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Jimmie Johnson is currently practising for his first-ever Indianapolis 500. Suffice to say, preparations are going swimmingly well for the Chip Ganassi Racing driver. During the second day of the Indy 500 Open Test, Johnson turned in one of the fastest ever laps in his entire life. While many fans were happy to see shades of the old Jimmie Johnson, former teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr poked a bit of fun at him.

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Along the way, he also racked up an impressive lap count of 138 laps around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. To be perfectly honest, the test session was rather hectic, as the four-hour test session started four hours late. Owing to the massive delay, drivers were only given two hours to complete the test.

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It is worth mentioning that the track looked so busy, that one could mistake it for a regular race. The dream lap occurred on lap 129, when the #48 Chip Ganassi Racing car clocked 227.900 mph. He confessed, “Man, that’s really boogieing. This is the reason why wanted to become an IndyCar driver. I wanted to experience driving a really fast race car really fast.”

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How did the test play out for Jimmie Johnson?

Suffice to say, the 7-time Cup Series champion finally had his wish granted. The best part was that, at some stage in the test, he topped the timesheets ahead of the 106th Indy 500 on May 29. He hovered around the top three for a long time before eventually finishing the day eighth-fastest.

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Speaking about the lap, he said, “You notice it. It’s a very cool sensation. Now I understand why when I’ve asked any of these guys, any of my friends that are drivers here, what it’s like to go fast around here, they have a smile that I’ve always wondered what it’s like. I haven’t really been on the full boost, full power, qualifying trim setting yet. I’m starting to get that grin. I look forward to having that big smile that all these guys have experienced.”

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READ MORE: Jimmie Johnson’s Reaction Says It All as Colton Herta Avoids Major Crash With Will Power in Indianapolis

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Of course, Johnson still has to compete in a couple of other races before the Indy 500. Unfortunately for him, these are road courses, and he has struggled at those tracks. Nevertheless, he will not give up and will try his hardest to finish as high as possible.

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Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is EssentiallySports’ foremost authority on motorsport and a founding member of the outlet’s NASCAR desk. A Journalism graduate fluent in English and French, he brings over eight years of motorsports journalism experience covering everything from high-octane NASCAR battles to the finesse of Formula 1 and MotoGP. His extensive paddock access has earned him exclusive interviews with top names such as Know more

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Pritam Priyedarshi

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