MOUNT MORRIS, MICH. - Racing at Indianapolis is always special, even more so for Michael Johnson who last weekend competed at the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time after testing there several times in the past.

The double header event for the Pro Mazda Championship Presneted by Cooper Tires took place at the newly configured Formula One road course as part of the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis, the first time INDYCAR would use the road course configuration for a race event.

"We tested here on the original road course configuration several times as part of the Mazda Road to Indy test which usually takes place after the season," said Johnson. "I was really looking forward to running the new updated track layout because it has a good flow to it and I ended up being quickest for the first time in an official INDYCAR-sanctioned practice session here in the past."

Expectations were high since the ultra smooth track was expected to fit Johnson's driving style and the speed he has been showing while testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in the past.

The event was kicked off again with a promoter test day which saw Johnson posting the 14th and 11th fastest times in the first two sessions making him the fastest of the three JDC MotorSports entered drivers.

The team continued to improve the setup during the two official practice sessions the following day and Johnson was again running midfield posting similar times to his two teammates before it was time for qualifing.

Johnson qualified in 15th place among an extremely competitive field. Only 0.6 second quicker would have put him in sixth place.

"The entire field is so close that every tenth makes a difference, basically every tenth you gain you move up at least two positions so you just need to put everything together for the one perfect lap," he said. "We know that all our cars are just as fast as the others, it’s just a super tight field this year."

The start of the race was a challenge of its own since the field took the green flag on one of the longest straights of the season before heading into the tight Turn One.

"I expected that the first lap going into the first turn would be very interesting," said Johnson. "Even when you start in the back, you get a good run down the front straight for the braking zone into Turn One."

His prediction proved to be correct. With the entire field entering the braking zone four-wide, it was hardly surprising that several cars made contact with each other: "I was just trying not to hit anyone and even had to go all four wheels in the grass to avoid other cars spinning."

When the dust had settled, Johnson was running in ninth place with one of his teammates fighting for the lead. After the midway point, a downshifting issue forced him to lose two positions and saw him finishing the race just outside the top 10 in 11th place but still the highest finishing JDC MotorSports driver.

"I could stay with the cars ahead of me and was saving my tires for the end of the race when the prog]blem occurred," said Johnson. "With one of my teammates running with the leaders upfront, it shows that our cars had the speed to run there. We just need a break and have a race without any problems and we will get a good result."

He started Saturday's second race of the weekend in 12th place but would not get the lucky break he was looking for.

"We had a good start, there was contact between several cars going into Turn One again but we stayed out of trouble and kept our nose clean," he said. "I was running within the top 10 when I hit a curb exiting Turn Six and lost all shifting ability.

"It's extremely frustrating," he said after finishing an unrepresentative 15th. "I've said it before, the speed is there for us to constantly run in the top 10. I know this is a new system that we are using for the shifting and there is no shortcut to make it better but it's simply so frustrating that we could have good solid finishes and the same issue takes us out of the race once again."

The silver lining is that the next race will be the first oval race of the season where downshifting will not be an issue. The next race will be part of the "Night Before the 500" event at Lucas Oil Raceway on May 23-24..

About Michael Johnson: Twenty-one-year-old racer Michael Johnson is the first and only paralyzed licensed INDYCAR driver. Johnson was on his way to becoming a professional motorcycle racer, having won races and championships at regional and national levels, when, on August 13, 2005 he was involved in an on-track racing accident which left him paralyzed from the mid-chest down. After several years of recovery he has started racing and winning again and now has set his goal to become the first paralyzed driver to compete in the Indianapolis 500. Johnson drives his specially modified race car with hand controls and he became the first paralyzed racer to win in an open-wheel formula car during Round Two of the Skip Barber Summer Series at Watkins Glen International Raceway in 2011. He went on to claim two further victories at Road America, and finished the 2011 season with three wins, one pole position, four third place podiums and several top-five finishes. In 2012 Johnson moved up to the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda with championship winning team JDC MotorSports. This is Step One of the “Mazda Road to Indy” program. In his first year as a professional licensed INDYCAR driver Johnson had several top-10 finishing positions in qualifying and races on his way to 15th position overall in the series. Johnson is once again competing with JDC MotorSports in the 2014 Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires.