Jimmie Johnson understands why so many NASCAR drivers — be they in Cup, Xfinity or Trucks — often step away from their full-time rides and compete in other series like IndyCar, sprint cars, late models and more.
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Johnson believes a major reason why drivers freelance, so to speak, is because NASCAR limits drivers and teams to an extremely limited practice time and general testing, not to mention the typical 20-25 minute practice session prior to a weekend event.
The seven-time Cup champion spoke on this week’s edition of the Rubbin’ Is Racing podcast, just a couple of days prior to Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, the longest race of the Cup season.
“When I was racing and the focus was just one car, at certain stages of it there was unlimited testing,” Johnson said. “In one particular year we had 22 test sessions, two-day test sessions in-between the 38 races.”
Jimmie Johnson said that he was able to get all the seat time he wanted and that it was pretty easy to stay focused. He explained that under NASCAR’s rules, each manufacturer is allowed three tests per year, and the manufacturer chooses which teams go to the track.
In Chevrolet’s case for Kyle Larson, he noted that the likely recipients of those tests would be Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing, and probably Trackhouse Racing. Within that structure, Johnson pointed out, Larson has three teammates — and raised the question of which driver the team would choose for the test.
Johnson summed up by saying, “You get 25 minutes of practice at the track and then you qualify and then you race. How do you get better? How do you hone your craft? Now it’s shifted to where, wow, you don’t get much seat time. You need seat time.”
While some argue that if a Cup driver drives in either the Xfinity or Truck Series race, that extra seat time helps them in Sunday’s Cup race. That’s true in most instances, but Cup drivers are limited to a total of five combined races in either Xfinity or Trucks per year.
“Some would argue that you need to drive a vehicle that’s like a Cup car,” Johnson said. “It’s hard to find one, there’s really not many out there. But Larson has had this love of so many other cars and this experience driving anything that he’s like, ‘Alright, well, if I’m not getting seat time in the Cup car, I’m going to lean into this other [type of racing series like sprint cars] that I do.’
“And thankfully Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick, who’s always been pretty cautious about letting his drivers be in other cars, Rick’s raced and knows you’ve got to stay sharp, and the only way you do that is by being in a car. So that’s kind of the shift right now we’re seeing,” Johnson added.
As co-owner of Legacy Motor Club in the NASCAR Cup Series, Johnson personally encourages drivers like Larson, Christopher Bell and others who often race sprint cars on dirt.
Johnson said that besides himself who is still racing part-time in NASCAR, he would allow his drivers such as Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek to race in other series if they wanted to.
“I want them to chase their dreams,” Johnson said. “I had a chance to do The Double years ago and it fell apart. I was still a full-time Cup driver and kind of at the peak of my career. I had a chance to go drive for Penske and didn’t get the approval.
“It wasn’t necessarily a Hendrick thing but Chevy wasn’t in (IndyCar) at the time and it just didn’t play out for me. So I want to believe that I would allow my guys to go do it.”
It isn’t surprising to see Johnson support the idea — and simply let racers be racers.
