After accomplishing so many feats with NASCAR, Jimmie Johnson is not done with the desire to become better in another discipline.
Johnson left NASCAR full-time racing as one of the most decorated drivers of all time. While many might retire happily with his accomplishments, the former Hendrick Motorsports driver is not done racing yet.
His level of commitment to racing has impressed Chip Ganassi Racing’s managing director Mike Hull who said:
“Every waking moment, he’s working on it. He’s trying to make himself better. He’s done great things in NASCAR and, let’s face it, a lot of drivers would ride off into the sunset and just show up to the Hall of Fame dinners, but he’s still hungry to go racing and to drive an IndyCar, and he wants to drive it well.”
Johnson will participate in select IndyCar events for the 2021 season, sharing racing duties with Tony Kanaan for the No. 48 car. While it might be a different sports to NASCAR, but it still is within the racing discipline. And, Johnson’s technical knowledge of racing will come in handy for the seven-time Cup Series champion.
“I think there’s trepidation for him,” said Hull. “But we’ve seen measured growth since we started with him. In the very technical parts of the race track, he’s as good as anybody. It’s having the understanding in the higher-speed corners of what this fairly well-downforced road-course car will accept, and he’s trying to relate the feel of that to the feel of what he’s raced in the past.”
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