IndyCar: Jimmie Johnson ‘announcement’ coming later today

An announcement we’ll “want to tune in for” regarding IndyCar driver Jimmie Johnson is set to be made later this morning on the TODAY Show.

After 19 years of full-time competition behind the wheel of the #48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series, Jimmie Johnson made the switch to IndyCar ahead of the 2021 season.

The seven-time Cup Series champion and 83-time race winner competed in the 12 road and street course races on the 16-race 2021 IndyCar schedule behind the wheel of the #48 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing alongside full-time drivers Marcus Ericsson, Scott Dixon and Alex Palou.

Tony Kanaan drove the car in the four oval races, including the 105th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Johnson joined the team on a multi-year deal ahead of the 2021 season, and he is set to return for the 2022 season as the road and street course driver of the #48 Honda.

Despite Kanaan also being set to return to the team for the oval races, there have been recent talks about Johnson adding oval races to his schedule for next year.

Specifically, the subject of Johnson competing in the 106th running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in a fifth Chip Ganassi Racing car has come up on multiple occasions.

However, nothing has been confirmed nor finalized by Johnson or the team, despite the fact that he has run multiple oval tests, including one at the Racing Capital of the World in October.

That might be changing later today.

Carvana, the primary sponsor of Johnson’s #48 Honda, posted to Twitter on Tuesday evening that Johnson will be on NBC’s TODAY Show on Wednesday morning at 9:00 a.m. ET to make an “announcement you’ll want to tune in for”.

Will this be the Indy 500 confirmation that fans have been waiting for? Will a full schedule for Johnson be confirmed for the upcoming 17-race campaign?

Multiple fans did point out that the wing used in the picture would not be one used at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-speed oval in Speedway, Indiana, so you surely won’t want to miss what’s ahead.

The 2022 IndyCar season is scheduled to begin on Sunday, February 27 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. The 106th running of the Indy 500, the second of five oval races on the schedule, is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 29. The season’s first oval race, the Genesys 600, is scheduled to take place at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 20.