Jimmie Johnson has expressed his surprise at how familiar an Indycar felt on the ovals as he gears up for his first full season in Indycar.

The seven-time Nascar cup series champion who switched to Indycar in 2021 endured a rough rookie season for Chip Ganassi Racing as he could only manage a best finish of 17th at both Laguna Seca and Long Beach.

However, the Californian feels more comfortable going into his sophomore season as he plans to do the ovals and the road courses after a part-time schedule in 2021, which solely consisted of road courses.

"So much more comfortable and confident. I think my performance at the end of the year suggests and really reflects, I guess, probably better to say reflects the learning that I did over the course of the season. To add to that, we had two races on the INDYCAR Road Course, and from race one to race two, my comfort level was four or five times more than it was the first go-around. Very excited for year number two. There will be some new circuits for me. I have not been to Toronto yet, the ovals, some of them (such as) Iowa I've never been to oddly enough. I didn't run the Xfinity car there or anything, so that will be another new track for me."

"Excited to get back. Second time around at a track, to know the nuances of the track, to have notes to work off of, to have video to work off, those things really make a big difference."

In late August, Johnson completed a test at Texas Motor Speedway in order for him to feel comfortable with the oval-spec Dallara Dw12. After also completing a test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Johnson thinks he is now ready to showcase his speed on the ovals.

"Yeah, the speed is quite a bit faster than what I was used to in a Cup car, but once I got my eyes in the right spot, I was surprised how familiar it felt. As the Texas test session wore on, we started making adjustments to the car, and again, I was surprised how those -- I knew how those adjustments felt in a stock car, and I wasn't sure if they would feel the same in an INDYCAR, and they did. A lot of hope from those two test sessions that I had on the ovals."

"I certainly hope from a driving experience that I'm able to stop thinking so much and just start reacting and driving. I know how much of a difference that made for me on the street and road courses over the course of the year, and I'm hopeful I get on an oval and that I'm more worried about going forward than I am sensing and feeling and paying attention to all the little details."