A file seven wins, probably the most laps led in Texas Motor Speedway historical past and a resume so stout they renamed victory lane after him.

However as Jimmie Johnson prepares for his IndyCar debut on the observe he dominated for a decade he has low expectations of incomes a visit to “The Jimmie Johnson Winners Circle.”

“I do not suppose that is reasonable. Some individuals might have that expectation and that is advantageous. I’d love that to be the case,” Johnson mentioned. “Everytime you enter a brand new collection, you are with the regulars, they’re so good at what they do. We now have seen it when drivers attempt to cross over from numerous collection.

“I definitely have larger expectations for myself, however I am not considering I will present up, qualify on pole, lead probably the most laps and win the race.”

Johnson will make his oval debut as an IndyCar driver Sunday at Texas as he tackles the complete schedule this season. He opted out of ovals as an IndyCar rookie final yr though he’d dominated the circuits for practically 20 years in NASCAR, successful seven Cup Sequence championships in an 11-year span.

All however one among Johnson’s 83 profession Cup victories are on ovals.

However it was a household choice concerning security for Johnson to not race ovals when he moved to the open cockpit Indy automobile, which can not deal with the contact so acquainted to the inventory automobiles in NASCAR. He caught to avenue and highway programs, a private choice that made sense to Johnson however appeared a peculiar selection contemplating ovals are his bread and butter.

He modified his thoughts as he attended the Indianapolis 500 as an NBC analyst, deciding that as his consolation within the automobile improved, IndyCar’s cockpit-protecting aeroscreen additionally alleviated his security issues.

So 14 years after his first win at Texas, Johnson will now return to the 1.5-mile oval that was as soon as his private playground. He examined on the observe final yr together with his Chip Ganassi Racing crew to gauge his curiosity in operating ovals, however a scheduled IndyCar take a look at final week was scrubbed due to poor climate situations.

It is a completely different observe now after Speedway Motorsports overhauled the circuit in 2017, the yr Johnson gained his final race at Texas. His six earlier wins have been on the previous structure and Johnson mentioned “I nonetheless have loads to study coming to a observe I do know and love.”

The brand new configuration at Texas has a slim entry and exit within the turns and the as soon as wide-open observe has been lowered to 1 lane due to the consequences of a traction compound NASCAR makes use of that eradicated the surface lane. And, an Indy automobile needs to be roughly 30 mph sooner than a inventory automobile — a change that Johnson mentioned required an preliminary imaginative and prescient adjustment his first time on observe.

“I am grateful for each lap that I’ve had up to now, however I nonetheless have loads to study in single-car operating. I nonetheless have not been in visitors, and these automobiles are rather more delicate in visitors than what I anticipated from watching,” Johnson mentioned. “I’ve watched each video humanly attainable. I will have to make use of the 2 hours of follow [Saturday] to maximise that, get a way of it, so I can have the most effective race craft attainable heading into the occasion.”

He nonetheless has excessive objectives for Saturday and Sunday: Johnson needs to enhance his qualifying place and earn the primary top-10 end of his IndyCar profession.

“Finally I need to run each lap of the race,” he mentioned. “I am so new into my IndyCar expertise, beginning throughout on ovals, each lap goes to be a marked quantity of expertise gained. We’re making an attempt to construct up for the Indy 500. Everybody is aware of how particular the Indy 500 is. It is the second oval on the schedule. Each lap I make shall be very helpful.”