SPEEDWAY, Ind. — The coronavirus has forced IndyCar to completely revamp it’s 2020 calendar — which now has the GMR Grand Prix happening the same weekend as NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
It’s been rumored that after seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson retires after this season he may try his hand in the IndyCar ranks.
Those rumors got a little more credibility over the weekend as Johnson told NBC Sports he is “taking a very hard look” at the possibility of running both the GMR Grand Prix and the Brickyard 400 in the same weekend.
Johnson said he hadn’t even considered pulling off both races until regular IndyCar driver Graham Rahal texted him about it this week. Rahal also tweeted at Johnson asking him if he was available July 4th with the hashtag “DoTheNewDouble.”
Johnson said if he were to try and run in both races there would be a lot of variables to consider. Since Johnson is still under contract with Hendrick Motorsports in NASCAR he would need to ask owner Rick Hendrick for permission to run in the GMR Grand Prix. He would also need a current IndyCar team to provide him with a ride.
Johnson had been scheduled to turn some test laps in an IndyCar with Arrow McLaren Racing at both Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama and at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas last month, but those tests were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
