Being the slowest of 24 drivers was no drag on Jimmie Johnson during his debut in an NTT IndyCar Series practice Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park.
In a brief interview provided by Chip Ganassi Racing, Johnson said the morning session was “amazing” after completing 22 laps in the No. 48 Dallara-Honda (tied with Graham Rahal for most in the session.
The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion had a couple of early moments briefly running off course, but the practice was “uneventful” otherwise for Johnson as he was “just kind of building my own way into things.
“What a rush, though,” said Johnson, who went faster in the second practice but still was last on the speed chart. “These cars are so physical, so demanding. It’s not two or three laps in, and the tongue’s hanging out, panting, just wrestling this monster around the racetrack.
INDYCAR AT BARBER: Weekend schedule, entry list
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH: Jimmie’s debut and all the major storylines for 2021
#IndyCar: @JimmieJohnson after first practice courtesy of @CGRTeams pic.twitter.com/6GNIEN9yfo
— Jenna Fryer (@JennaFryer) April 17, 2021
“So the fun meter is pegged, to say the least. Very excited to have this opportunity in the Carvana Chip Ganassi Racing IndyCar.”
Johnson still was having fun after qualifying 21st for Sunday’s race, joking on Twitter that he accomplished his goal of avoiding last.
I wasn’t last! pic.twitter.com/W9WAhZTP81
— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) April 18, 2021
“This smile is not going to go away,” he said Saturday night in a video clip provided by IndyCar. “What an amazing day. Didn’t qualify last, so that’s a really good thing and a small victory for me in this journey. Today was full of firsts, red tires, qualifying session, race weekend. Just the different layers that exist.
“And I survived the day. Had a lot of fun. And really excited about my first race tomorrow. We’re back on track in the morning with the warmup session, again something new and something I’ve not been through before. Dial in our race setup and then we go racing tomorrow and have a lot of fun in that Carvana Honda.”
Courtesy of #IndyCar, a still giddy @JimmieJohnson recaps his Saturday at Barber after qualifying 21st.
— Nate Ryan (@nateryan) April 18, 2021
“This smile is not going to go away. What an amazing day. Didn’t qualify last so that’s a really good thing and a small victory.”
This is the wide-eyed Seven-Time.
Watch: pic.twitter.com/qyaDa98bOk
Alex Palou, Johnson’s new teammate at Ganassi, led the first session at 1 minute, 6.4721 seconds around the permanent road course, followed by Colton Herta (1:06.4897), Josef Newgarden (1:06.4957), Scott Dixon (1:06.5524) and Pato O’Ward (1:06.6281).
In the afternoon session, Alexander Rossi set the fastest time of the day (1:06.0797) while the Ganassi cars remained quick with Marcus Ericsson, Dixon and Palou claiming the top three spots. Former Ganassi driver Felix Rosenqvist was fifth, rebounding from an incident in the first session.
In an extremely tight session (with a second separating the top 17), Rossi managed to be 0.1393 seconds ahead of Ericsson.
PRACTICE AT BARBER: First session l Second session l Combined results
“We have to do the job later on, so it’s good,” Rossi told NBC Sports’ Kelli Stavast. It was difficult there. Every new tire run, whether black or reds, got interrupted. But ultimately from when we rolled off I was happy with the 27 Napa Andretti Honda.
“It’s all good right now. We just have to see how the track evolves. It’s hotter now than it was this morning. It’s going to start cooling off again come qualifying and not react too much how it was right there. Overall we’re in a decent position for (qualifying).”
It was an eventful afternoon session, which saw three red flags for Dalton Kellett, Colton Herta and Josef Newgarden, who had a half-spin late in the session after having his steering wheel pop off earlier while on track.
The worst crash was for Herta, who was OK after sliding off course and through the sand into the Turn 2 barrier.
After making contact with the wall during the afternoon practice session at @BarberMotorPark, @ColtonHerta explained what happened to @IndyCaronNBC.
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) April 17, 2021
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“I just went too fast,” Herta told NBC Sports’ Marty Snider. “The tires weren’t up to temp and a little bit of a silly move by me to try to push that hard at that point in the run on the first lap. So yeah, it bit me, and that sucks because we won’t get to try the red tires now, but five teammates to go over with and check their data on the red tires.”
Newgarden avoided damage to his No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet but ranking 14th in the afternoon session was frustrating for the two-time IndyCar champion who has a series-high three victories at Barber (the site of his first win in 2014).
Red Flag is out after this incident involving @josefnewgarden.
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) April 17, 2021
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Watch: https://t.co/Py4Niudrrg
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“It was just messy,” Newgarden told Snider. “It didn’t start well. We had some steering wheel issues with the collar and it popped off in the backstretch because it was loose, and I was trying to put it back on, and the reverse happened. Thankfully everyone avoided me. Not a fun situation.
“Then we got into the session. We weren’t great to start with, and I felt we got better in the second run on black tires. Then we took another swing and weren’t very good on reds, but I think the capability of the car is really strong. We’re just not getting it together. Messy session. One of those days you put that behind you and try to figure out the right combo, and we’ll come back fresh in qualifying and hopefully execute a little better.”
Alex Palou made his IndyCar practice debut Saturday with Chip Ganassi Racing in the No. 10 Dallara-Honda (Joe Skibinski/IndyCar).
Things went much better for Palou, who will make his first start with Ganassi after a rookie season with Dale Coyne Racing.
“It’s amazing to be back racing, amazing to be in Barber,” Palou told Stavast in between sessions. “I love this place. Still only free practice 1, but it’s the best way to start.
"(Sunday’s race) is going to be really tricky. This is probably the toughest track, and 92 laps are going to be brutal. I’ve been training a lot.”
Johnson’s best lap in the first session was 1:07.9509, putting him behind Max Chilton (1:07.7654).
In the afternoon session, Johnson ran 39 laps and improved his time to 1:07.8821, which still ranked last among the 24 drivers (Rahal was next at 107.4681).
The only red flag was in the morning session was for Rosenqvist, who had a minor collision with the wall on pit entry.
“I was coming into the pits and wasn’t actually going that fast I was just trying to put my pit speed limiter on while I was turning into the little kink leading into pit lane,” Rosenqvist told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns. “The steering wheel kind of just flipped out of my hands. Really awkward. Stupid mistake.
After hitting the wall heading into the pits at @BarberMotorPark, @FRosenqvist spoke with @IndyCaronNBC about what the issue was during his first practice session of 2021. #INDYCAR // #HIGPA pic.twitter.com/gYd0m7bDJq
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) April 17, 2021
“It’s what it is. It wasn’t really a matter of trying to push for anything. The heaviness of the steering in these cars. Sometimes you can’t hold one hand on the wheel without losing it. Once I lost it, I couldn’t get it back.”
Rosenqvist, who has moved to Arrow McLaren SP this season from Ganassi, told Burns that repairs would be “relatively simple,” and the car would be ready for a 2:40 p.m ET practice. Qualifying is at 5:55 p.m. ET.
I have never seen someone have more fun than @JimmieJohnson after first practice I think I just asked how it went as he scootered by and he just shouted “YEEHAW” 😂 you keep on livin your best life bro! #HIGPA #indycar
— Conor Daly (@ConorDaly22) April 17, 2021