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IndyCar: Jimmie Johnson’s biggest lesson learned so far

By Asher Fair

Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing, IndyCar (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing, IndyCar (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /
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Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson opened up about the biggest thing he has learned through two IndyCar starts.

After 19 seasons of NASCAR Cup Series competition saw him win a record-tying seven championships and 83 races, Jimmie Johnson retired from stock car racing at the end of the 2020 season and made the move to IndyCar for 2021.

Johnson signed a two-year deal to drive the #48 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing in the road and street course races, and he made the first two starts of his career last month.

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He made his road course debut at Barber Motorsports Park and finished in 19th place, three laps off the lead lap, and he made his street course debut on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida and finished in 22nd, five laps off the lead lap.

Johnson knew going into the season that making such a drastic career shift would bring with it a substantial learning curve, and he wasn’t wrong.

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In those two races, three of the five caution flag periods that took place took place because of single-car incidents in which the 45-year-old El Cajon, California native was involved. We spoke to Johnson about his experience thus far and what he believes has been the biggest thing he has learned through two races at the highest level of American open-wheel racing.

“I would say the physicality and the intensity that comes with driving one of these cars,” Johnson told Beyond the Flag after discussing his new partnership with Alcon and their Pataday Once Daily Relief Extra Strength allergy eye drops. “The NASCAR vehicle, the start of a new tire run or the start of the race is when you can be the most aggressive with the car.”

That alone is a huge difference from his new endeavor.

“And in an IndyCar, it’s quite different; it’s actually the opposite. The tire and the track interact differently to where the track progressively gets faster,” he explained.

“And then in an IndyCar, you really have to tiptoe your way in and let the tires get up to temperature, the tires get up to pressure, before you can attack like you need to. And in that, it’s just a little different rhythm, if you will, of driving the car and trying to exploit all the speed that you can out of it.”

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Johnson is set to make his third career IndyCar start in the GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course this afternoon. NBC is set to broadcast this race live beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.