NASCAR's Johnson: Motorsport needs more inter-series crossovers

Ex-Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso reignited the debate after beginning his quest for the 'triple crown' by contesting the Indianapolis 500 in 2017, and won the Le Mans 24 Hours last year with Toyota.

NASCAR drivers have previously cited the series' lengthy season as a reason for not racing in other series, but IndyCar's shorter campaign has led to the likes of Scott Dixon competing in races such as the Daytona 24 Hours.

In America, a growth in events such as Tony Stewart's Eldora Dirt Derby and the midget race Chilli Bowl has attracted leading NASCAR drivers back to grassroots racing and raised the profile of the races.

Asked about the growth of the Chilli Bowl specifically, Johnson said: "I think that in motorsports in general, we need guys to cross over from a local level.

"Although the Chilli Bowl is huge, they're Midgets and more people typically get their starts. Our stars come back down and run and put on such a great show.

"That helps them and I think it helps us.

"It also helps that community and there are a lot of young drivers that are trying to find their way up.

"Hopefully we can get more crossover going, even between IndyCar and NASCAR or NASCAR and Formula 1 or whatever it might be.

"I feel like we had a lot of heroes that we looked up to and those guys would race anything and everything.

"And in the last 20 or 30 years, we've focused more on championships than we have marquee events.

"And I completely understand why, but it's really nice to see people trying to move around and race other things.

"There is a lot of good that comes from those opportunities."

Johnson completed a ride swap with Alonso at the Bahrain Grand Prix circuit late last year, and has hinted at further collaborations with the Spaniard.

"I have some great new friends at McLaren and they have lots of things that they are getting involved with, racing-wise," said Johnson.

"So, down the road there could be some opportunities there for me, potentially.

"I'd love to go endurance racing with Fernando. We joked about that.

"Nothing has developed from that yet, but hopefully down the road we can send some more teasers out and have some more fun."