AVONDALE, Ariz. - Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson said he’s scheduled to test an IndyCar for McLaren on April 6 at Barber Motorsports Park.
The test will take place a day after the NTT IndyCar Series race at the 2.38-mile, 17-turn course, which is about 50 miles from Talladega Superspeedway.
“I’m thankful that I’m going to get a proper test and look at it and kind of re-evaluate it after that,” Johnson said Saturday at Phoenix Raceway.
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The test also will come the day after Johnson races in the Cup event at Bristol Motor Speedway.
“I think Bristol is NASCAR’s most physical track and then Barber is IndyCar’s most physical track,” Johnson said. “I’m working hard to make sure my neck is prepared and certainly my shoulders. There’s no power steering in those IndyCars. I’m told when the rubber is down from the IndyCar race, the grip level is going to be higher, the demands on the driver are going to be higher. I’ll be coming in after our toughest race. I love a good physical challenge and here we go.”
Johnson, who is in his final full-time Cup season, has expressed an interest in racing in IndyCar on a road course, among other forms of racing. Johnson attended the first day of IndyCar preseason testing Feb. 11 at Circuit of the Americas as a guest of Arrow McLaren SP’s Zak Brown, who also oversees McLaren’s F1 team.
“Jimmie has been talking about it for a little while and looking at different options,” five-time NTT IndyCar champion Scott Dixon told NBC Sports in February. “He’s been super keen coming to IndyCar races. That is just him. He’s a racer and wants to try something else.”
Johnson was fitted for an IndyCar seat Wednesday. It was his first time to sit in an IndyCar with the aeroscreen, the ballistic, canopy-like windscreen designed to keep debris from hitting drivers in the open-cockpit cars. The aeroscreen debuts this season.
“I am taller, so I feel good about the aeroscreen,” Johnson said. “When I drove the F1 car (in a 2018 ride swap at Bahrain International Circuit with Fernando Alonso), I was taller than Fernando and my head was exposed. We had a hard time keeping my helmet on my shoulders, it kept trying to blow off. So the aeroscreen certainly helps with that, which is really nice. I think safety has gone up tremendously with the aeroscreen on.”
While Johnson has been adamant about not racing ovals in IndyCar, would the aeroscreen’s usage change his mindset?
“I’m going to keep a close eye on the year and the safety that is in the aeroscreen development,” Johnson said. “I really don’t have a desire to run ovals. ... Texas, no thanks. Indy, it is Indy and so it weighs on me and makes it harder to say no thanks, but I’m just not interested in them.”