NASCAR wasn’t ready when Jimmie Johnson decided to make the switch to the Indy Series in 2020. Fans always ached for his return to the Cup Series. Finally, they got their wish as he announced his return in collaboration with Petty GMS. 2023 will be a second debut for the 7-time Cup Series winner.

Johnson, however, doesn’t have too many chances to prepare for the 2023 season in his new Legacy Motor Club colors. Bob Pockrass asked him, “So going into the Phoenix test, you wanna learn about yourself and the car or more about the organization?”

“I’m really putting on the driver hat when I go to the test session. I have not been in one of these new cars. They are much different than 2 years ago in 2020 with my last season. So I really need to get some sense of that. I’ll spend some time with the simulator, getting ready beforehand,” he told the journalist. 

“I’ll just try to learn and understand this car and then, what I learn in Phoenix won’t necessarily apply for Daytona,” he remarked. “It will be nice to get those reps. You know different rules packages, different track… much different track, and the concept with which you race. But I’ll take any laps that I can get at this point.”

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The lack of practice was probably something the team would’ve predicted. But with Johnson’s talent, they wouldn’t be too worried.

Jimmie Johnson knows the Phoenix track in & out

As Johnson mentions, there’ll be a lot of obstacles to overcome this season—especially in the first few races. With only the Phoenix testing session as an opportunity, it is going to be an uphill task for the NASCAR legend.

Furthermore, as Pockrass mentioned in his tweet, “For this test, NASCAR limits him to three sets of tires, limited data acquisition with only four team members, and has to be done at a track he won’t race at.”

With all these limitations, how much Legacy Motor Club and Johnson can squeeze out of that session is debatable. However, he knows the Phoenix Raceway inside and out, so that might not be an issue.

In 35 starts at the track, Johnson has 4 wins and 11 top-five finishes. So navigating the track will, most likely, not be an issue. Daytona, too, is a track that the driver has had a lot of success at. Even with just one session in the bank, punters won’t put the odds too highly against him.

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