Jimmie Johnson opens up about his experience with NASCAR’s Garage 56 team at Le Mans

Jimmie Johnson has earned all of his seven NASCAR Cup Series titles in the days of the old H-pattern gearbox in the sport. However, that did not stop him from taking up the challenge of running a Next Gen Cup car at a track it was not designed for.

Such was the intent and ridiculousness behind the NASCAR Garage 56 program, which saw a stock car return to the Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe after almost half a century.

Meant to showcase innovation at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Garage 56 saw Jimmie Johnson join the likes of Jenson Button and Mike Rockenfeller in a bid to optimize a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Cup Car for the 8.4-miles of the iconic circuit.

In conjunction with the governing body, Johnson's old team Hendrick Motorsports and Goodyear, the #24 entry into the 100th running of the prestigious endurance race sat somewhere between a GT car and a stock car.

With experience in stock cars as well as open-wheeled cars after his stint in the NTT IndyCar Series, Jimmie Johnson was still surprised at how much tweaking a driver has to do to his style in order to last a full 24 hours.

The California native elaborated on the same and said:

“You're trying to run the fastest lap time you can without hurting the car or overworking the brakes. I was needing to lift earlier than normal to coast for a while, then find a new braking reference deeper into the corner to make the turn and carry momentum around."

"When cars would overtake me, I was trying to fall in behind them, run partial throttle, and use the draft to save more fuel. It's funny how awake you feel in the car. ”

Driving more than 2400 miles collectively between the three drivers, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is as much a test of the machinery as it is of human perseverance and ability.

Jimmie Johnson elaborates on Le Mans' solution for driver visibility while racing

Contrary to the popular driver-spotter system in NASCAR, GT cars including the LMGTE AM class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, use a system based on radar. Jimmie Johnson, who was one of the drivers for the #24 Garage 56 entry this year, elaborated on how the system works and said:

“As faster cars are approaching, a little arrow pops up, first it's green, then it's orange, then it's red, depending on how close they are. At night, it's really tough to see with the bright headlights, so you have to pay attention to the arrows."

The Garage 56 Camaro ZL1 finished in an overall P39 ahead of a significant cluster of the LMGTE AM class at Le Mans, resulting in the program being a success.