Kevin Harvick Delivers a Major Blow to Jimmie Johnson’s Next Gen Hopes: “Impossible to Be Successful”

NASCAR Cup Series racing is just a different ball game with the Next Gen car. While Jimmie Johnson was hoping to repeat his dominant track record at Texas last Sunday, he had to deal with the harsh realities of modern-day NASCAR racing. Forget about contesting for a win, the driver of the No. 84 Toyota car struggled to find any sort of grip the entire race.

But how come a seasoned race car driver like Jimmie Johnson is struggling to find his groove with the race car? While there are obvious answers, Kevin Harvick delivered a perfect explanation, even making a bold prediction regarding Johnson’s future run in the Cup Series in 2024.

Harvick reveals the reason behind Johnson’s underwhelming run in Texas

It has to be noted that Jimmie Johnson is returning to competing in multiple races for the first time since his full-time season, back in 2020. Moreover, he also had to transition from driving a Chevrolet race car to a Toyota in 2024. With nine races lined up this season, the driver is looking to add more wins to his illustrious trophy cabinet. However, Harvick feels he won’t be able to reach his objectives this season.

Speaking on the Happy Hour podcast, the former SHR driver shared his opinions, “Look Jimmie’s in a position that’s impossible to be successful in and as painful for me as that is to say, it’s impossible for him to be successful unless its at a Talladega or a Daytona“.

Further explaining his stance, he said, “Because these cars are so much different to drive and if you’re not in them every week with the progression that happens of how you driver them, what you feel and get in front of little loose like he had this weekend, it’s going to be near impossible for him to ever be as competitive as he would want to be”.

He also touched upon the difficulties of racing in Texas, “We saw guys wreck on both ends of the racetrack. It really became Turns 3 and 4, and that big bump… It’s such a tough track when you get the bump stop limiters and everything you got going on with the car to get it right, you want to be as low as possible in 1 and 2, and that requires you to be on the edge on 3 and 4. The bump gets higher as the second groove comes in, it becomes very difficult to go through it.”

Johnson himself identified the major difference in racing styles and accepted that his style of running the race on the edge certainly isn’t the best practice.

Jimmie Johnson acknowledges the change in racing dynamics

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The Next Gen race car does not have the luxury of raw power from the engine. This has forced the drivers to adjust their racing patterns and prioritize the track positions. However, given the fact that Johnson crashed in the practice, he started from the tail end of the field. Therefore, the only way he could have gained position was by running on the edge, which is exactly what he tried and thus resulted in spinning off the track.

Highlighting the key difference in the race car, Johnson, via Autoweek, said, “I spent a lifetime running a car off the right rear. This car, you just cannot do that. From the aero platform, the tire and I believe the sidewall stiffness of the tire, you can’t slip and slide this car around like I like to do. I kept telling myself coming into this weekend that I need to drive off the right front.”

It will be interesting to see if Jimmie Johnson proves Kevin Harvick wrong, and he does have a good shot at doing so with seven more races that are lined up for him this season.