Tropicana 400 - Jimmie Johnson Notes

Team 48 Chicagoland Preview

Jimmie Johnson will be available for print and electronic interviews at the Lowe’s hauler in the Nextel Cup garage after practice on Saturday in Chicagoland.

Lowe’s Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson and Team 48 visit Chicagoland Speedway for Sunday’s 400-mile race. Johnson is first in the NASCAR Nextel point’s race for the third consecutive week leading Dale Earnhardt Jr. by 27 points. Johnson earned his first career Busch Series victory at Chicagoland in 2001.

Jimmie Johnson:

WILL CHICAGOLAND’S NEW SAFER BARRIER TAKE AWAY FROM RACING LINE? “It shouldn’t be a problem at all in Chicago. The place where it has caused the surface to change and the groove to change is Darlington. It won’t be a big deal in Chicago. We aren’t racing that close to the wall. The groove has been widened out but that extra few feet taken up by the SAFER barrier won’t matter. The track is evolving and turning out to be a pretty good track. Last year at the track the groove widened out and we began to put on a pretty good show. Fortunately, there’s tough winters and warm summers up there that kind of age the track faster than it would in other places. That will help roughen the track up and help the asphalt wear out a little faster and change the racing surface. In some cases it’s a problem when you build too nice of a race track and too good of a surface and it makes more of a single-file race. But, the track has been widening out and the racing is getting stronger and stronger.”

HOW IMPORTANT WAS YOUR FIRST CAREER BUSCH SERIES VICTORY AT CHICAGO IN 2001? “Actually that was in my second year in Busch. (Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick) had already hired me in September of my rookie season. I hadn’t won a Busch race yet. Believe me that Busch race I won in Chicago was more of a relief than anything. There were different people in the garage and other critics asking what is Hendrick doing hiring this kid that had never won a Busch race before. There were a lot of stats flying around comparing me to Tony Stewart. Seeing Tony’s stats made me feel comfortable because Tony hadn’t won a Busch race and had all his success in Cup. So, that win was more a relief than anything else.”

WILL THE POINTS BATTLE CHANGE YOUR AND JEFF GORDON’S RELATIONSHIP: “It will be different for us. Obviously, we have raced against each other for wins and competed at that level, but a championship will be a whole new thing. As far as I am concerned that is a good problem to have. And I will look forward to racing him for the championship. I hope it comes down to a four car race for the championship and it’s all four Hendrick cars.”

CREW CHIEF CHAD KNAUS:

BATTLING NO. 24 FOR CHAMPIONSHIP: “It’s going to be pretty simple actually. The situation is that there aren’t two teams here. It’s one team. So, aside from me locking (No. 24 Crew Chief) Robbie (Loomis) in the bathroom so he can’t work on his car everything will be fine. I’m just kidding. We have a very good relationship, but it is definitely going to be stressful. The way I have described it in the past is like this. We finished second to the 24 car Saturday night. Yeah, I was mad at that point in time that we finished second to who we would consider our big brother. You don’t like that, but you sit down and calm down after the stresses of the race go away and you realize that what we are doing here within these four walls at the 24 and 48 shop is absolutely incredible and never been done before in this sport. “If we get down to the final ten events and we are battling for the championship, there is nobody I would rather race against than Jeff Gordon and Robbie Loomis. But on the same note there is nobody I would rather beat.”

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