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Jimmie Johnson ‘excited and ready’ ahead of Indianapolis 500 debut


INDIANAPOLIS – Jimmie Johnson sets his alarm for 5:48 am – he uses the number 48 in nearly all of his normal activities – hoping to practice before opening day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The excitement is at his best.

Johnson wakes 15 minutes before the alarm goes off, anxious to begin preparations for his Indianapolis 500 debut. It’s been 46 years for Johnson, but he’ll finally achieve his childhood dream on the 29th. May as rookie Indy 500.

Johnson told the Associated Press on Tuesday morning as he sat with teammate Tony Kanaan on the wall of the iconic highway pit: “I’m happy and ready to go.

The dream of running “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” took a while. His career path brought him to NASCAR, and he won a record seven Cup Series titles. He left NASCAR at the end of 2020 to try out IndyCar with the caveat that he wouldn’t drive because of his wife’s concerns about the safety of open-wheel racing.

It gave him a two-week break last May and he ended up attending his first Indy 500. Johnson is an NBC Sports spectator, fan and analyst. By the time Helio Castroneves took the checkered flag for a record fourth win on the Indy 500, Johnson knew he wanted to be on the show.

He’s just not sure how to make it happen.

“I think even 12 months ago today, I don’t think it’s possible,” he told the AP. “After the race, I started the process I needed at home, and in the store, and Tony (Kanaan), and it still took months, months and months to get it right. But when I look back it’s just 12 months ago, there was no possibility of this happening.”

Started getting into the 500 with convincing his wife, Chani, that the cockpit-protecting aeroscreen that IndyCar adds in 2020 has dramatically improved safety concerns around the exposed head of the occupant. drive. Then he had to make sure Chip Ganassi Racing would still have 500 seats for Kanaan, who ran the rugby last year while Johnson handled the tracks and streets. Johnson also had to make sure sponsor Carvana was interested in sponsoring the Indy 500. And then he still had to actually drive an Indy car on an oval to determine if he really wanted the life. this adventure or not.

All the boxes checked, Johnson tested at Texas Motor Speedway and Indy, then finally launched the oval IndyCar in Texas in March. He finished sixth and was immediately a candidate for the race. Indy 500.

That’s right: Johnson knew his way around Indy well and won four times as a NASCAR driver, including three wins in four races between 2006 and 2009. That familiarity has was evident on Tuesday as Johnson rose to the top of the speed charts in the morning. , and third fastest overall at the end of the day with a lap of 227,722 mph (366.48 km/h).

As he got off the pit for the first time on Tuesday morning, he looked overhead over the highway and waved to his father, Gary, who is his son’s second follower for the next two weeks. It’s a couple that never would have happened when Johnson started racing as a child.

The rest of the family is not yet in Indy. Chani Johnson is abroad on his own business, and Johnson has been commuting between North Carolina and Indianapolis since last Saturday’s race on the road so he can join his two young daughters in their private activities. surname.

He plans to return home again on Wednesday night and then the whole family will be at the qualifying track later this week. Johnson knows his wife is still uncomfortable – he said friends told him she’s turning away from racing early in Texas, “she said, ‘I don’t like this,’ he told me. something I don’t want him to do” – but he believes his strong showing in Texas has prepared her for the Indy 500.

“At the end of Texas, she jumped because I was passing a car,” Johnson said. She was of course a little nervous, but she could feel how special this race was. ”

Johnson is one of seven Indy 500 rookies entering the tournament this year, and if he wins the race’s rookie, he will be the oldest of 106 Indy 500 runs. Lyn St. James was 45 years old when she became the first woman to win Indy’s top 500 rookie title in 1992.

The rookie award will be welcomed, but Johnson is on a journey to victory. He believes if he runs a smart race at Ganassi’s 48 that he has as good a chance as anyone.

“I ran a lot of laps in the SIM, controlled a lot of laps in my head, I was up early and ready to go,” Johnson said. “I feel at home here.”



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