LONG BEACH, Calif. — Jimmie Johnson slipped a glove over the carbon fiber splint custom-built for his broken right hand. A piece of tape around two fingers outside the glove was intended to prevent him from using his pinky — the finger closest to the break — as he drove his car through the streets of downtown Long Beach.
But what was supposed to be a Saturday morning test to determine Johnson’s fitness a day after his injury ended in another fall, another visit to the medical center and another X-ray.
“I didn’t feel any pain on the track. I felt great. I was just trying to go too fast into Turn 1, locking the tires and widening,” Johnson said outside the medical center. “I’m rather disappointed that I made the mistake of tearing the car apart again, but I’m feeling really good with the injury.”
Johnson said he was ready for Sunday’s Long Beach, IndyCar stop considered his home race. Growing up two hours away in El Cajon, Long Beach was an annual childhood family trip, and Johnson rented a suite for 40 friends to watch him start his second career there with IndyCar.
However, it was a turbulent weekend. Johnson arrived in Long Beach and posted a best sixth place finish of his IndyCar career on his Oval debut at Texas Motor Speedway.
Johnson was among those hyped for his Indy 500 debut in Friday morning’s comments. Hours later, he hit a tire barrier and broke his hand. The injury was immediately visible when Johnson’s camera in the car showed him shaking his right hand.
It appeared Johnson didn’t take his hands off the wheel, a common practice in open-wheel racing, to protect the driver from the force of the impact. NASCAR drivers don’t usually take their hands off the wheel in an accident.
But Johnson clarified on Saturday that he took his hands off the wheel but didn’t pull them back far enough to avoid injury.
“I let go. I didn’t move them far enough out of the way,” Johnson said. “But I let go, and then my hands moved with the impact into the path of the spinning wheel and the underside of the wheel caught it.”
X-rays taken Friday showed the break, and his Chip Ganassi Racing team was tasked with building a track that IndyCar would approve for use in the car. The small black piece was taped next to the crest of his right hand and had to be checked by IndyCar safety pioneer Dr. Terry Trammell to be approved.
There were several tense hours as CGR and Johnson worked frantically to get him back in the car by Saturday morning. Ganassi sportscar driver Sebastien Bourdais, a four-time IndyCar champion, would likely be Johnson’s replacement if he is unable to drive on Sunday.
“We went through all the right steps and then on the track it just faded in my head and I was just doing laps,” said Johnson, who arrived at the track at 6am on Saturday to get used to the track. “Dr. Trammel is amazing. He knew exactly what to build, how to build it, and where to position it. Turns out the man knows what he’s doing.”
Saturday’s X-ray showed the fracture had straightened overnight and apart from some repairs to his number 48 and Johnson forgiving his second crash, he was ready to get back in the car.
“I’m just mad at myself. I know where I need to get better in these cars and how to attack and that’s the braking zones and brake release,” he said. “I had a personal best the lap before and I was in that rhythm of releasing the brake and letting the car roll faster at the apex.
“And when I did that, I lost my back and had to catch it and ran into the hoops. I hate making mistakes and I’ve made two now [at Long Beach].”