Jimmie Johnson is ready for an incredible ride when he makes his Indianapolis 500 debut Sunday behind the wheel of the No. 48 Carvana/American Legion Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Sure, he’s started 18 races and won four on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s iconic 2.5-mile oval in the NASCAR Cup Series. But the IndyCar Series is a totally different, and faster, beast at the mammoth venue.
The seven-time NASCAR champ’s old racing pals — Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick, who are both part of NBC’s Indy 500 broadcast team — have confidence in Johnson and high hopes for his first Indy 500 and only second IndyCar oval race.
“I think Jimmie could surprise a lot of people,” Earnhardt said Tuesday during an NBC press conference call.
“This whole month, he was able to have so much time with the car and the team at the facility, sort of move beyond the enormity of the moment. I know that’s going to be nearly impossible when he walks out on the grid for the race to sort of be beyond the enormity of the moment or the weight of it. I really think Jimmie could do really, really well.”
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Earnhardt also pointed to Johnson’s strong sixth-place finish in his first IndyCar oval race at Texas Motor Speedway in March as a possible indicator of how he could do Sunday.
Johnson — who retired from NASCAR at the end of the 2020 season and was an IndyCar rookie in 2021 — has done fairly well with fast practice speeds throughout the last couple weeks, plus a couple small mistakes in there. During the two-day qualifying last weekend, he had a solid four-lap average speed of 231.264 miles per hour and will start 12th.
“He did a tremendous job, which, honestly for me — I’ve known Jimmie for a long time and [we’re] good friends — I would expect nothing less,” said Scott Dixon, Johnson’s Ganassi teammate and the 2008 Indy 500 winner. “This is definitely more on his wheelhouse, something he feels more comfortable with, outside of the other part of the season where he’s still learning a lot.”
Even though Johnson’s IndyCar oval experience remains limited, Patrick said “he’s going to have a great chance to have a good day.”
232.398 MPH.@jimmiejohnson is the fastest rookie so far in his first #Indy500 qualifying attempt.
Watch live on @peacockTV: https://t.co/7aweZcszVk#INDYCAR // @IMS pic.twitter.com/OCyUWwhAzZ
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) May 21, 2022
After his 12 races last season, all on road and street courses, and five so far in 2022, he has so much more familiarity with the car now to help him in the Indy 500, she said. That includes everything from the steering wheel and tools inside the cockpit to pitting, restarts and how to pass.
“He seems to be happy and excited,” Patrick told For The Win. “My dad was just saying [Monday] night that he was watching qualifying with his dad, and his dad was like, ‘He’s just having a blast!’ So he’s really just having fun, obviously — fun at 240 miles an hour.”
“Indy cars are not stock cars,” she continued. “So there’s a lot that can go wrong. But I think the fact that he’s done Indy cars for so long now and run so many races and has so many miles, I think really does prepare him for this next step to doing ovals and being here at the Indy 500.”
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Dixon, the six-time IndyCar champ and now five-time Indy 500 pole winner, set the record for fastest pole speed in the race’s history with a 234.046 miles per hour four-lap average. Dixon, teammate Alex Palou and Rinus VeeKay also combined for the fastest front row in Indy 500 history.
So a traditionally fast race could reach even higher speeds this year, and that has Earnhardt a little on edge, knowing how competitive and intense Johnson is.
“I’m a little bit nervous because he seems to be pushing to the max,” Johnson’s former Hendrick Motorsports teammate said. “Every time he’s on the track, it’s like he is on the edge. Nobody’s going to reach out and tell a seven-time champion, with all the success he’s had in his career, what to do, how to drive, how to approach anything.”
Earnhardt said he hopes Johnson has a great experience regardless and a finish he can be proud of, but he continued expressing his concern.
“I am full of anxiety that he’s going to push, push, push too hard, and somehow that might put him in a bad situation,” Earnhardt added. “He’s gotten so, so close a few times already this month to some bad situations. But he’s a pro. You trust that he knows what he’s out there doing, understanding the limits of the car.”
For their picks to win the 2022 Indy 500, Patrick said she’s leaning toward Dixon, Palou or four-time Indy 500 winner Hélio Castroneves, also the defending champ.
“I would probably put my money on Dixon if it was me,” Earnhardt said. “I’d have a little bit on Jimmie, as well.”
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