Hi everybody.
Welcome to Sunny Southern California.
This is where Jimmy Johnson grew up
in a small town outside of San Diego.
Jimmy was really never
attracted to the surf and sand.
He was all about race cars and winning.
The Pacific Ocean is mesmerizing.
It's the perfect backdrop for
that California lifestyle.
But each spring. The IndyCar Star shake up.
That cool California vibe
first memories of Long Beach.
And why you love this place?
The IndyCar? Was it out here?
And what we all wanted to do was young
racers here in California.
This is where Jimmy Johnson
started his road to fame.
Grew up two hours South of here
in the small town of El Cajon
on the outskirts of San Diego.
What was it like growing up there?
I think a lot
of people have this perception
you grew up in the big fancy.
This is a working class neighborhood.
You were your family's working class for
sure. I mean, my dad was a heavy equipment
operator while I was a school bus driver.
His home was on the outskirts of town,
so Jimmy had endless trails to ride.
His dirt bike racing became his passions.
Parents that they push you
that they encourage you.
What kind of parenting did you have?
No, they they didn't push at
all and I can vividly remember
parents that were the pushers
I had this desire and self discipline
to just ride any motor that I could
and race all around the country and
worked hard to be nationally ranked.
This small town was the perfect
place for Jimmy to grow up.
There's a street named in his honor.
Los Panchos
his favorite restaurant is still there,
with pictures hanging on the wall.
They even have a menu
item named after him. Now
I'm here to get the Jimmy Johnson special.
What is that? I did the Jimmy
Johnson burrito and here we go.
I'm still recovering from that.
I'm proud of you for making the effort.
And then you at Granite Hills High School,
home of the Eagles guys in the
Hall of Fame but for water
polo and diving, right? Who knew?
We'll be honest it was not due to my
success on the swim team or water polo team.
It was due to the racing and being an eagle.
That Eagle went on to fly high.
He retired from NASCAR with seven
championships and four Brickyard 400 wins.
He was transitioning into retirement
and then he got a phone call.
From IndyCar owner Chip Ganassi.
Chip said hey come just
come drive the car see what
you think come drive a car and after I
drove that car I was like man I got I
got to do this conversations with your
wife was that intense was she like?
Come on let's not do this as she knew
how how badly I wanted to do it.
She's like, yeah, let's go.
We're in now the 500 I had to
work a little different angle and
that was more the safety angle.
Johnson
made millions in NASCAR. There's no need
for him to work anymore.
But now he's chasing that childhood
dream to race in the Indianapolis 500
and I hope to find my
groove before race day and literally
from the start of the race.
You know, be on par and be in
that competitive battle up front.
What would it mean to win the 500?
I can't even think that big it would
be out of this world out of this world.
Anything seems possible
for this California kid.