Johnson’s Indy quest goes through Texas

The next step for Jimmie Johnson to potentially compete in the 106th Indianapolis 500 will come Monday morning at Texas Motor Speedway.

That is when Johnson will test the No. 48 American Legion Honda on an oval for the first time in his career. It comes at the 1.44-mile high-banked oval where the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion won seven races, recorded 16 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes in 35 starts in the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

Per INDYCAR rules, Johnson has to pass a rookie test at an oval before he is allowed to run at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway in another test in October after this season concludes.

Once he passes INDYCAR’S scrutiny, he will then be allowed to compete in the Rookie Orientation Program for next year’s 106th Indianapolis 500.

“From INDYCAR’s perspective, and they laughed when they told me this, and I laughed as well, but they have to watch me drive on an oval first,” Johnson explained. “It’s just the way the rules work for any driver, doesn’t matter who you are. I believe even Juan Pablo Montoya had to come back to recertify to run the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“They need to see me on an oval in the process, and then I need to go drive the oval and work through my rookie orientation. Depending on how schedules work out, I think there’s a chance I could do that this fall, which would then allow me to be ready for the open test in the spring of next year and work my way into May.

“There’s a pathway if things work out and get a lot of laps at the Brickyard to build toward running that race.”

That pathway was originally scheduled to be a test at Homestead Miami Speedway before the end of August. But Johnson and his Chip Ganassi Racing team believed Texas Motor Speedway would be better suited for Johnson’s first oval experience in an Indy car because the series races at Texas, but not at Homestead. That gives CGR valuable data to compare Johnson’s lap times and race setups to the other drivers on the team.

“The goal was to test at Texas because of the experience we have had there,” Johnson explained. “We haven’t been to Homestead in eight years in an Indy car, but the track has been full. We are trying to be creative with hours of operation and when we can get on track, how we can get on track.

“On top of that, we have a two-day American Legion appearance in Arizona with the National Convention that fits in during open days that we are trying to jockey around.”

Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing, INDYCAR, Texas Motor Speedway and The American Legion certainly got creative.

Johnson’s test will begin at 6 a.m. Central Time on Monday and run through 12 noon CT. After that, Johnson will fly to Phoenix for The American Legion National Convention, which runs through September 2.

“We’re locked and loaded,” Johnson said. “We’re going to take that first step and see from there. The plan would be to get to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to really check that box at speed and see how I feel about that so we’re getting closer.”

Johnson’s INDYCAR rookie season has been on the street and road courses on the schedule. Although he has always dreamed of competing in the Indianapolis 500, he wouldn’t commit to competing on the 2.5-mile, high-speed Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval until his wife, Chani, and daughters felt comfortable about the endeavor.

If Johnson is able to get his family to agree, then he could be heading to next year’s Indianapolis 500 as a competitor.

“Man …. I’m probably going to be more careful in this decision than anything I’ve done,” Johnson said. “I feel there is this history of saying ‘no’ that’s following me. And it’s an interesting conversation in my head of safety vs. desire to be in the race, but the more I’m around the cars and at the track, the more I realize how safe these cars are.

“The addition of the aeroscreen in some crashing incidents is probably safer than the roof of a NASCAR vehicle.

“I say all that and can talk myself into running a full schedule next year. I’m trying to be smart about it and calculated. CGR has been super helpful of let’s put a stake in the ground, we’ll see how that goes and look at the next step. We’re methodically working through that. That’s good because it’s tempering my competitive desires and allowing me to learn more and educating my family on it, too, because Chani and the kids will have to sign off before I finally decide to do it.”

Despite the much higher speeds than he experienced in NASCAR, it didn’t take Johnson long as a driver to see the additional safety innovations in the Indy car. He believes the aeroscreen is the biggest reason he feels safe potentially running in next year’s Indianapolis 500.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever mentioned before, my career-long attorney Alan Miller has represented drivers and teams in INDYCAR for decades,” Johnson said. “He has lost five drivers over his time here and four of the five were on ovals and four of the five have the right front tire come back and strike the driver’s head, so that’s my data point and her’s (Chani).

“Now that the aeroscreen is on the car, you’re like ‘OK, that can’t happen.’ So, it’s helped me way more than her. I feel like every time she goes to the track and watches a car go through a turn, it maybe sets her back a little because the cars go so fast.

“Big picture, she’s trending the same way, but she’s never seen a car at 200 miles an hour.

“I’m deep in conversation with her because I don’t want the ‘Where did this come from?’ conversation.

“We’re just open about it ultimately. She’s trusting me more than anything because she doesn’t know what it’s like to be in the cars. She hasn’t been as close to it as I have, so it’s really on me to make the right decision.”