INDIANAPOLIS — Now that Jimmie Johnson is about to start his first Indianapolis 500 in Sunday’s 106th running of the world’s greatest race, he is ready to go one step further in 2023.
He wants to do the “Double.”
The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion revealed his goal Thursday afternoon at Indy 500 Media Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“I’m open to it,” Johnson said. “I don’t know if it would ever come together, but I’m certainly open to it.”
Johnson also said he had an offer from Roger Penske to run an extra car in the Indianapolis 500 in the pre-2012 days when Honda was the only manufacturer in IndyCar.
“I had a real chance to do that with Roger Penske a few years back to run the double,” Johnson said. “It was when Honda was the only manufacturer in the sport, and I was a Chevy driver that didn’t get very far down the road. That was one opportunity.
“There were some other loose conversations to happen, but they were with different manufacturers. I felt like it was a non-starter. I went to Rick Hendrick with the opportunity that Roger and I were talking about. Unfortunately, it couldn’t come together.
“It was all looking at the double. I always thought the guys that did the double were doing something special and I wanted to do that.”
“The Double” would be the same driver competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. John Andretti was the first in 1994 and the last was Kurt Busch in 2014.
Johnson thinks several other NASCAR drivers should consider running both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in the same day.
“Any of them, for starters,” Johnson said. “The first one that comes to mind is Kyle Larson, because he drives anything, anywhere. He is the first one that comes to mind.”
Johnson starts 12th in his first Indianapolis 500 on Sunday after running a four-lap average of 231.264 miles per hour in the No. 48 Carvana/American Legion Honda.
Jimmie Johnson. (Penske Entertainment/James Black)