Jimmie Johnson says team ownership tougher than expected

07/26/2024 04:39 AM

Not yet two years out of full-time racing and now back fully into the NASCAR world after his IndyCar foray, [Jimmie] Johnson is still grappling with the change in expectations and patience it takes to build something in his own image after 83 NASCAR Cup wins, seven championships and 12 'crown jewel‘ victories in 19 full-time seasons.

"I didn‘t think it would be this tough," Johnson told IndyStar during an exclusive sit-down this weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "It‘s a tough sport, and we have a great vision and have made a massive commitment to that long-term vision, so we‘re on the journey.

"But I thought last year, we were kinda at the bottom — and then we went down a little lower and found a lower bottom. I do think we‘re climbing our way out now, but there‘s just so much that goes into it, and we‘re getting the pieces in place and moving it along."

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"I want to race, but I don‘t want the third car to be a detriment to the other two. The revenue we generate can help us use the third car to develop new talent and can help us develop new setup ideas, but when you run nine races, you need a pretty robust crew to run that car, and that‘s inefficient for only nine races," he said. "If you take it down to 3-5 races, you don‘t need that crew, but then you‘re pulling against the Nos. 42 and 43 cars, so we‘re trying to find that balance.

…Those expectations, he said, are not unlike his two seasons and 29-race IndyCar career, where he logged a pair of top-6 finishes in Year 2 but otherwise finished outside the top-20 more often than inside it. In hindsight, Johnson says now, he wishes he‘d made the leap earlier and left full-time NASCAR competition before 2020 — a full-time career that ended with three-straight winless seasons.

"I really do miss it," Johnson said of his IndyCar days. "I feel like I should‘ve made the switch a few years earlier. I always have believed that you need five years — five years is the sweet spot before you really understand a given vehicle.

When asked whether he‘d consider an Indy 500 return, Johnson, who turns 49 in September, said he‘s "had some options" since his lone start in 2022 with Chip Ganassi Racing, and he didn‘t completely turn down the notion.

See much more at Indianapolis Star.