J.Johnson really wants to do the 500

[Lousada]

(...) my wife and I have discussed it for a long time. She knows how bad I want to do it.


I enjoy making it public knowledge that I am interested, so, if one day I do go to Rick or Lowe’s, they’ve heard of it before.
http://spindoctor500blog.blogspot.com/

Sadly it won't be for 2011, but 2012 in a Chevy???

[Jag_Warrior]

"I just don’t know. I have (talked to Hendrick about it) in years past when Chevy wasn’t a part of it. He’d say, ‘Look, contracts exist, you can’t drive a Honda-powered vehicle.’ So it’s eliminated the opportunity. Since GM has announced it’s coming back, I have not spoken with him about it."

I guess he doesn't REALLY want to do it that badly then. GM's return just makes it more possible. But I saw nothing in that interview that suggested that it was probable... for 2012 or any other year.

[Scotty G.]

I guess he doesn't REALLY want to do it that badly then. GM's return just makes it more possible. But I saw nothing in that interview that suggested that it was probable... for 2012 or any other year.

When was the Chevy announcment? 6 weeks ago?

Do you think Jimmie has spoken much with his owner about anything since the season ended?

If he has spoken with Hendrick in the past about it, why wouldn't he now that Chevy is going to be a part of it?

If he gets the OK from Hendrick, Chevy and Loews, he'll be at Indy in 2012.

[Chamoo]

If he has spoken with Hendrick in the past about it, why wouldn't he now that Chevy is going to be a part of it?

If he gets the OK from Hendrick, Chevy and Loews, he'll be at Indy in 2012.

Completely agree.

[Mark in Oshawa]

We shall see how bad he wants to do it, and more importantly, how bad Rick Hendrick and Chevy want him to do it.

[Chamoo]

I am sure Chevy have no issue, in fact would love to see him do it. Hendrick may even want to try and add the Indy 500 to his resume.

[MDS]

I would think the biggest issue would be finding a team. Hendrick, Chevy and Lowes might be okay with it, hell Lowes and Chevy would probably even pay for it, but the issue would be finding a compatible team. Penske is going to be the lead GM team and Rick might not like the idea of handing Rodger his hottest driver. I think the big sticking point would be what teams get aligned with Chevy. Maybe de Ferran would be far enough way from Penske to make it viable, but JJ doesn't want to ride around, he'd like a shot at winning, so it probably hangs on which teams are quick and could field a car for him.

[Jag_Warrior]

When was the Chevy announcment? 6 weeks ago?

Do you think Jimmie has spoken much with his owner about anything since the season ended?

If he has spoken with Hendrick in the past about it, why wouldn't he now that Chevy is going to be a part of it?

If he gets the OK from Hendrick, Chevy and Loews, he'll be at Indy in 2012.

I got 20 bucks that says a certain tall blonde has more to say about it than Rick Hendrick, Chevy and Lowe's all put together. ;)

Anyway, my point was simply that nothing was said in the article about 2012, or any other specific date. Why don't we get 2011 rolling before we book a flight for Jimmie Johnson's seat fitting for 2012? That's all.

[Chamoo]

I hear what your saying Jag, but we are in a pretty slow period here for news (didn't think I'd say that this offseason) so this is something fun to talk about.

As for teams, I would think Panther would be a good fit. INDYCAR's "all-american" team will 99% sure field a Chevy, and is always competitive at Indy.

[cps]

I can't see Chevy being competitive the first year at Indy, unless it's a rebadged Chevy.

[SarahFan]

I can't see Chevy being competitive the first year at Indy, unless it's a rebadged Chevy.

Why's that?

Not like Honda has been doing much development the past 4 or 5 years

[MDS]

Ilmor is providing the engines for Chevrolet. While HPD will retain some proprietary information they will be able to use much of the data and experience they've collected over the last 12 years building Honda engines and translate that to the Chevy V6.

There's no reason why Honda, Chevy and Lotus can't all be competitive in 2012.

[Chamoo]

Ilmor is providing the engines for Chevrolet. While HPD will retain some proprietary information they will be able to use much of the data and experience they've collected over the last 12 years building Honda engines and translate that to the Chevy V6.

There's no reason why Honda, Chevy and Lotus can't all be competitive in 2012.

If the rumors are true that Lotus may not have an engine ready until end of 2011, I would say Chevy and Honda will be competitive in 2012, but maybe not Lotus.

I see no reason why Chevy won't be competitive, the Captain won't stand for it.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I got 20 bucks that says a certain tall blonde has more to say about it than Rick Hendrick, Chevy and Lowe's all put together. ;)

Anyway, my point was simply that nothing was said in the article about 2012, or any other specific date. Why don't we get 2011 rolling before we book a flight for Jimmie Johnson's seat fitting for 2012? That's all.

This is all presupposing she wears the pants in that family. She comes from the midwest, she is married to a racer, and she likely will have apprehension, but I suspect Jimmie will race at Indy if he wants to bad enough.

I personally don't see it happening. Don't ask me why, but I think he is blue skying, but he is king of NASCAR right now....and that is pretty good. If he loses the championship this year, maybe he has a thirst to get it back and wont want the distraction; and if he wins, the desire to keep it going is there too. I think if he does the double, it will be a few years down the road when he isn't the favourite to win the Sprint Cup championship every year. Shannie will have some say I am sure, but in the end, racers race, it is what they do, and their wives marry into this racket knowing that once he gets to the track, he is the boss.

[DBell]

Jimmie is qouted as saying he won't be doing the Indy 500.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20110128/SPORTS01/101280332/Johnson-says-no-Indy-500-Coca-Cola-600-double?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CSports




I got 20 bucks that says a certain tall blonde has more to say about it than Rick Hendrick, Chevy and Lowe's all put together. ;)

Anyway, my point was simply that nothing was said in the article about 2012, or any other specific date. Why don't we get 2011 rolling before we book a flight for Jimmie Johnson's seat fitting for 2012? That's all.

It looks like Jag hit it right on the head. Everyone pay up. Too bad there are only about 15 people who still post here, Jag. You could've been making some real money otherwise. :D

[Jag_Warrior]

Jimmie is qouted as saying he won't be doing the Indy 500.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20110128/SPORTS01/101280332/Johnson-says-no-Indy-500-Coca-Cola-600-double?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CSports





It looks like Jag hit it right on the head. Everyone pay up. Too bad there are only about 15 people who still post here, Jag. You could've been making some real money otherwise. :D

You make a note that they all owe me a beer (actually, I like those tequila slushies).

It's not about who wears the pants in the family. It's about who wears the dress... and what she looks like in it. And when you look like this, any guy who puts a ring on your finger better start learning to say "yes, dear" on command. :p :
http://i.cdn.turner.com/sivault/multimedia/photo_gallery/0811/nascar.johnson.cover.outtakes/images/076544607.jpg

[Mark in Oshawa]

You make a note that they all owe me a beer (actually, I like those tequila slushies).

It's not about who wears the pants in the family. It's about who wears the dress... and what she looks like in it. And when you look like this, any guy who puts a ring on your finger better start learning to say "yes, dear" on command. :p :
http://i.cdn.turner.com/sivault/multimedia/photo_gallery/0811/nascar.johnson.cover.outtakes/images/076544607.jpg


She looks terrific..but I still think if Jimmie put his foot down, or was cranky enough; Shannie would give in. he isn't going to be playing Russian roulette, he will be driving a race car...and people die in NASCAR on occasion too. I have never been of the belief he was EVER that serious....and I know race drivers..they usually do what they want to do. That sort of drive is why guys like Jimmie are where they are, and it isn't their wife that is stopping them.....he is using her and the kid as an excuse.

[Jag_Warrior]

For the Daytona 500 or a 7th or 8th NASCAR Championship, he might risk doing battle with her (and risking her knees being forever joined from that day forward). And guys, please understand that I don't say this as a bitter CART fan or an obnoxious F1 fan... but uh, the Indy 500 ain't what it used to be. So no, it doesn't surprise me one bit that a 35 year old guy, who has never driven an open wheel formula car, who has a drop dead gorgeous wife (who isn't for this) and a new baby, will not risk any of that for a race that no longer has the luster that it used to.

IMO, the current formula is kind of a joke. But let's say the new formula (that Jimmie would be racing under) really is a "driver's formula"... one where you can't just hold your foot to the floor and depend on your engineer to get you the best momentum settings. Other than it being a car with four wheels and an engine, he would have no base of knowledge to even begin getting up to speed. So why risk looking like a clown and maybe get hurt, just to help IMS and a series that he has no connection to?

Think about it... years ago, we would have seen at least one of the following do Indy: Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve, Kimi Raikonen, Juan Pablo Montoya or David Coulthard. Forget about the NASCAR guys who are big stars, but have never so much as sat in a formula car before. What about the world class guys who used to come over?

Jimmie could change his middle name to Caesar and start wearing robes around Charlotte. The dude is on top of the racing world in the U.S. already. I think Indy needs to work a LOT harder to rebuild itself before a guy like that goes to war with his wife to be the king of Gaul.

[Chris R]

great post Jag..... especially the last paragraph.... Really, I am thinking it is more about the baby than the wife and probably has as much to do with very limited family time as it does with any safety issues... (let alone the obvious point that he is fairly old to be driving an open wheel asphalt car for the first time....)....

[nigelred5]

Yeah, she's hot, (she and Ingrid VdB make one hell of a set of book-ends at the dinner table!) but so is every woman a guy with JJ's stature pulls. Difference is, he saw what happens when things don't go so well close up from his mentor and team owner JG. Jimmy knows where he is king. Just like Schummi. Schummi immediately dismisses any suggestion of ever running Indy because of the danger. Family is a convenient, and very legitimate excuse, but he raced motorcycles AND was injured pretty badly. Danger isn't the reason. What he really knows is, success is far from guaranteed in Indycars.

Jimmy's no fool. What realistic chance of hitting that $25m payoff does he really have at 35? At 25, or even 30 when he had time to get a good ride and maybe some seat time, I would have put money on it. At 35, having never raced an open wheel car, I wouldn't even take Jag's $20 bet for a tequila slushie.

[Lousada]

Think about it... years ago, we would have seen at least one of the following do Indy: Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve, Kimi Raikonen, Juan Pablo Montoya or David Coulthard. Forget about the NASCAR guys who are big stars, but have never so much as sat in a formula car before. What about the world class guys who used to come over?


I'm not disputing your views on Jimmie Johnsons situation. But this paragraph is just ridiculous. First of all JV and JPM are Indy500 winners. Second of all, in years gone by "European" stars didn't attend the Indy500 either. In the last 40 years only Emerson Fittipaldi, whose European glory days were long over by the time he hit the US, and of course Nigel Mansell can be really classified as stars. The Theo Fabis, Derek Dalys and Arie Luyendijks of yesterday can easily be compared with the Satos, Wilsons and Wheldons of today. The real difference between then and now is that there are no more credible American stars.

[ykiki]

I'm not disputing your views on Jimmie Johnsons situation. But this paragraph is just ridiculous. First of all JV and JPM are Indy500 winners. Second of all, in years gone by "European" stars didn't attend the Indy500 either. In the last 40 years only Emerson Fittipaldi, whose European glory days were long over by the time he hit the US, and of course Nigel Mansell can be really classified as stars. The Theo Fabis, Derek Dalys and Arie Luyendijks of yesterday can easily be compared with the Satos, Wilsons and Wheldons of today. The real difference between then and now is that there are no more credible American stars.

Maybe it's just me, but when I read the world class guys who used to come over, I think of Clark, Hill, Stewart, Rindt, Brabham

[Jag_Warrior]

I'm not disputing your views on Jimmie Johnsons situation. But this paragraph is just ridiculous. First of all JV and JPM are Indy500 winners. Second of all, in years gone by "European" stars didn't attend the Indy500 either. In the last 40 years only Emerson Fittipaldi, whose European glory days were long over by the time he hit the US, and of course Nigel Mansell can be really classified as stars. The Theo Fabis, Derek Dalys and Arie Luyendijks of yesterday can easily be compared with the Satos, Wilsons and Wheldons of today. The real difference between then and now is that there are no more credible American stars.

In the 1993 Indy 500, there were four FIA World Driving Champions and seven(?) World Driving Championships in the field: Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet... with Mansell being the reigning WDC. Have you seen any WDC's in the field recently... like in the past decade and a half? Seen anyone who has even had a whiff of that prize?

Is there some new rule that I don't know about that says that a former Indy 500 winner isn't allowed to return? I mentioned Villeneuve and Montoya because they are still racing, as are the Schumachers - just not at Indy. Both Mario and Michael Andretti went to Europe to do F1. But when they came back, they came back to Indy and AOWR. That is no longer the case. Hell, we used to get the F3000 champions who didn't get picked up by F1. Now we get the guys who are barely GP2 also rans. Now when drivers return from Europe or come over from Europe, it's just as likely that they'll do NASCAR. So yes, it is true that there are few (credible) American stars, and it is equally true that there are no/few world class international drivers who are jonesing to do this race any longer - and now we see that one of NASCAR's biggest stars isn't going to break his neck (maybe literally) to do it either.

My bottomline: what Bernard has done to this point is commendable. I think he is a breath of fresh air. But I'm also saying that rather than just giving him $20 to rearrange the chairs on the Titanic, IMS could really get behind him and demonstrate their $upport. I watched my first full season of IRL racing last year. The racing wasn't bad overall. Some were excellent and very entertaining. But the presentation was amateur hour at best, most of the time. And we don't need to go back over Indy's record low ratings. Maybe you're one of those fans who believes that the IRL's current woes are a result of some grand conspiracy involving NASCAR, corporate America and ABC/ESPN... I don't know. One fellow even suggested to me that sunspots are affecting the ratings. How that would JUST affect IRL races and not other programming, he didn't seem to have that part of his theory worked out. All I know is sponsors follow the eyeballs... and drivers follow the sponsors. And with fewer eyeballs watching, the quality of the driver pool is being affected.

[DBell]

Good post Jag and spot on. Indy car has a handful of drivers who are really good and another handful or so who are decent. A few more with potential and after that, it's crapola.

The last part about the sunspot theory is really funny. Sunspots? Fool. Doesn't he know it's because the Myans have told us we only have a less than 2 years left, so no one is really trying hard to better things. :D

[Mark in Oshawa]

Yeah, she's hot, (she and Ingrid VdB make one hell of a set of book-ends at the dinner table!) but so is every woman a guy with JJ's stature pulls. Difference is, he saw what happens when things don't go so well close up from his mentor and team owner JG. Jimmy knows where he is king. Just like Schummi. Schummi immediately dismisses any suggestion of ever running Indy because of the danger. Family is a convenient, and very legitimate excuse, but he raced motorcycles AND was injured pretty badly. Danger isn't the reason. What he really knows is, success is far from guaranteed in Indycars.

Jimmy's no fool. What realistic chance of hitting that $25m payoff does he really have at 35? At 25, or even 30 when he had time to get a good ride and maybe some seat time, I would have put money on it. At 35, having never raced an open wheel car, I wouldn't even take Jag's $20 bet for a tequila slushie.

Ah yes, the real reason. Jimmie doesn't want to look bad, and it is a point I should have made and didn't. I have no doubt Jimmie if he wanted to go to Indy bad enough, he would go regardless of the Wife. Race drivers are all about racing first if they are successful. The wife is always second to the career. Smart wives know this, like Lynda Petty must have known all those years ago with the King.

No, Jimmie wont do Indy in the end because yes, Jag's point has merit that the 500 isn't what it was; but more importantely, he I think knows he would be in over his head. This years car he might have a fighting chance of competing.

I just laugh when people think wives have influence over drivers. They only do when the driver wants it to be an influence. Jimmie didn't get to where he is by being soft.....

[Mark in Oshawa]

My bottomline: what Bernard has done to this point is commendable. I think he is a breath of fresh air. But I'm also saying that rather than just giving him $20 to rearrange the chairs on the Titanic, IMS could really get behind him and demonstrate their $upport. I watched my first full season of IRL racing last year. The racing wasn't bad overall. Some were excellent and very entertaining. But the presentation was amateur hour at best, most of the time. And we don't need to go back over Indy's record low ratings. Maybe you're one of those fans who believes that the IRL's current woes are a result of some grand conspiracy involving NASCAR, corporate America and ABC/ESPN... I don't know. One fellow even suggested to me that sunspots are affecting the ratings. How that would JUST affect IRL races and not other programming, he didn't seem to have that part of his theory worked out. All I know is sponsors follow the eyeballs... and drivers follow the sponsors. And with fewer eyeballs watching, the quality of the driver pool is being affected.

You have figured out what I have known. The presentation, the decisions made by the people running the races (Edmonton ring a bell anyone?) is what is lacking in the IRL. Randy has started to reform the sport, but this year, the on track product and how it is regulated and run on race day needs to see some scrutiny.

AS for Indy not being what it used to be, well you can undo 15 years of stupidity in 2 years...

[Jag_Warrior]

Good post Jag and spot on. Indy car has a handful of drivers who are really good and another handful or so who are decent. A few more with potential and after that, it's crapola.

The last part about the sunspot theory is really funny. Sunspots? Fool. Doesn't he know it's because the Myans have told us we only have a less than 2 years left, so no one is really trying hard to better things. :D

Yep, sunspots. I #### you not. The saddest part is that he was serious. :rolleyes:

While it would be nice if Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt, Jr. would do Indy... fans of this sport are just going to have to accept that these guys are not open wheel drivers (#1) and they really don't have any more than a passing interest in this sport to begin with (#2).

So as I keep saying, with that being the case, I'm not surprised that Jimmie isn't going to go to war with his wife to do the Indy 500. Oh sure, he could lay down the law and start chanting, "a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do"... and she could pick up the phone and dial a divorce lawyer, while she chants, "well, fine then - a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do." Plus, there's probably five or six of Jimmie's brother NASCAR drivers that would be happy to "console" Chandra in her hour of need. The dude is on top of the world. He has no need to do anything silly that would screw that up, IMO.

But whatever the reason, he ain't doin' it. The OP was just another fantasy.