Jimmie Johnson will enter the Indianapolis 500 subsequent 12 months and run a full IndyCar schedule.

The seven-time NASCAR champion had been rushing towards the Indy 500 choice he lastly introduced Wednesday since he moved to IndyCar earlier this 12 months. Johnson ran solely the highway and avenue programs in his first season of open-wheel racing due to security issues he had about ovals.

However as he settled into his new job with Chip Ganassi Racing, Johnson grew extra comfy with the automotive, collection security enhancements and, in the end, racing on ovals. He examined at each Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, however nonetheless performed coy about committing to “The Best Spectacle in Racing.”

Not anymore.

Johnson will enter all 17 races on subsequent 12 months’s IndyCar schedule within the No. 48 with sponsorship once more from Carvana.

“I am actually enthusiastic about this subsequent chapter of my profession and competing within the No. 48 with Carvana for the 2022 season,” Johnson mentioned. “The security of those automobiles has come up to now, and after I examined the ovals at Texas and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I noticed this was a problem I wished to undertake.”

I am going #FullTime subsequent 12 months! I am unable to wait to get behind the wheel of the @Carvana machine for the total @INDYCAR season, together with the #Indy500. #NoFinishLines pic.twitter.com/pCOUno42To

— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) December 15, 2021

Johnson, who turned 46 in September, walked away from NASCAR on the finish of the 2020 season to grow to be an IndyCar rookie. He ran 12 races and completed a career-best seventeenth on the season finale in Lengthy Seaside.

He might be teammates once more in 2022 with reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou, six-time champion Scott Dixon and former System One driver Marcus Ericsson. Tony Kanaan in 2021 ran the 4 ovals within the No. 48 when Johnson was not within the automotive. Kanaan is anticipated to once more run at the least the Indy 500, though there was no announcement Wednesday on his schedule.

“We’re very completely satisfied about Jimmie working the entire 2022 season,” crew proprietor Chip Ganassi mentioned. “With all of the expertise he has on ovals from his NASCAR profession and including it to his 2021 expertise in an Indy automotive, we predict the IndyCar ovals will play proper into his power.”

Carvana elevated its sponsorship of Johnson in order that he can run the total season. It is going to be the first companion for 16 of the 17 races on the schedule. The American Legion would be the major sponsor on the No. 48 at Iowa Speedway in July.

“I am grateful for Chip, Carvana and all who made this attainable,” Johnson mentioned. “Final season was so unbelievable for me and I made a whole lot of progress, so I do know I will be aggressive on tracks that I’ve expertise on. I am unable to wait to be a part of the Indianapolis 500, it is a childhood dream come true.”