Jimmie Johnson wants to run 12 to 13 IndyCar races

While on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s weekly podcast, 44-year-old Johnson said he’s “pretty open” about what other styles of racing he could try, and said he’d “be really happy with” up to a 15-race schedule for the next year or two. That number includes wanting to run at least a dozen IndyCar races, in addition to marquee sports car and off-road truck events.

With his experience and fame, Johnson said he’s taking a “Why not try it?” approach to his future. And he said following his IndyCar test run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 28, he’s been having serious conversations about actually racing in the open-wheeled series.

On the Dale Jr. Download podcast, the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver explained:

“Literally following that test date, it sparked what I needed, and I’ve been able to tell the teams I’ve been talking with, ‘Hey, the interest is there.’ It’s a tricky time right now with marketing dollars being hard to find and companies that are actually able to spend money on marketing right now with the COVID situation.

“So we’re out trying to find funds and literally trying to raise sponsorship funds to go run the full road course and street circuit schedule that IndyCar has. That would be my dream world, to run 12 or 13 IndyCar races.”