Johnson shows improvement before spin-off in REV Group GP

Driving the No. 48 Carvana/American Legion Honda, Jimmie Johnson was ready to put the difficult lessons of a rookie season to use at Road America in Sunday’s REV Group Grand Prix NTT INDYCAR SERIES race.

Johnson was confident that he had gained some valuable knowledge after testing at the 14-turn, 4.014-mile road course in this picturesque vacation region of Wisconsin. He was especially enthusiastic after Saturday’s final practice session, when he finished 14th, his best practice or qualifying session of the season so far as the driver tries to adapt to an Indy car.

“In qualifying I had enough laps on my tires to get up to temperature, but even on this lap that left me 14th, I had a 13th or 12th left in them,” Johnson explained after that session. “But I feel like I’m at the edge of my comfort level and about to challenge for more position.

“I spent my entire career with slow hands and slow feet in a stock car and that served me with in NASCAR with the way the car drove. But Detroit was a glaring example to me of how quick your hands and feet need to be in the car to maintain grip in the car. I’m making too many mistakes right now to capitalize, but I’m having a blast and things are improving.”

Johnson was ready to push it to the edge of his comfort level, and then begin to look for the edge of the No. 48 Carvana/The American Legion Honda in Sunday’s REV Group Grand Prix.

The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion was very racy and drove with confidence through the first 25 percent of the race before he found the limit.

It came when he raced out of Turn 7 and hit the curbing at the apex of the corner. It was enough to disrupt his No. 48 Honda and send it into a spin off course, where he was stuck in the grass.

Johnson’s incident brought out the first of four yellow flags, and he would lose one lap to the leader before his car was refired and rejoined the race.

Johnson ultimately finished 22nd, improving one position from where he started, but unable to score his best finish of the season.

“Once you get a lap down on the road courses, it’s difficult to recover from that,” Johnson said. “A lot of laps logged; a lot learned. Sooner or later, I’ll get a good clean race and I think our results will get a lot better.

“We’ll learn from the last few finishes and now it’s on to Mid-Ohio.”

Johnson is learning the edge and even stepped over it during his spin.

“I crossed over what the vehicle had for potential, and got wide in Turn 7, then in the dirt and then I was just a passenger along for the ride,” Johnson explained. “Unfortunately, I was a little too aggressive on my second or third out-lap and the tires weren’t really in.

“Another lesson learned. I wish these lessons learned would come with less consequence, but it’s part of it and I’ll keep filing them away.”

Prior to that, Johnson’s team had him on a fuel-saving strategy early with the harder Firestone “Black” tire. The strategy was geared toward having Johnson’s car at its best later in the race with the softer “Red” tires.

“We knew guys were getting away from us, but when we put those Reds on, we were ready to push and push hard, and that’s why I tried to get through Turn 7 with very little lift and ended up wide in the grass and crashing.

“Our strategy for the first half of the race, I didn’t get far enough to see how it stacked up.”

Next up is another new track for Johnson. He has never been to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, site of the July 4 Honda Indy 500 at Mid-Ohio, but will drive the Honda simulator in Brownsburg, Indiana on July 1. He will also be studying the course on iRacing.