SEBRING, Fla. – Jimmie Johnson’s experiment in sports cars is an important part of his upcoming experiment in the NTT IndyCar Series.
Johnson, the seven-time champion who retired from NASCAR at the end of last season, is using Saturday’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Advance Auto Parts to further his transition to a part-time role in Indy car racing later this season.
The two types of cars – the IMSA Daytona Prototype international (DPi) and the Dallara he’ll drive in the IndyCar Series – are remarkably similar, Johnson explained Thursday at Sebring.
“They are different animals, but they are closer together than probably any other car in North America,” Johnson said. “I’ve tried Formula 3 and some other cars, but the IndyCar is just so fast and has so much potential. This IMSA car is really the closest thing I can get in.”
In January, Johnson teamed with Kamui Kobayashi, Simon Pagenaud and Mike Rockenfeller to finish second in the No. 48 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the 2021 season opener for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
On Saturday, he’ll team with Kobayashi and Pagenaud in the No. 48 Ally Cadillac at Sebring. The trio will also race in the remaining two IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup events later this season.
The experience in the sports car has helped Johnson adapt to the No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda he’s tested, but won’t race until that series’ season opener April 18 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala.
Johnson has only had a few hours of testing in the CGR Honda, which he’ll share with Tony Kanaan this season. In the meantime, the Action Express Cadillac has been a reasonable facsimile.
“It has been useful for me,” Johnson said. “These reps have been useful. I think I’ve only had five days in the Indy car.”
Retraining himself for different cars and different tracks has been the most difficult aspect of the transition.
“I’m really just trying to forget all these dependencies I had driving a NASCAR vehicle and trying to rewire my brain and my senses,” Johnson said. “I feel like I’m making good progress. I think I’m down to little gains now. I probably got all the big chunks. Now it’s down to all of those little chunks, which are the hardest to get.”
It didn’t help matters for Johnson and his teammates that a throttle issue limited them to nine timed laps in Thursday’s first two practices.
“We’ve got some issue there where the throttle is still carrying us through the turn and not returning back to zero,” Johnson said. “A couple exciting moments that we’re trying to get to the bottom of and it’s pretty intermittent.”