Wednesday, Chip Ganassi Racing and Jimmie Johnson, seven-time Cup Series Champion, agreed to partner in 2021. This partnership would see Johnson race the full street/road course tour on the Indycar circuit. It gives him the chance to run select NASCAR events, all pending sponsorship.
Johnson will retire from full time racing following 2020. However, he doesn’t want to stop racing. That was made very clear when the champion announced his retirement from full time Cup racing. Indycar was something Johnson has been intrigued with lately. When both series, Indycar and Cup Series, were in Indianapolis in July, Johnson was able to test a Chip Ganassi Indycar.
NEWS: We’re partnering with @JimmieJohnson to work on some @IndyCar races for 2021 & 2022! 🙌🏼
MORE INFO: https://t.co/Rk0DvbOyV4 pic.twitter.com/QRCsWkHgDE
— Chip Ganassi Racing (@CGRTeams) September 9, 2020
Ganassi has Johnson scheduled to run the full street/road course schedule for the next two years, 2021 and 2022. In a previous Associated Press report, Johnson would like to run 15 events a season. Now the pairing with Chip Ganassi, Johnson has the capabilities to run nearly anything he would like. He has pondered the idea of running the Indianapolis 500 but also wanted to run some NASCAR events.
Since Hendrick Motorsports is to have four cars in their stable next season, he will be unable to drive for the team. But, Johnson will also have the possibilities to run NASCAR races with Ganassi. Johnson was able to do some testing for Ganassi. This has grown the passion for Johnson to step inside an Indycar ride.
“When I tested Chip’s Indy car earlier in the year, it only lit the fire more. 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,” Johnson stated in a release. “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.”
Many know Ganassi for his slogan ‘I like Winners.’ He will continue bringing in winners with the partnership of Johnson. Johnson brings 83 Cup Series wins and looking to add to that number as he closes out his final season. He holds a tie with the most titles in Cup Series history at seven. After missing out on the playoffs this season, he will not pursue eight.
Ganassi felt it was important to pick up Johnson. This allowed Ganassi to add him to the stable of winning drivers he already has. Now he gets to pair him with 5-Time Indycar Champion Scott Dixon.
“It is always difficult to find great drivers but for them to be great guys too makes it even that much more challenging. To pair Jimmie with the likes of Scott Dixon is quite an opportunity. They are truly in rarefied air and I think everyone knows by now that ‘I like winners,'” Ganassi stated in a release. “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.”
Johnson will be on track in Richmond with Hendrick Motorsports this weekend. He is currently 17th in NASCAR Cup Series points