Meet Jimmie Johnson's Indy 500 spotter. His name is Gary Johnson. He is Jimmie's dad.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Gary Johnson thought for a split second, maybe not even that long, that his son might retire from racing. Jimmie Johnson had talked about it. He had retired from NASCAR in 2020 after a career where he demolished the series, ending as one of the greatest drivers of all time.

"Yeah, all this talk of retiring, you know," Gary said Wednesday. "Then, it's like, 'You're going to do what?'"

Jimmie was going to IndyCar full time, going to IMSA part time. Of course he was not retiring from racing, even at 46.

"You know, once you have it under your skin, it's hard to get rid of," said Gary. "This is just going to be the icing on the cake here."

Icing on the cake. That's all, really, there is left to put on Jimmie's cake — the frosting. Gary shakes his head as he sits in a golf cart in front of the Chip Ganassi Racing trucks Wednesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, thinking about his son's practice the day before.

Doyel: How did Jimmie Johnson end up in the 2022 Indy 500? 'Nobody knows this part'

He puts his head down and smiles, thinking about those 77 laps of the second session his son ran Tuesday, posting the third fastest time at 227.722 mph.

Gary doesn't want to jinx things or think about it too much, but he is starting to wonder if his son, in his Indy 500 debut, could really win this thing.

Racing analysts are starting to murmur about it. 

"Wow, god, that would just be incredible," said Gary. "He got four wins in the NASCAR (race) here so anything's possible. But just as long as everybody's safe and it's a good race and he finishes up front, I'll be happy."

Gary will be in the middle of it all, exactly where he likes to be. He is Jimmie's spotter for the Indy 500. He is the guy who sits in Turn 3 and talks to Jimmie on the radio, telling him who's coming from behind, where the other cars are, when he's being passed inside, when he's being passed outside.

Gary was with Jimmie, working on pit crews and spotting, as he won the NASCAR Cup Series seven times. He was with him as he won four Brickyard 400s and two Daytona 500s.

Perhaps, Jimmie Johnson's secret weapon has been hiding behind the scenes all this time. A dad with a love for his son, a love of racing, who wants more than anyone at IMS for him to win.

"I'm trying," Gary Johnson, 69, says of his spotting duties. "I can't mess up."

Jimmie: 'He's over the moon about it'

Gary's dad, a captain of tugboats turned motorcycle shop owner, loved IndyCar. The family lived in San Diego and every May they would go to the San Diego Sports Arena (now named Pechanga Arena) to watch the Indy 500. 

It wasn't on regular television then, so the arena would show the race on closed circuit TV. "I wish he was still alive to see this," Gary said of his dad, Ken Johnson, who died 15 years ago. "To see Jimmie racing the Indy 500."

It was Gary's dad, Jimmie's grandfather, after all, who got this whole racing thing started. He put Gary on a motorcycle when he was 8. Gary put Jimmie on a motorcycle when he was 4.

Gary raced motocross as a teen. At Monte Vista High in Spring Valley, he was on the swim team, a sport he did to keep in shape for racing. Out of high school, he worked as a heavy equipment operator in construction then got a job with BF Goodrich, driving a semi to the races and mounting tires.

That's how Jimmie made the move from racing motorcycles to racing cars. BF Goodrich put him in an off-road car and then Chevrolet saw Jimmie at the Mickey Thompson races and put him in a Chevrolet truck.

 "So like at 16 years old, he was driving for Chevrolet, which was a dream come true," Gary said. "And they took him places I could never take him. So he really earned his way, you know, which I'm very proud of."

But Gary has taken his son places. There is just something special, Jimmie said, about relying on your dad when you're whizzing by on a track at 200 miles an hour. 

“I know how much he loves to come, and I know how much I love to have him here," Jimmie said Tuesday. "And the fact we can share this experience together ... he’s super excited. He’s over the moon about it.”

'This is biggest race in the world to me'

Gary Johnson can agree with that. He likes being part of the action, not sitting in the stands. "I always just like being involved," Gary said, "being part of it."

Gary was on Jimmie's pit crew for years when he drove the Lowe's car and he was Jimmie's spotter for practices on Fridays and Saturdays in NASCAR. Earl Barban, Jimmie's other spotter, who is in Turn 1 for the Indy 500, handled spotting for Jimmie's NASCAR races on Sundays.

Barban has helped Gary immensely, especially in IndyCar. It's not always easy picking out which car is Jimmie's. 

"We talk on a second channel and he'll tell me, 'OK, he's in the middle of the pack or he's at the back of the pack' so I already know where he is before I see him," Gary said. "It really helps me because there are several blue cars and to make sure you're looking at the right car, it's harder than you think."

For NASCAR, Gary used low-power binoculars for the wide angle to spot. For IndyCar, he bought a much higher-power pair so he can see farther.

He doesn't want to make the same mistake he once did. Gary starts laughing as he remembers that 24-hour race. Jimmie's car was pink with pink lights. Another car was pink with pink lights.

"So I'm spotting and Jimmie says, 'Dad, I'm in Turn 4,'" Gary said.  "Oh god I'm looking at the wrong car. But it's three in the morning, you've been up all night, so it happens."

Keeping things light on the radio between father and son is a must for Gary.

"You've got to have fun at this. It's so hard and so many weekends getting prepared for races, if you can keep it light and happy, you'll do better," he said. "If you get down, you're not going to do good, so it's way better if you can say something funny once in a while."

A fun moment happened Tuesday during practice. They've both been so busy, Gary and Jimmie haven't seen each other face to face yet.  

As he drove, Jimmie waved up to Turn 3. Gary saw it and smiled. He said he can still hardly believe this is happening.

"Being a huge race fan, this is the biggest race in the world to me," said Gary. "For him to be in it and me being part of it to help him is just a dream come true."

 Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.