"Can he pull this off?" - Jimmie Johnson's failure to gel with NextGen cars at Texas prompts former NASCAR legend to put question mark on future

NASCAR star Kenny Wallace has put a question mark on the 7x Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson's motorsports future as the latter's apparent inability to comfortably tame the NextGen car has attracted scrutiny.

Johnson competed at his second Cup Series run of the year at the Texas Motor Speedway, wherein he finished a dismal P29. Moreover, before kicking off his 276-lap run, the Legacy Motor Club suffered a brutal setback during his practice stint on the 1.5-mile speedway.

While maneuvering through Turns 1 and 2, Jimmie Johnson lost control of his NextGen #84 Toyota and slammed his ride into the wall. The severe crash led to the NASCAR Hall of Famer sitting out for the qualifying as the Camry went for repair work.

Witnessing Johnson's lackluster ability to fit in with the modern cars garnered the 9x Xfinity Series race winner's attention, following which he questioned the former's racing future while laying bare the rationale behind Johnson's inability to do so. He said (via X):

"What's Jimmie doing, can he pull this off? Jimmie Johnson on Saturday, he said, 'These cars really drive different, I'm used to drive these cars of the right rear.'" (0.40)

The NextGen cars are based on a different concept than the previous stock cars. The drivers are required to exit the high-banking through the right front, and not the right rear like Johnson did and wrecked his ride.

Wallace then shed light on Johnson's dirt racing style which apparently is the reason behind the latter's inability to gel with the NextGen cars, adding:

"Jimmie used to be a little bit of a dirt racer...he used to go down the corner, he used to feel the right rear do all the work and he got away with that. He won seven championships and he's one of our greatest NASCAR drivers."

Jimmie Johnson sends a brutal message to NASCAR amid their reluctance to increase practice time

Ahead of the recently wrapped up Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 run, Jimmie Johnson tamed his Toyota Camry on the Texas Motor Speedway for the final checks before finalizing his starting position at the qualifying run. The initial 15 minutes of the LMC driver's practice run was under his control but shortly after that, Johnson's #84 Toyota lost control, going straight into the wall.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world, NASCAR used to have longer practice sessions, allowing drivers to properly test their cars, but things have changed now. While suffering the brutal setback of his comparatively weaker NextGen car skills, the 48-year-old was asked about how the drastic cut in practice time has affected the teams.

Speaking on the 20-minute per car per driver practice rule, the Californian took a jibe at NASCAR, saying (via Frontstretch on X):

"The practices are not long enough to make a meaningful change to the car, it's tough to develop...it's just really tough with how little track time there is for all teams to benefit...it affects the smaller teams...mainly it's just throwing darts hoping you're spending the right way at different things."(0.34)