When Jimmie Johnson retires from NASCAR after this season, his racing days apparently will be far from over.
The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion recently completed an IndyCar testing session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and long has communicated interest in competing in the NTT IndyCar Series. Until the latest episode of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s “Dale Jr. Download” podcast, the scope of Johnson’s open-wheel ambitions remained unclear.
“We’re out trying to find funds, and literally trying to raise sponsorship funds to go run the full road course and street circuit schedule that IndyCar has,” Johnson told Earnhardt. “That would be my dream world, to run 12 or 13 IndyCar races.”
For now, Johnson’s primary focus is qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. The 44-year-old currently is 17th in the series standings (top 16 qualify for the postseason) with three races remaining.
Johnson hasn’t won a Cup race since 2017.
