NASCAR Community Including Chase Elliott Reacts as Jimmie Johnson Partners Herta to Shock F1 Duo at the Race of Champions

Earlier, the annual Race of Champions concluded with Team Norway winning. However, the big story was Team USA storming to a fine 2nd place ahead of Team Finland. To make matters all the more impressive, the pair of Jimmie Johnson and Colton Herta stunned overwhelming favorites Germany.

The duo was up against a star-studded line-up of Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher. This was pretty much a big win for IndyCar over its global counterpart, Formula One.

The original pairing for Team USA was Jimmie Johnson and Travis Pastrana. However, Pastrana picked up an injury, so Herta got the nod to take his place.

Naturally, many in the NASCAR and IndyCar community were thrilled after this result.

Among the many well-wishers was Johnson’s former teammate, Chase Elliott. The 2020 Cup Series champion declared that it was ‘awesome’ that the two drivers achieved this feat. Meanwhile, fellow IndyCar driver Devlin DeFrancesco pitched the idea of Team Canada with James Hinchcliffe as his teammate.

Jimmie Johnson is preparing for the real test

Now that the team competition is over, the next day will bring on the individual showdown. This time around, it is every man for himself. In other words, Johnson and Herta may have been teammates now, but they will be rivals tomorrow. Last time out, it was Sweden’s Timmy Hansen who won the individual competition. Meanwhile, the French-British All-Stars pair of James Baldwin and Romain Grosjean won the team championship.

There was no race in 2021, but now there is a chance to make history at the Race of Champions. This is because, whoever wins, will have the honor of being the first driver to win on ice and snow. Of course, in the individual competition, the F1 pair of Vettel and Schumacher will be seeking payback. So the big question is, who will win between F1 and IndyCar? Or will the other contenders try and spoil the party? To be fair, the snow and ice surface may benefit the rally drivers, but just about anything can happen.

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