Jimmie Johnson during NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 Media Day. (Photo: Cornnell Chu | The Podium Finish)
FORT WORTH, Texas — For the second time this season, Jimmie Johnson is back in the driver’s seat.
Johnson kicks off a string of three races over the next four weeks starting Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. He’ll also race at Dover Motor Speedway on April 28 and Kansas Speedway on May 5 as part of his nine-race slate.
The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion will admit — learning the Next Gen car is a task. He made three starts last year and intended to make more, but after a family tragedy over the summer, decided to postpone any other starts.
But now that Johnson will get behind the wheel regularly over the next month, he’ll have an opportunity to get comfortable with the car.
“I intended to run more events, and the unfortunate tragedy that our family experienced – it put the brakes on that,” Johnson explained in a press conference on Saturday. “To come back this year – on last year’s agenda, it was much more road course focus, trying to help our program get a bit stronger on road courses. We’ve shifted this year, for a variety of reasons, to run more mile-and-a-halves and the bulk of my schedule is mile-and-a-halves.
“To have them in close proximately to each other and then to be able to go back to Kansas twice – I think it is really going to help me extract as much as I can out of the car and help me give the best feedback that I can for my organization and directionally help us grow.”
Things are different for Johnson, even since stepping back in for three events last season. After becoming a part-owner of LEGACY Motor Club at the end of 2021, he’s spearheaded a rebrand and switch from Chevrolet to Toyota. The organization brought in TRD driver John Hunter Nemechek for its No. 42 entry and retained Erik Jones for his second stint with the OEM.
As a Chevrolet lifer during his full-time career at Hendrick Motorsports, it’s a complete change but something he’s embraced.
Jimmie Johnson during NASCAR Cup Series practice at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
“I don’t have a lot of time behind the wheel, but I’ve really enjoyed the relationship with everyone from TRD and Toyota Motor North America,” Johnson said. “They race in a different way. They have very meaningful relationships and a true definition of a partnership. I’ve really enjoyed the last two years of getting to know them and the last six or seven months of really working hand-in-hand, since the end of last season.”
Johnson’s history at Texas speaks for itself: seven victories and 16 top 10s in 35 starts. At one point, he won five of seven races in the Lone Star State from 2012 to 2015. His last few visits weren’t as kind though, finishing 26th or worse in his final three races due to a plethora of issues.
But because of the Next Gen car, he isn’t sure how his previous success will translate over — especially four years removed from racing full time.
“I found last year with the limited races that I’ve run is really, really different. I think the first 80 percent is normal, maybe 90 percent. But that last little bit and where you run the car – I spent a lifetime running a car off the right rear. This car you just cannot do that,” Johnson said. “From the aero platform, the tire and I believe the side wall stiffness of the tire, you can’t slip and slide this car around like I like to do. It got me in Charlotte – the last mile-and-a-half I was on in Charlotte – it got out front under me and I crashed. I kept telling myself coming into this weekend that I need to drive off the right front, and you drive through the right front and not my typical style of driving on or through the right rear tire.
“This track is really treacherous, and it is nice to see it widening out. I think last night with the truck race. We had some reports back with how the second groove was coming in and hopefully we are on the right pathway now to really start working in the middle of the track and widening this place out, and just go out and have some fun.”
However, Johnson will have to come from the rear on Sunday. He wrecked during practice and couldn’t post a qualifying lap. The team intended to fix the car rather than switch to a backup.
The Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 is set for 3:30 p.m. on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Kyle Larson is on the pole.
