The arrival of the next-gen car has shaken up NASCAR in ways big and small, turning the track into a whole new battlefield for everyone from fresh rookies to battle-hardened veterans. While newcomers just have to get a handle on driving these machines, returning legends like Jimmie Johnson have to forget everything they knew before they can get up to speed. But we still expect these pros to dazzle us, right? That’s exactly what was hoped for with Johnson’s return. Yet, at every turn, from qualifying to dodging spinouts in the race, he faced hurdles.

Despite the struggles, the NASCAR community hasn’t turned its back on him. Insiders leaped to his defense after the Texas race, pointing out that adapting to such radical changes doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a tough gig, even for a seasoned pro like Johnson.

NASCAR insiders are rallying behind Jimmie Johnson as he wrestles with the quirks of the next-gen car

Jimmie Johnson’s experience on the track lately has been a mix of several ups and downs—spinning out in practice and again during the Texas race, though he managed to fight back each time, even snagging a free pass during the 5th caution. Despite the spins, he finished the race on the lead lap and clocked all 276 laps, making it his longest run in the new-gen Cup car to date.

Yet, it’s his battle with the new car that’s really been turning heads. Johnson himself has opened up about the struggle, noting a major shift in driving style from relying heavily on the right rear to needing to adjust to favoring the left front—a tricky transition for a driver used to ‘dirt tracking.’ The folks at PRNLive, including Brett McMillan, dived into this topic. McMillan highlighted Johnson’s candidness about his adaptation challenges, while commentators Adam and Zack stood up for the seven-time Cup champ, underscoring the steep learning curve he’s facing with the new rig.

Adam laid it out there, saying, “To expect him to come and do this is really unthinkable. And I would say, Even if we were running. The same generation of the car that produced All the wins and championships for Jimmy Johnson. Is it fair to ask someone to come in and deliver at a successful level against the competition that’s out there today, when you haven’t done it, any more frequently than what Jimmy Johnson has done it, no by the way, you get 20 minutes of practice. And I know there’s the simulator and all that, but nothing replaces being out there with the other cars and doing it for real. So, it’s an enormous ask for Jimmy Johnson.”

Zack chimed in with a broader view, pointing to other seasoned pros like Kyle Busch. “Anytime you’ve changed the platform that you’re racing on so drastically like we have from the Gen 6 to this next Gen car, it’s a huge challenge. That’s why Kyle Bush has struggled to a certain degree. That’s why Chase Elliott struggled to a certain degree as we talked about earlier. It takes some time to get out of the habits that were really successful in what you used to have. and adapt to what you’ve got now.”

Besides these, even Dale Earnhardt Jr opined on the same. But he did not just limit his talk to that. In fact, he might just have a bead on what could help Jimmie Johnson find his groove with the next-gen cars and those tricky repaved tracks.

Dale Earnhardt Jr has a solution to end the miseries of the 7-time Cup champ

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Dale Earnhardt Jr appreciates Jimmie Johnson’s honesty about wrestling with the next-gen car, enjoying how upfront Jimmie is about his challenges. But that’s not enough. Junior thinks the solution is more seat time.

“He [Jimmie Johnson] needs to race more. You know, just like racing in late-model stocks. Man! I’m not going to get better at qualifying that car and racing that car unless I do it every week. And it’s frustrating. I’ll go race it again at the end of July and struggle with parts of it because I need to do it every week to build this wall right—to build it brick by brick, right,” Dale Jr explained.

Jimmie Johnson still has seven races left this season to turn things around. Fans reckon that with enough laps under his belt, Johnson might just hit a top-5 finish as he gets to grips with the quirks of the new machine.