Johnson aiming to capitalize on first IndyCar test with Coyne

New Indy NXT champion Nikita Johnson was pleased with his first outing in an IndyCar after taking over from Formula 2 driver Alex Dunne during last week’s team evaluation tests at Barber Motorsports Park.

The Floridian stepped into the No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda for the afternoon portion of the test and posted a best lap of 1m08.020s during his 62-lap run. Dunne toured the 2.4-mile road course with a top lap of 1m07.674s during his 55-lap morning session.

“It's always good when you're able to go drive a car, right?” Johnson told RACER. “So there was no complaints there, and it was a good evaluation day. I was happy to just drive the car. It was fun.”

Patience was required as Johnson watched Dunne go first at Barber before he got a feel for the added power and aerodynamic grid offered by the No. 19 Dallara DW12.

“I had to wait all morning, so definitely got the nerves up a little bit, just trying to think about what the car was going to do all morning," he said. "But it was what I imagined. It had more downforce, better than NXT. Physical, as well. And then, just being able to drive it around Barber for my first time was really amazing. Just to feel the amount of downforce I had through [Turns] 12 and 13 and Turn 1, it was pretty special.”

The 18-year-old is expected to be confirmed at Coyne, where more junior open-wheel champions and top talents have gotten their IndyCar starts than at any other team.

“It's pretty cool to know that there's been a lot of drivers before me that have tested there and gone and have great careers, and there's going to be most likely a lot of drivers after me to test there as well, and it was just very nice,” Johnson said.

“Everybody was very welcoming and helped me get up to grips on my first day, because obviously there's so much to learn and everything's just completely different in the car. Everybody was just happy to teach me the ropes of driving an IndyCar.”

Johnson continues to work on solidifying his plans for next season.

“I think it's coming along pretty good,” he said. “We're still working everything out, and this was just a evaluation day with (Coyne), so we're still trying to get all the bits and pieces to figure it out and put a ride together and whatnot.

"Hopefully it gets done sooner rather than later. Getting to go do a test day and evaluation day is always the first step. So we'll see what happens, and just keep working on putting everything together, and hopefully I'm good for next year.”