Jimmie Johnson returns to race where INDYCAR career started

Jimmie Johnson enjoyed his two days of running around in circles last week during the Indianapolis 500 Open Test at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This weekend, Johnson’s INDYCAR career closes a circle as he returns to the race that began his new career as an INDYCAR driver.

It's the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama. This contest kicked off the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season on April 18, 2021.

Johnson arrived in Alabama with lots of fanfare as a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and winner of 83 races who was going to dramatically shift gears to INDYCAR. But Johnson knew he had plenty to learn in that first race and simply wanted to finish without getting in the way of the other 23 drivers in that race.

He accomplished that goal by starting 21st and finishing 19th, completing 89 of the 90 laps in the race after falling one lap down to race-winning Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Alex Palou.

Since that time, the driver who represents The American Legion has made dramatic improvement. He spent the first half of the 2021 season learning the differences between stock car racing and the more refined and aerodynamically advanced Indy car.

By the second half of the season, Johnson was able to make progressive improvement in each succeeding race. By the end of the season, Johnson was actually racing against his competition, and oftentimes outperforming some of the biggest names in INDYCAR.

He closed the season with two 17th-place finishes at Laguna Seca and Long Beach. In the season-finale at Long Beach, he finished 10 positions higher than he started.

So, one year and one week after his INDYCAR career began, Johnson has returned to where it all started at Barber Motorsports Park.

Johnson is hoping his familiarity with seeing tracks for the second time around will be helpful in his progress in INDYCAR. That appeared to work in 2021 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, which hosts two INDYCAR races a season.

Johnson finished 24th in the GMR Grand Prix at IMS in May and returned in August to finish 19th in the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix at IMS.

Johnson has competed in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach twice since the 2021 season began at Barber last year. Because of COVID restrictions in California, the Long Beach race was held Sept, 26, 2021. This year, it returned to its traditional April weekend date when it was held April 10.

Much has changed for Johnson since he began his INDYCAR career at Barber one year ago. At that time, he was competing in the street and road course races exclusively sharing the No. 48 Carvana/American Legion Honda with Tony Kanaan on the ovals.

This year, Johnson is competing in all races on the schedule including the 106th Indianapolis 500. Tony Kanaan will drive the No. 1 American Legion Honda in the 106th Indianapolis 500 on May 29.

Johnson was impressive in last week’s two days of testing for the Indy 500 and finished as the eighth fastest driver out of the 32 car/driver combinations that are entered in this year’s Indy 500.

Johnson ran the fastest lap of his life at 227.900 miles per hour.

“You notice it,” Johnson said of the speed. “It's a very cool sensation. Now I understand why when I've asked any of these guys, any of my friends that are drivers here, what it's like to go fast around here, they have a smile that I've always wondered what it's like.

“I haven't really been on the full boost, full power, qualification trim setting yet. I'm starting to get that grin. I look forward to having that big smile that all these guys have experienced.”

Johnson won’t be driving anywhere near that fast at the 2.3-mile, 17-turn Barber Motorsports Park, but the road course has its own unique challenges. It’s a natural terrain road course that features some high-speed corners with plenty of undulating, up-and-down areas of the course.

Plus, Johnson has been much more competitive in the Indy car on ovals than on street and road courses. He finished sixth in his only INDYCAR oval race, the March 20 XPEL 375 at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway. He backed that up with an impressive performance at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway last week.

Johnson realizes it’s time to improve his game on the street and road courses, beginning with this week’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.

“For me, the street and road course stuff are a separate world,” Johnson said. “It's no secret I've got a ways to go to catch up to everybody. I'm thankful that we're able to test at Barber. I feel like I'm much quicker than I was there last year. Just trying to take smart steps forward and find pace.

“Barber is a very demanding racetrack with a lot of penalties out there for you if you are too aggressive. I'm going to be smart with that.

“Thinking about Barber, I haven't been able to train too much with my hand situation, so this next 10 days will be important for me to make sure I get my grip strength and my muscle strength kind of in my right arm up to par so I can be physically ready for the race.

“Between now and the Indy 500, I have to sit and wait. I think there's actually two road course races before we get on the oval. So, my expectations for street and road are keep improving, try to work my way in the mid pack, and when we get back here, I think my expectations will go up quite a bit.”

Johnson and his INDYCAR competitors hit the track for practice on Friday at 4 p.m. Eastern Time. There is another practice session Saturday at 10 a.m. ET followed by knockout qualifying culminating with the Firestone Fast Six at 1 p.m. ET.

Final practice is Saturday at 5:20 p.m. ET. All can be watched on the Peacock streaming service.

The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama is scheduled for Sunday with the NBC broadcast beginning at 1 p.m. ET. Green flag is set for 1:15 p.m. ET.

INDYCAR races are a great time to participate in The American Legion’s Buddy Check program. Call a fellow Legion member and head to the local American Legion post to watch the race on TV.