Diamond Hill Plywood 200 - Jimmie Johnson Notes

JIMMIE JOHNSON
NO. 5 LOWE’S / SPECTRACIDE CHEVROLET
DARLINGTON PREVIEW

JIMMIE JOHNSON PULLING DOUBLE DUTY THIS WEEKEND: Jimmie Johnson makes his first start in the No. 5 Team Lowe's Racing Chevrolet Friday night in the Busch Series race at Darlington Raceway.

In addition to competing for the 2005 NEXTEL Cup Series championship behind the wheel of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, Johnson will drive the No. 5 Lowe's Busch Series entry in several Busch Series races, including next weekend at Richmond International Raceway and the June 4 race at Dover International Speedway. These races are in addition to the previously announced schedule of Busch Series races in which Johnson will drive the No. 48 Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools Chevrolet.

In his only Busch Series start this season, Johnson finished third in the No. 48 Lowe’s / Kobalt Chevrolet in March at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Jimmie Johnson On:

Darlington Busch Race: “I won both Darlington Cup races last year and with one of the races coming off the schedule I guess the only way I could get a chance to win twice this year is to run in the Busch race. This is a tough place to race, but Friday night under the lights will be a lot of fun. We’ll have to see what happens.”

Darlington Raceway: “It has a lot of history. It's very unique. That's why I think it's still on the schedule. We need to keep tracks like Darlington on the schedule. It might not fit the model for a big race track, big market, and things like that. But, it's one of the tracks our sport was founded on and a very tough place to get around. I like that it's on the schedule.”

Racing Darlington At Night: “I know that when Jeff practiced there-I think he did an exhibition of some sort-I think he was concerned with the lighting...but, after our finish under the lights there last year (in the Cup race), I thought everything was fine. I thought you could see the track well, shadowing didn't seem to be a problem. The hardest thing was the twilight hours racing into the sun. Racing into turn three was tough, but when the sun went down everything seemed fine.”

Race Information

TEAM NO. 5’s HISTORY AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY: Team No. 5 has scored four top-10 starting spots and two top-10 finishes in six NASCAR Busch Series events at Darlington Raceway. With driver Brian Vickers, the No. 5 team visited Victory Lane at Darlington in August, 2003. In March of last year, Kyle Busch drove the No. 5 to his first career Busch Series pole position at Darlington.

JIMMIE JOHNSON’S BUSCH SERIES HISTORY AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY: Jimmie Johnson has two top-10 qualifying efforts (fourth, Sept., 2000; and eighth, Sept., 2001) in Busch Series events at Darlington Raceway, but he’s never finished in the top-10 in a Busch race at “The Lady In Black.”

CHASSIS INFORMATION- Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 273 has been a “workhorse” of the Hendrick Motorsports stable. Brian Vickers drove this chassis to his first career Busch Series win at Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) in 2003, and Kyle Busch repeated that feat in 2004, driving No. 273 to a win at IRP. Busch also drove this chassis in his first career Busch Series win at Richmond International Raceway last May, where he sat on the pole and led all but 13 of the race’s 250 laps. Most recently, Blake Feese drove this chassis to a 30th-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway in March.

STATS & FACTS