Seven-time Nascar Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson substantially raised his expectational level entering his first NTT IndyCar Series race on an oval at Texas Motor Speedway in the March 20 XPEL 375. Johnson’s goal was to finish in the top-10.
He delivered with a sixth-place finish after racing his way into the top-five with 12 laps to go when he passed six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon.
Although Dixon regained fifth place with two laps remaining, Johnson’s sixth-place finish proved that Johnson’s oval expertise makes him a challenger on the circle tracks.
It wasn’t long before he was out of his No. 48 Carvana/American Legion Honda at Texas Motor Speedway when his engineer, Eric Cowdin, came on the team’s radio and said, “Now, let’s go win the Indy 500.”
“Yeah, no pressure,” Johnson said. “This is a huge step in having a successful month of May at the Indy 500.
“I feel like that's an aggressive statement, for sure. But why not? Why can't we? The 500 is a special race. We've seen favorites win. We've seen the race won by strategy, first-time winners, a variety of different things that have taken place.
“Helio (Castroneves) is like ages older than me, and he won last year (both are 46). Really, anything's possible. Building off today, if I had a poor running today or didn't feel the car, get a sense of the car, I would think the hill to climb during the month of May would be much steeper.
“Learning what I did today, I'm going to start at such a better spot.
“If the race was 50 laps longer, I think I would have finished further forward. If I started 10th, the way the track played out, my result would have been better than a sixth.
“Why not? Let's dream big.”
A competitive Johnson in the 106th Indianapolis 500, would be yet another boost to a great sporting event that has been on a significant rebound since celebrating the 100th Indianapolis 500 in 2016.
Since that time, attendance and TV ratings appear on an upswing. Drivers from around the world, such as two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso generated huge international publicity with his first attempt in 2017. After skipping the Indy 500 in 2018, he returned in 2019 but failed to make the 33-car starting lineup.
Alonso made another attempt at the Indy 500 in 2020, but with no international media, limited domestic media and no spectators allowed and the race moved from Memorial Day Weekend to August 23 because of COVID-19, that attention was muted.
Spectator attendance was capped at 137,000 fans last year and more media were allowed to attend the Indy 500 and they saw one of the most memorable and emotional races ever. Helio Castroneves drove to victory, 20 years after his first Indy 500 win and became the fourth, four-time Indianapolis 500 winning driver in history.
A competitive Johnson in this year’s Indianapolis 500 will add yet another element to this year’s race.
“This is a huge step in having a successful month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” Johnson said. “Granted, it’s going to be a different track and a whole new learning curve. All the laps that I logged the past few days will be so helpful heading to the Indy 500.
“We knew oval racing would help.”
Behind the wheel of a Nascar Cup No. 48 Chevrolet at Hendrick Motorsports, Johnson was one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history with 83 victories. But 82 of those wins came on oval tracks, with just one on a road course.
When he decided to make a career switch from Nascar to IndyCar in 2021, he played it cautiously by competing only on the street and road courses on the schedule.
Because Indy cars race at significantly higher speeds than a stock car, Johnson wanted to feel confident about the safety aspects of the car, including the cockpit protection system known as an aeroscreen.
He worked for NBC Sports at last year’s Indianapolis 500 and, like so many drivers, fans, and sponsors before him, was instantly hooked on the event.
Johnson took steps in preparing himself for a run at the Indy 500 in 2022. He tested an Indy car on the Texas Motor Speedway on August 30 and then participated in the Rookie Orientation Program (ROP) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 6.
By then, Johnson was all in for a complete schedule of IndyCar racing and made his big announcement on NBC’s “Today” Show on December 15.
Back on an oval for the first time in an IndyCar race this past weekend, Johnson displayed flashes of brilliance when he raced his way forward from the 18thstarting position.
“I was feeling my way and it was just awful that far back in traffic,” Johnson said while standing on pit lane. “I was feeling my way and man, it was just awful that far back in traffic. As soon as I found a little confidence, I would have a big save, then back off and tiptoe back in. But after the first round of pit stops, we adjusted and that whole next stint was better.
“It took 124 laps at least before I got in my comfort zone. Once the tires got old and I was able to feel the car slip and slide, I could then understand what the cues are from the car. These cars are so flat and stable, I’ve been afraid to find the edge and make a mistake.
“Once I worked through a set of old tires, things really came to life for me and off I went.
“I would say after the first green flag pit stop; my confidence really came up. I had a good sequence and made up a spot or two on track and came out around some really competitive cars, fell right in line and I was fine. That really helped my confidence at that point.”
Johnson developed the confidence to take the slippery high line by studying Graham Rahal on the race track and how he was able to race up there successfully.
“’In the game, in the race’ is really when a driver learns the most,” Johnson said. “It’s one thing to watch video, but to feel the G forces, to feel the aerodynamics affect the car, understand where the weight on the tires are, when to use the gas and carry the momentum around the top, there is a whole sequence that has to happen.
“When you are following a car and see how he does it, then a light bulb goes off. Now, I see why, what how and try to apply that and go.”
Johnson believed his car felt comfortable throughout Saturday’s practice and qualifications, but he needed to go into battle to discover the keys to success.
“Until I got in the race, made big changes with the tools in the car, made pit stops, higher pressure adjustments, slipping and sliding on track was tough to find an edge,” he said. “All the laps I ran in the race today really helped me find where the edge was with the front axle of the car, the rear axle of the car, how to carry momentum, shifting, where and when to shift and why to shift. There are so many little nuances with these cars I never had to think about in the Cup car.
“I know I have a steep hill to climb on the road and street courses but coming to an oval and doing what I thought I could do in my heart and what Chip Ganassi thought I could do in his heart, feels really good.”
The battle Johnson fought with his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Scott Dixon, at the end of the race, that is when the reality of the moment struck him.
“When I was racing with Dixie (Scott Dixon) at the end, I thought that was pretty cool and pretty fun,” Johnson said. “What a special day.”
As for Dixon, it was a bit of a surprising moment when he realized how well Johnson was performing in an Indy car.
“It was cool,” Dixon said. “Because that last portion was so crazy, I nearly ran into the back of the 77 because he was going so slow, and I nearly got trained by another three cars. Jimmie was one of them.
“I looked at the scoring pylon and thought, ‘Man, Jimmie is ahead of us.’
“We’re happy he did such a tremendous job. You can see when he got out of the car, he said, ‘Man, that was so much fun. I wish the race had been just a bit longer.’
“That was cool to see. Hopefully, this gives him confidence on the ovals and on the road course races. It’s so difficult because the stuff he has to un-learn is the hard part. He has to un-learn everything he did previous, and then re-learn again.
“It was fun to race him.”
Josef Newgarden of Team Penske won the race in dramatic fashion as he tracked down teammate Scott McLaughlin to win the race with a pass in the last turn of the final lap.
It was Team Penske’s 600th win including all racing series.
“I was yelling, I was on the radio way before the line, which I don't normally do that,” Newgarden recalled. “You don't do that. You stay in the race. I was just so pumped up that, one, the car was sticking, I wasn't flying towards the fence. But I've never had a race end that way. I've never been in a position to capitalize on that type of victory.
“I was really excited. Still really am. That's one of the coolest wins, probably the coolest win I've ever had in the 2 car. Hopefully we have more of those. Yeah, really, really neat to be a part of that.”
When the race-winner was asked his comment on Johnson’s sixth place finish, it was the first Newgarden discovered where Johnson finished.
“Did Jimmie finish sixth?” Newgarden asked. “That's legit. Hard to finish sixth at Texas. It's hard. Like, that's really good.
“Not to take away from Jimmie, but it has been a steep learning curve. He's had to unlearn an entire career of operating procedures. The INDYCAR is so removed from what a stockcar is. For him to be able to get on top of that so quickly, it makes sense it's going better here at Texas, it's closer to what he's used to procedurally. I don't want to act too surprised because he is a seven-time champ, incredible worker, and teammate.
“Man, that's really good, though. First IndyCar oval race, sixth at Texas. These cars are hard to drive. The way that we draft, the way the groove works for us, you can't go up a lane or two like in a stockcar. They're scrubbing the car before he gets there. I need to watch this race back, see how he got there. I'm sure he'll be a huge threat at Indy then. Great news.”
Johnson provided the storyline throughout the race and Newgarden ended it in dramatic fashion with his last-turn, last-lap win.
The race was held at 11:30 a.m. local time in Fort Worth, Texas and appeared to have little to no pre-race promotion from Texas Motor Speedway or the local media. Despite a picture-perfect day with sunny skies and 70-degree temperature, the crowd appeared to be around 5,000.
TV ratings on NBC, however, continued an upward trend. According to an email from NBC Sports, the Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 966,000 viewers, was a slight increase vs. 2021, It was the most-watched March race ever, topping four prior races on NBCSN.
Two races into the 2022 season, IndyCar viewership is averaging a TAD of 1.181 million viewers, up percent over 2021.
Over on CBS, TNT, TBS, and TRU, the second round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament featured over 12 hours of college basketball coverage.
A sixth-place finish isn’t necessarily a “bracket-buster,” but considering Johnson’s short career in an Indy car, it was an impressive performance.
“I’m pretty sure Jimmie doesn’t care what other people think,” Dixon said. “We’re all competitive people. He’s a seven-time Nascar champion. He didn’t run Nascar just to have fun or do it for jollies. This definitely helps his mindset, but also on the other tracks, too.”
“Johnson grew up an IndyCar fan in El Cajon, California, but his career path took him to Nascar. He discovered life after Nascar by chasing his boyhood dream of racing an Indy car.
“I’m feeling more like an IndyCar driver now, but the scale still tilts more toward NASCAR,” Johnson said. “It’s getting close to center now.”
Did Johnson make a statement with his impressive race at Texas Motor Speedway?
“I feel like I did in my head, in my world,” Johnson said. “This is the world I came from, but I can’t express how different this world is than the one I came from.”
If Johnson can continue the improvement and competitiveness, he displayed at Texas into this year’s Indianapolis 500, it may be the start of “Jimmie Mania.”
“I'm not against that,” he said. “Let's go.”
