’45-Year-Old Rookie’ Jimmie Johnson Reveals the Major Difference Between NASCAR & IndyCar

At the end of the 2020 season, Jimmie Johnson officially retired from NASCAR, ending a glorious era. Since then, he has been competing in IndyCar, which has been a dream for him. Recently, he made an appearance on CBS Mornings to talk about his IndyCar debut and on being one of the oldest rookies.

He said, “Yeah, 45-year-old rookie. Experience is one thing, but the cars in the series was totally different for me. So I truly was a rookie. The cars are 2-3 times the performance of a Cup car, especially in the tight turns and on the brakes. To re-learn and re-calibrate my senses for the faster car is quite a jump. You can [bump], but your success rate is pretty low. With the open wheels and the fragile nature of the cars, touching is something you don’t want to do in an IndyCar.”

Jimmie Johnson opened up on the prospect of an Indy 500 drive

Additionally, the 7-time NASCAR champion spoke about the chances of him making his Indianapolis 500 debut. So far, Johnson’s contract only blankets road courses. However, he will be hoping that the team will be open to negotiations for this season’s Indy 500. Unfortunately for the driver, there is not much to announce just yet.

For the moment, he will be waiting for the 2022 IndyCar season to begin. Additionally, the NASAR Cup Series championship is also waiting for its own 2022 campaign to kick off. The recently concluded NASCAR season was supposedly the first time there has been no 7-time champion on the grid. However, it is clear that Johnson has left his Hendrick Motorsports team in good hands.

That is if the likes of Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson are any proof. This is because, both Elliott and Larson won the 2020 and 2021 Cup Series championships, respectively. Furthermore, Alex Bowman and William Byron are also young and talented drivers. So, Johnson need not worry too much about his former team.

Only time will tell how the future pans out, for the driver and also for his former team.

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