Legendary NASCAR Champion Johnson Enters INDYCAR Partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing
September 09, 2020 | By Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Chip Ganassi likes winners.
He may be ready to add another winner to his fold.
Chip Ganassi Racing announced Sept. 9 a partnership with seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson that will see 83-time Cup Series winner Johnson officially explore the possibility of racing a full road-and-street course calendar in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES for the 2021 and 2022 racing seasons.
“It is always difficult to find great drivers but for them to be great guys, too, makes it even that much more challenging,” said team owner Chip Ganassi. “To pair Jimmie with the likes of Scott Dixon is quite an opportunity. They are truly in rarified air, and I think everyone knows by now that I like winners.
“The goal right now is for us to run Jimmie in an Indy car for at least the next couple of seasons, and we want to show people we’re serious about the program. We felt it was important to get the partnership done and start putting the financial building blocks in place to make this a reality. Jimmie’s record speaks for itself, and we feel a championship-level driver of his caliber can only make our team better.”
In late July, Johnson tested with Chip Ganassi Racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and fulfilled a childhood dream of driving an Indy car. Should Johnson join the team in 2021, he would be a teammate of five-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Dixon.
“When I tested Chip’s Indy car earlier in the year, it only lit the fire more,” Johnson said. “I found that I wanted to do it more than ever before. Scott (Dixon) was just incredible to work with, and in a short time I found out very quickly why Chip and his teams have won 12 INDYCAR championships. As part of a natural progression, I wanted to publicly show the alignment with Chip Ganassi Racing to kick the sponsorship program into high gear. The goal is to run the full road-and-street program, and today is a very important first step in accomplishing that goal.”
Four-time Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard winner Johnson co-holds the Cup Series record with Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty for most premier series championships and is the only driver to win five consecutive titles (2006-10). Johnson’s 83 career wins are tied with Cale Yarborough for sixth all time and is tops among active drivers.