NASCAR legend ‘all in’ on bold move to IndyCar
These days, driving legend Jimmie Johnson does not clean up quite like he once did.
The transition from the NASCAR Cup Series to IndyCar has required Johnson to roll up his sleeves, dig in and get to work. Yet when the day is done, the 45-year-old is struggling to find a shirt that actually fits him anymore.
“There’s no chance I can button my dress shirts and put a tie on right now,” Johnson said, with a laugh. “I need to update my wardrobe.”
Once called a fitness freak in a firesuit, Johnson has changed his body significantly and radically shifted his mindset as he makes the perilous leap from stock car to openwheel racing, continuing with Sunday’s stop at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
While Johnson’s transition to another racing discipline is inching along — he came in 19th of the 20 cars that finished last weekend’s season opener in Alabama — the seventime NASCAR Cup Series champion expects to find his stride as IndyCar’s most unlikely rookie.
“I don’t plan to be at the back of the pack,” Johnson said. “My intention is to be in contention and in the thick of things.”
Johnson does not embark on a new challenge without a path to success clearly mapped out. He ran the 2019 Boston Marathon in an impressive 3 hours, 9 minutes and 7 seconds, completing his first 26.2-mile race amid the NASCAR season.
“I don’t really half-ass much,” Johnson said. “I’m all in.”
Johnson’s eagle-eye focus and unwavering determination are no guarantee of success in the IndyCar Series. This bold midlife move has presented Johnson challenges and adjustments at every turn.
“During this transition, it’s apparent to me just how specialized each form of racing is and the amount of time it takes to really get on pace to finish on the podium or win one,” said Johnson, who won 83 NASCAR Cup Series races before retiring in 2020.
Lack of effort will not cost Johnson his shot at a checkered flag.
Last October, the superfit Johnson set out to prepare himself for the extreme physical demands of racing IndyCars.
A NASCAR vehicle averages 3,000 pounds and reaches speeds a shade above 200 miles
VASHA HUN/AP
an hour on the sport’s largest tracks. IndyCars check in at about 1,350 pounds and reach speeds of 230 mph. IndyCars also have no power steering and feature wider, softer tires to better grip the track and only an air-shield to keep a driver’s torso and head from the elements.
The braking and cornering skills, followed by sprints in the straightaways, lead IndyCar drivers to experience a gravitational force of 4 to 5 multiple times during a single lap. A NASCAR driver rarely pulls even 3 g’s.
To contend with the demands on his body, Johnson said he had to vastly strengthen his neck, shoulders, forearms and lower back.
“All those forces are fed directly back to your arms and hands,” Johnson said. “From the nuances of bumps to the way a curve kicks back the steering, all of that shock comes back to your system. Also trying to turn the darn wheel at 160 miles per hours with 5,000 pounds of downforce on the car, it is a heavy, heavy steering wheel.”
Johnson might have run a marathon and completed triathlons, but he did not anticipate how IndyCar racing would tax his cardiovascular endurance.
“One thing I underestimated the most is the intensity and how high your heart rate is,” he said. “That intensity stays really high, the physical demand is very high, the cars are busy with the six-speed gearbox, tight little quarters, wrestling the steering wheel.”
Why someone with Johnson’s track record of success and financial security would endure physical punishment and humbling finishes provides a look into the mind of one of the most accomplished athletes of the 21st century.
Johnson’s first glimpse into his driving future occurred when he got behind the wheel of Formula 1 star Fernando Alonso’s car during the 2018 Rolex 24 race at Daytona International Speedway.
“I was like, I need more of this in my life,” Johnson recalled.
After calling quits on his NASCAR career after 20 years, Johnson planned to race sports cars occasionally in the IMSA and WEC series. But Johnson participated in a 2020 summer IndyCar test drive with Chip Ganassi Racing and was hooked.
“Once again, just exceeded expectations,” Johnson said. “The experience of just driving a race car was so high that I have found all this energy and life and motivation to dive in with both feet.”
Johnson is making baby steps for now. Alongside him are his wife, Chani, and two daughters, Genevieve and Lydia.
“Team Johnson is traveling and really enjoying this new twist in life,” Johnson said.
Johnson himself is leading the way, driving his familiar No. 48 car on a road he never saw coming.
“I honestly feel like I’m living the dream a second time in many ways,” he said. “I’m really starting all over again, and I am perfectly content with that. I’m perfectly happy with it.
“We’re going to see how far we go.”