The seven-time NASCAR Cup champion took part in only road and street courses in his rookie season with Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda last year, and so far his best qualifying position is 21st – on his debut at Barber Motorsports Park – and his best finishes have been 17ths at the last two races of 2021, at Laguna Seca and Long Beach.
Johnson believes he can improve on those stats at TMS, although he’s still never run in traffic on an oval, so he has much to learn in the two practice sessions on Saturday. Indeed, with Ganassi pulling out of last week’s Texas test after it was postponed by three days due to excessively cold weather, Johnson has run only one test at Texas – for his oval rookie orientation last August – and one at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, when he embarked on his IMS-specific Rookie Orientation Program.
“I really feel like I need to be further up in the field… or would like to be further up in the field,” said Johnson. “I certainly feel like having the opportunity to qualify on the oval this weekend, in the equipment I'll be in, I should be able to have a career-best starting position, then look forward from there, try to understand traffic, race my way into the top ten – top five if possible.”
Asked if being a seven-time winner at Texas in a NASCAR Cup car raised expectations among “outsiders” that he could even take the win on Sunday, Johnson responded: “I don't think that's realistic. Some people may have that expectation and that's fine. I would love that to be the case.
“Whenever you enter the new series, you're with the regulars, they're so good at what they do. We have seen it when drivers try to cross over from various series. I certainly have higher expectations for myself, but I'm not thinking I'm going to show up, qualify on pole, lead the most laps and win the race.”
Johnson admitted that he felt “definitely more comfortable in my few days on an oval than I've really been on a street or road course yet” and put that down to the greater similarities between a Cup car and an IndyCar on an oval. However, he said that speed was not the only disparity between the two cars around the 1.5-mile TMS.
“I did find that the line is a little different in the IndyCar,” he observed. “Just the potential of the car's cornering ability allows you to run a little narrower entry and exit. With that, you don't have to flirt with the transitions of the corners in and off as much.
“Speed was up tremendously. Also a slight adjustment in my line. But as the test session went on, I was really excited to see how many similarities there were from my NASCAR driving experience and car setup to what we had going on with the IndyCar…
“There is a rhythm to Texas. It is much different than what I have felt in the Cup car. But where it is similar is just how aggressive you can be in Turns 3 and 4, then really how cautious you need to be in Turn 1, kind of getting the car pointed and heading off the back straightaway from Turn 2.
“It's a lap where you start tiptoeing, making sure you really hit your marks, to then really moving down the back straightaway and throwing all the aggression you can at Turns 3 and 4.”
Johnson scored 83 wins over his 20-year Cup career, when he could allay his annoyance of a non-finish with the feeling that he might win the next race or the one after that. With ovals being his expected strong point in an IndyCar, and only five oval races on the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule, Johnson told Motorsport.com that he expected eventually he’ll feel additional mental pressure to perform strongly in those events.
“I still have so many unknowns with this first race that I've given myself a break,” he said. “Certainly I'm a racer. I want to win. That's ultimately why I'm out there. I'm just trying to be realistic with this journey, how different it is, how tough the competition is, all those elements that play into it.
“Ultimately that's why I want to do this – I want to win. I want to be on the podium at a minimum, if not win. I know that ovals are the best opportunity for myself.
“The way you started your question, something ran through my mind. That is, I have lived that racer dream for a period of time. I feel so lucky to have had the confidence you spoke about, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, all the years, success we did. Not many racers get to experience that. Very thankful I was able to live that in my life.”
