Jimmie Johnson earns career-best IndyCar finish after hard fight with teammate Ericsson

NEWTON, Iowa – Jimmie Johnson has grown accustomed to having “given way” to his teammates but declined to yield Sunday en route to a career-best IndyCar finish – even with a championship at stake.

After battling with Marcus Ericsson tooth and nail for more than 50 laps around Iowa Speedway, Johnson finally nosed ahead of his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate – and the IndyCar points leader – for fifth place.

Though it was “a really special day” for the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, Johnson said he was motivated to earn his first top five because he felt he should have passed another teammate earlier on the way to a breakthrough podium finish.

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“I’ve raced my teammates with the most respect that I possibly can,” Johnson told NBC Sports. “Every race I’ve been in, I’ve just given way, and that was really the first time I fought for position, and it was because I felt like I should have been up there passing (Scott Dixon, who finished fourth). I made a mistake and got up in the marbles, and I really felt a podium was in our reach, but today,  I had it in me. I raced everybody clean and hard, and that was just had an awesome day.”

After impressing his rivals by leading 19 laps and rallying for 11th after a Lap 16 spin Saturday, Johnson put on an even steadier show in his No. 48 Dallara-Honda on the 0.894-mile oval.

Even Ericsson couldn’t be upset with his teammate despite losing two points in the standings on Johnson’s late pass (the Indy 500 winner still leads the championship by eight points over Will Power, Sunday’s runner-up).

P5 on the day! Iowa, you’ve been good to me. https://t.co/uWGNs9V7Iy

— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) July 24, 2022

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