Team 48 Lowe’s Motor Speedway Preview
Lowe’s Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson and Team 48 compete in the 600-mile race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Sunday night. Johnson is the defending race champion and is second in the 2004 season point’s race, trailing only Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Jimmie Johnson:
YOU ARE 200 POINTS AHEAD OF WHERE YOU WERE AT THIS TIME LAST YEAR. HOW IS THIS SEASON GOING AND WHAT CHANGES HAVE THERE BEEN?
“I get excited about the 200 points until I realize we have a new points system and it doesn’t really matter like it did before. Last year, at the beginning of the season, we had some goofy things happening to us late in races. It seemed like I was spinning out every time within three (laps) to go. I had a lot of trouble with that. This year, we’ve just been able to close the deal a lot more. We’ve been performing a little better and accumulated some points there. But more than anything, we’ve just been more consistent with our finishes.”
DOES THE NEW POINT SYSTEM ALLOW YOU TO TAKE MORE CHANCES?
“Yeah, it depends on where you’re at in the points. If you’re 400 points out, or around that 400-mark, you’ve got a different race to play. You need to play defense. But with the situation we’re in right now, I feel like we’ve got a little bit of a cushion. I just need to be within 400 and we can take some chances. I guess that’s the way the system was designed. I still believe our sport is based on consistency and I still favor the old point system. But I’m going to take advantage and try to beat the system while I can and while this one’s in place. If it does stick around, I’ll have a good head start on things.”
WITH THE NEW SYSTEM, WILL CHARLOTTE STILL BE THE TURNING POINT IN THE YEAR?
“For teams like ours that are fortunate to be up toward the top, maybe it’s a little more relaxed than normal. You have a little bit of a cushion and you don’t have to be as aggressive on set-ups and motors. If you’re farther down, you can’t get further away. It’s all relative on where you are in points and what your strategy is. For us, we still want to keep learning and advancing our cars and equipment so when we get to the final 10 races we’re ahead of everyone else and hopefully have a dominant car and we can get the job done. Somebody who is 300 points out has a different mindset.”
Q&A’S WITH CHAD KNAUS:
AS ONE OF THE TEAMS TO KNOCK OFF THE PEDESTAL, IS THERE ANYTHING WE DON’T SEE FROM THE OUTSIDE THAT YOU NEED TO IMPROVE UPON?
“Oh yeah, there’s a lot of stuff. We’re still working on the pit crew and getting everybody in place and getting comfortable. I definitely have a lot to work on. I’ve made some bonehead pit calls this year. I’m trying to get that squared away. All that is, is learning and studying and being at the right place at the right time and making sure other people are willing to go with you when you do do something. If you ever get to the point where you’re complacent, and you think you’ve got the best package out there, you’re going to get …banged pretty hard the next few weeks. You’ve got to stay on top of it. We’re always working on our aero package, our chassis development, and our pit crew. We’ll never stop that I can promise you.”
RACE NOTES
CHASSIS INFORMATION
Team Lowe’s Racing will bring car No. 4859 to the 600 this weekend. This car won this race last year and has led six races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. It has raced at Texas and Atlanta this season. Last Saturday night the team ran car 4873 in the All-Star race.
STATS & FACTS
Moving Up The Chart
Johnson’s seven career victories after just two full years are good enough for 54th best in the history of the sport. His Darlington victory in March tied him with Darel Dieringer, A.J. Foyt, Jim Reed and Marshall Teague.
Likes Lowe’s
Johnson has competed in five races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway - scoring four straight top-10 finishes. He finished first in this race one year ago, one of three victories that he scored in 2003, and third at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last fall.
Hot Streak
Johnson has posted five consecutive top-10 finishes
Deep In The Field
Johnson won the 2003 Coca-Cola 600 from the 37th starting position, the furthest back a race winner has started in the 44-year history at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
JJ & JG
Jeff Gordon and Johnson are the only drivers that have scored top-10 finishes in their last four races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Leading The Way in 2004
Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr., are the only drivers to lead at least one lap in eight of the 11 races in 2004. Johnson has led 409.47 miles in 2004 - the sixth best of all drivers.
MOST RECENT 2004 RACE – ALL-STAR RACE AT LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Jimmie Johnson’s bid to defend last year’s All-Star race victory ended early when he and several other drivers were involved in a lap 11 multi-car accident. The Hendrick Motorsports team repaired the damaged Lowe’s Chevrolet but could not regain the speed it had at the beginning of the race. Johnson finished 11th in the first segment then spun in the second segment on lap 54 before the team decided to park the car for the night.
MOST RECENT POINTS RACE AT LOWES MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
Starting from the third position in the October race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Lowe’s driver Jimmie Johnson quickly took the lead by lap 18 and proceeded to dominate the field early, leading 104 of the first 128 laps. But Tony Stewart was strong late in the race and earned the victory, while Johnson settled for a third-place finish.
