direction in the very near future.