Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 - Jimmie Johnson Notes

Team 48 Darlington Preview

Jimmie Johnson and Team 48 travel to the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway this weekend for Sunday’s 400-mile NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race. Johnson finished fourth at Atlanta last weekend. In the last two races, Johnson moved from 25th to ninth in the season point’s race.

The “Lady In Black” or “The Track Too Tough To Tame” as Darlington is frequently called might be a bit tougher this year with the installation of the new SAFER barrier. The “soft walls” in the turns will cushion any accident, but the walls stick out a few feet on the racing surface making the narrow track even more of a challenge for the drivers.

JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES:

HENDRICK TEAMMATE TERRY LABONTE’S DARLINGTON VICTORY LAST YEAR: “Terry has obviously been with Rick (Hendrick) for many years and they have a great relationship and friendship. They have a great association with Kellogg’s and the entire No. 5 team. For those guys to win last year at Darlington says a lot about Terry and the growth of that race team. Darlington is one of the hardest tracks we go to. I think I finished second or third to him. I thought I might have a shot at getting by him. When they dropped the green flag and he took off and he had a straightaway on me by the time I cleared lapped traffic and had a chance to chase him. He definitely had the speed and will probably have the speed again at this race.”

DID EVERYBODY AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS WIN THAT RACE? “Absolutely. It’s a big team effort anyway, but to have all four teams win last year was pretty special for Rick (Hendrick). At that point, that was the fourth (team) to win. It was probably one of the highlights at Hendrick Motorsports last year.”

HOW WILL YOU CHANGE YOUR DRIVING STYLE FOR THE ADDITION OF THE SAFER BARRIER AT DARLINGTON? “It’s still Darlington. It’s still going to require the same set-up even though we’re going to have a couple of feet of track taken away from us. There was a little bit of grip left up there (top of track) especially on a long run. But now, we’re going to have to reevaluate that. It’s really going to involve getting through the corner. We’re going to have to be a touch easier getting into the corner, especially into Turn 3 because you slide right to the wall before you gain traction. It will be a little bit of a learning curve there, but I don’t think it’s going to be very big.”

WILL INEXPERIENCED DRIVERS HAVE TROUBLE? “I don’t think so. Two feet really isn’t a lot. The wall itself is angled inward toward the track. You can only get so close to it before. I do think though that when you do get into the wall, you’re going to stay into the wall and cause a little more damage just because it’s absorbing the impact and giving way. Whereas with the concrete you’d kind of have a glancing blow on a very light impact. You may see some more damage on the cars. But in the big picture and it possibly preventing injury or even saving a life, it’s well worth it.”

HOW WILL HENDRICK TEAMS PERFORM AT DARLINGTON? “I think all four Hendrick Teams are going to be very competitive. Brian Vickers won the Busch race there last year. Terry Labonte won the last Cup race there. Jeff Gordon has won many races there. It’s one of my favorite race tracks. I’ve had a lot of top 10’s at that track and I hope to bring home my first Darlington trophy.”

WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE TO DO THAT? “Treat the Lady in Black with respect and race the race track and not get caught up in racing everyone else. I had a problem there at the first race of the year last year. I was too worried about racing the other cars and got made a mistake and got caught up with Sterling Marlin and ruined my chances for a good day. So when they say race the race track, that’s really something we have to focus on.”

WILL TIRE WEAR BE A FACTOR? “As far as I know, the tire compound is still the same. But the tire construction is different. It’s going to be the same tire we had at Rockingham, where the compound is the same as what we’ve used in the past but the sidewall construction is different. So it shouldn’t be an issue as far as wear is concerned.” RACE NOTES

CHASSIS INFORMATION
Team Lowe’s Racing will bring car 4873. This car raced at the Rockingham Spring race and Kansas race in 2003. It finished seventh at Kansas after the primary car was damaged in Saturday practice. This car also served as a backup at several races last season and has tested at Las Vegas.

STATS & FACTS

Impressive Rookie
· Jimmie Johnson finished fifth in his career-first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at Darlington – the 2002 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400. Only five other active drivers posted top-10 finishes in their Darlington debut: Ryan Newman (fifth – March 2002), Bill Elliott (10th - September 1977), Terry Labonte (fourth - September 1978), Tony Stewart (sixth - March 1999) and Mark Martin (seventh - April 1982).

Good Qualifier
· Johnson has started in the top five in three of the four Darlington NEXTEL Cup races he has entered.

Coming Back
· Jimmie Johnson has moved from 25th to ninth in points in the last two races.

In The Dirt
· Johnson started his career racing in the Short-course Off-road Drivers Association (SODA), the Short-course Off-road Enthusiasts and the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group Stadium Series (MTEG), accumulating more than 25 wins, more than 100 top-three finishes and rookie of the year honors in all three series.

Former Warrior
· Knaus worked on Jeff Gordon's No. 24 car from 1993-97, advancing from the position of general fabricator to manage the chassis and body construction program for the four-time NASCAR champion. Serving as a tire changer on the original "Rainbow Warrior" pit crew, Knaus shared in two of those championships (1995, 1997).

MOST RECENT 2004 RACE – ATLANTA
Jimmie Johnson started fourth at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday then dropped back as far as 11th before Team 48 improved the Lowe’s Chevrolet’s handling and Johnson creeped up the leader board. Knaus used some late race pit strategy short stopping with less than 30 laps to go and held on to fourth place.

MOST RECENT DARLINGTON RACE
Jimmie Johnson finished third in the August Southern 500 at Darlington. Johnson started second and took the lead on lap 148 which he held for 17 laps. Johnson’s Lowe’s Chevrolet battled a tight handling condition late in the race but a good pit stop near the end helped secure a third-place finish.