Banking on his uncontested record of 11 Cup wins at the Monster Mile, Jimmie Johnson was excited for his return to the racetrack. After his previous attempts at driving the Next Gen car at Daytona and Texas, he was expecting something different on the 1.03-mile racing surface. Unfortunately, driving the No. 84 Toyota Camry, Johnson’s struggles continued after a P28 finish last Sunday.

One of the biggest talking points of the race was the use of aero-blocking techniques by the winner Denny Hamlin. The JGR driver took to his podcast and argued that blocking has always been a part of racing, “It’s been around forever and you’re not gonna change it.” However, the 7-time Cup Series champion, Johnson, has now sided with Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch.

What’s the aero advantage of the Next Gen race car compared to the previous generations?

One of the big changes brought in with the new body design was the increase in downforce. This tweak allowed the car to push harder on the corners. This also resulted in lead cars taking away most of the clean air from the trailing cars behind them. Hence, the creation of defensive maneuvers or blocking techniques that the drivers have now adopted.

Chase Elliott used this technique at Texas to block Hamlin’s run. And in turn, the JGR driver used it at Dover to fend off charging Larson. Jimmie Johnson also found himself on the receiving end of aero blocks and it’s fair to say, he’s not a fan of this style of racing. “First time on track, there are a few moments trying to get by 99. I was hopeful that I could get close to him in the center of the corner and kind of wedge him up out of the way, get some air in there to move him, and I didn’t get in his a**.”

Johnson explained that had he tried pulling off his moves with the Gen 6 car, he would have made the pass on Daniel Suarez. But the same tactic didn’t come in handy for him at Dover. “Like I was close enough with the previous generations cars that would have done something, and it didn’t do anything. Then he would cut the stream off at the second apex, and I was behind him; it was just a loss of downforce, pretty balanced, just lost all four and used up more road than I expected.”

Clearly, Johnson and the team at LMC are yet to figure out how to get the best out of the Next Gen car. However, given the stretch of runs lined up for the former HMS star, they can make a turnaround with a solid result.

Mile-and-half races in focus for Johnson

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The El Cajon, California, native will make nine starts this season, which is the most number of races since his final full-time campaign back in 2020. Given the changing dynamics of racing with the Next Gen car, the odds were stacked against him to compete for wins again. Therefore, the team at Legacy Motor Club decided to focus on mile-and-half races on the schedule for Johnson in order to achieve the best outcomes.

“It’s part of the plan to make sure that I can get reps on similar tracks. I know Dover is an outlier but again it falls in a great rhythm. I think Dover in the past surprisingly car set up wise always applied to Charlotte. I’m running 600 later this year. Running both Kansas events was intentional so that I continue to build reps and help my own advancement along with technology for the race team as well.” He said ahead of the Wurth 400 event.

He is scheduled to run at the Kansas Speedway this weekend, followed by the return for the Coca-Cola 600 event in Charlotte on May 26.