Dale Earnhardt Jr is nervous that Jimmie Johnson is pushing too hard and will end up in a bad situation in first Indy 500

• Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson will race in his first Indy 500 this week.
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he is nervous that Johnson will push too hard and end up in a bad situation.

Jimmie Johnson will race in his first Indianapolis 500 this week, and his former NASCAR teammate is worried about the 46-year-old's safety.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who will be a race commentator for NBC in Indy, discussed his feelings about Johnson's move to IndyCar during a conference call Tuesday. Earnhardt is worried that Johnson will push the car too hard.

"I'm a little bit nervous because he seems to be pushing to the max, everything," Earnhardt said. "Every time he is on the track, it's like he is on the edge."

Earnhardt admitted that nobody is going to tell a seven-time NASCAR champion how to drive a car or approach the race. However, Earnhardt sounded concerned when pointing out that Johnson had already flirted with disaster during practice and qualifying for the race.

"I am full of anxiety that, you know, he's going to push, push, push too hard, and something might, somehow that might put him in a bad situation," Earnhardt said. "He's got so, so close a few times already this month to some bad situations."

One of those situations came during qualifying when Johnson nearly lost control of his car at 235 mph and needed a great save to keep his drive going.

Later on, former Formula One driver Romain Grosjean called qualifying for the Indy 500 "scary."

Earnhardt added that he just has to trust Johnson to know the situation.

"He's a pro, and you trust that he knows what he is out there doing and understanding the limit of the car," Earnhardt said, adding: "I'm just pulling for him to have a great experience in the race and have a result that he can be happy with and smile about in the end."

Johnson feels more comfortable on Indy's oval

When Johnson first moved to open-wheel racing in 2021, he vowed only to race on the road and street courses. He said his wife would never approve of the ludicrous speeds IndyCars reach in Indianapolis.

However, that stance softened midway through his rookie season, and earlier this year, he placed sixth at the Texas Motor Speedway oval, his best finish in IndyCar. Before the Indianapolis 500, Johnson said he already feels most comfortable on the ovals.

"I do [feel like an IndyCar driver now], but I'll put an asterisk on it and just say on ovals," Johnson said. "I've still got a long ways to go on road and street."

Still, Johnson acknowledged that he is still learning, and he is not quite as comfortable as the Indy 500 veterans might be on an oval track that is much flatter than Johnson experienced in NASCAR.

"To feel the boost and the straightaway speed and look down at that 90-degree turn and think that I'll hold [the pedal] flat, it's going to be an interesting conversation with my right foot," Johnson said.