INDIANAPOLIS – Jimmie Johnson felt comfortable from the first laps of the Indianapolis 500 prep.
The seven-time NASCAR champ knows his way around the Brickyard – he’s won the Indianapolis Motor Speedway four times in an antique car – so even a wall broom in an Indy car couldn’t make him either.
The 46-year-old entered the penalty shootout on Sunday with some of the fastest laps ever shot at Indy. His lap speed was 233,961 mph during Saturday morning practice was the 14th fastest lap ever filmed at the track. Hours later, he posted a qualifying four-lap average of 232,398 mph to lock himself into his first Indy 500.
Johnson was the sixth-fastest qualifying man and on Sunday had a hit to win the Indy 500 pole. The 12 fastest in the 33-car field have two shootouts on Sunday, and the “Fast Six” will book the first two rows for the May 29 race.
Can he really win the pole?
Johnson said: “I was shot. “I don’t know what the odds are, but I’ll post it for sure.”
This journey into the Indy 500 is like nothing Johnson has ever experienced in a career spanning more than two decades.
“There’s really no comparison at all, which is very intense,” he said. “Plus you have to run four laps, not just one. But there’s more to the driver here than what goes on in the Daytona 500 qualifying.”
Johnson qualified just behind his two Chip Ganassi Racing teammates as all five Honda-backed drivers advanced on Sunday. Defending series champions Alex Palou was fourth and Tony Kanaan was fifth. Marcus Ericsson is eighth and Scott Dixon is 10th.
Really, all Ganassi drivers are fast.
“I think the speed scares my kids,” Johnson said. “When they see me, their eyes. They’ve been in a lot of races, but they’ve never looked at me like that.”
Johnson’s trusted mentor, Kanaan, cheered for his friend throughout the run. And when Kanaan completed his attempt at 232,625, the two celebrated with a hug near Victory Lane. The two smiled, exchanged friendships and wished each other good health in Round 2 on Sunday.
“It was amazing,” said Kanaan. “We’ve created a really strong relationship.”
Without Kanaan’s help, Johnson might not be here.
The 2013 Indy winner and 2004 series champion is expected to compete in Johnson’s No. 48 Honda. But when the Californian expressed interest in adding the oval to its IndyCar repertoire on the roads and streets, Kanaan slowly stepped aside and found enough corporate funding to fund 500 efforts his own.
Now both are in the penalty shootout.
Johnson’s transition from heavier, slower Cup cars to Indy cars requires time, effort, patience, and some trusted advice from Kanaan.
But nothing prepared the four-time Brickyard 400 champion for how much of an effect the weather would have on Indy cars on the historic 2.5-mile oval. The weather conditions changed all week causing even the most successful veterans to struggle.
Johnson hit a wall on his own during Friday’s practice. He did not make the same mistake again on Saturday.
“There are small windows like that where the grip is highest and you are using the tools to stay in that window,” he said. “That’s where I made my mistake yesterday.”
The hardest part awaited: After nearly five hours, 27 more qualifying attempts, two flash delays, and a few light rains, Johnson finally found he had the cut.
If he doesn’t run into trouble on Sunday in conditions predicted to be more favorable for the race, he could make six cars, win his first IndyCar pole and celebrate as a rookie fastest – and oldest – in the field for 500 years now .
Johnson needs two more times to become the first rookie to win pole since Tony Stewart in 1996.
“I have a shot,” Johnson said. “Sure I’ll send it in and we’ll see.”
