AVONDALE, Ariz. — Seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson said he will do an IndyCar team test with McLaren Racing on April 6.
Johnson said Saturday he wasn’t sure whether the one-day team test in Birmingham, Alabama, would lead to an IndyCar future, but he’s intrigued by the « totally different environment » of open-wheel racing.
« There’s a chance I won’t like it, but I think the chances are low, » Johnson said. « More than anything, I’m just thankful [about] McLaren and the friendship I have there with [CEO] Zak Brown, where he’s like: ‘Hey, man, come give it a shot. See what you think. You take a look at it. We’ll take a look at you.' »
The 44-year-old Johnson said he wasn’t sure what engineer he’d be working with during the test or if it would lead to further discussions.
« There’s nothing on the books now that has been discussed with it being so early in the year, » Johnson said. « There’s still time to get some more tests. We’ll know more after April 6 and reevaluate from there. »
It will not be the first time that Johnson gets in the driver’s seat of an open-wheel race car. Through a friendship with Fernando Alonso, Johnson swapped rides with the Formula One driver at the Bahrain International Circuit in November 2018.
After several attempts, Johnson managed to set a time within two-tenths of a second of Alonso’s benchmark in a 2013 McLaren F1 car.
Johnson already has announced that 2020 will be his final season running a full-time schedule in the Cup series.
« It’s great for NASCAR as well, especially if I go run well, » Johnson said. « We’ve seen drivers come this way, and no one’s really gone that way. Kurt [Busch] did recently and did a hell of a job at Indy, which did a lot of good for our sport. »
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.espn.com/racing/story/_/id/28858666/nascar-driver-jimmie-johnson-test-indycar-april
