Johnson will be making his first ever oval start in an IndyCar at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, and his commitment to the Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda team preclude the NASCAR legend from taking his usual seat in Action Express Racing’s extra Cadillac for IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s endurance rounds.
IndyCar practice and qualifying is being held on Saturday, so had any driver attempted to race both the Twelve Hours of Sebring and the XPEL 375 would have had to start from the back of the IndyCar field.
Consequently, Lopez, who was the Ally car’s fourth driver in the Rolex 24 Hours, has been called back to the squad for Sebring. Ironically, that means the Argentinian ace is now “doing a double”, since he is also racing the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid in Friday’s WEC season-opener, the Sebring 1000-mile race – and in both cases he’s sharing the car with Kobayashi.
“It was great to get the call to be back in the Ally Cadillac for another run at Sebring,” Lopez said. “Unlike when I joined the team for Daytona, I have a lot of laps at Sebring and will get more running in the WEC race there this week too.
“The team had a good run there last year. It is too bad that Jimmie can't be in the car. So, we are going to see if we can get a win for him in the Ally Cadillac on Saturday.”
Kobayashi echoed Lopez’s sentiments, as he seeks reparation for the penalty the team received at this event last year, which dropped them from third to seventh owing to a drive-time infraction.
“I think we will be good here this weekend as all three of us are running in the WEC race,” said Kobayashi said. “We will have a lot of track time to build from for the IMSA race. I am looking forward to running in the Ally Cadillac again and working with the Action Express Racing team.
“Last year, we had very good pace at Sebring and should have been on the podium. Unfortunately, we had the penalty with the drive time. So, I think we are going to be very strong, and we are motivated to get a good finish for Jimmie.”
Rockenfeller will also be pulling double-duty, as he’s racing the Vector Sport LMP2 Oreca in the Sebring 1000. The German, who co-drove a Corvette to GTLM-class victory at Sebring in 2017, said: “The Cadillac has proven to be a fantastic car on many tracks, particularly at Sebring. We hope to continue that record at Sebring with a good result.
“It is going to be a tough week with some heat and probably some rain. After Daytona, we want to come back and have a good result. We want to fight for the win. Let’s see what we can do.”
