NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson opened up about his move to IndyCar, where he drove for two seasons at Chip Ganassi Racing.
Johnson left the NASCAR Cup Series after the 2020 season and started a new chapter with IndyCar.
He ran 29 races between 2021 and 2022 for the open-wheel racing series, his best result being a fifth-place finish at Iowa Speedway.
The seven-time Cup Series champion scored points in 29 races in IndyCar, racking up 322 points, though he never managed to get a podium, fastest lap, or pole position.
During an appearance on Harvick Happy Hour Podcast, Johnson explained why he decided to uproot his life in stock car racing and join IndyCar.
“Everything in my career has been driven by fear, and that just takes a toll on you. When I stepped away [from NASCAR], I didn’t want to be driven by that anymore,” Johnson said.
“I didn’t like kind of who I was becoming in the way my headspace was during the course of a season and living through those moments.
“Kids really helped define that, and I realize and see ‘man, I just didn’t handle that right, or I wasn’t thinking right, or my head wasn’t right,’ whatever it was. When I went into INDYCAR racing, that was the dream when I was a kid.
“I’m not driven by fear anymore. I want to enjoy. I want opportunity, and that’s why I just kind of ignored the challenge that I had ahead of myself and committed to it and just went to go have fun.”
After stepping away from IndyCar full-time, he voiced his regrets over not joining the series earlier in his career, rather than in his 40s.
“I really do miss it. I feel like I should’ve made the switch a few years earlier,” Johnson said back in 2024 via Indystar.
“I always have believed that you need five years – five years is the sweet spot before you really understand a given vehicle.
“I made great progress from Year 1 to Year 2, and I did do well on a few of the ovals, but it was just going to take more time, and I just didn’t have any more to give – especially at that commitment level. It felt like ‘work’ again.”
At the age of 49, Johnson continues to race in NASCAR, making appearances at specific races. From 2023 to 2025, he has raced at the Daytona 500.
With 83 Cup Series wins, 375 top 10 finishes, and 233 top five finishes, Johnson was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2024.
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