EA Sports 500 - Jimmie Johnson Notes

Team 48 Talladega Preview

Jimmie Johnson and Team 48 return to Talladega Speedway on Sunday for the third of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup’s 10-race “Chase For The Championship.” Johnson’s 10th-place finish Sunday at Dover moved him to fourth in the title race. Johnson trails leader Jeff Gordon by 57 points.

Jimmie Johnson:

ON GOING TO TALLADEGA: “I think it’s a love hate deal. If you’re fortunate to make it through the weekend without any problems and miss the big one, you’re going to buy some freedom, some points and be able to separate yourself. If you’re caught up in it, you hate it. You’re going to cuss the points system. You’re going to cuss going to Talladega with so much on the line. I think that’s why there will be more people tuned in and watching than what we had in the past. It’s great for everybody up in the stands. For the guys back here in the trenches, it sure cuts down on the sleep that we get.”

HAS ANYTHING CHANGED AT TALLADEGA AFTER HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS DOMINATED THERE IN THE SPRING? “I think we’ve definitely closed the gap. At Daytona down there for the 400, handling is so much more of a premium. I think that we found some things to really help the cars handle. Going to Talladega, the 8 and 15, those guys are pretty strong there. Jeff was able to win. I’m not sure how he would have finished under green. The 8 was making its way to the front. It seemed to have the speed in the car there where handling is not as important as Daytona. We’re bringing a special car there that we built for there knowing that we don’t need the downforce in the car to make it handle. Hopefully we’re able to close the gap at the Talladega and be better than the 8.”

IS TEAMWORK STILL A BIG PART OF RESTRICTOR PLACE RACING? “It is. In plate racing, you see people get upset that they were hung out and they didn’t do the right thing. In my opinion, you have to manage the space behind your race car and take care of that and give people only one option and that is to follow you. As long as you do that, you’re doing fine. If you get hung out, it’s your own fault. I’ll definitely be looking for my teammates because I know I’ll be safer around them. They won’t be taking chances. They’ll be bump drafting me in the right spots unlike some of the other guys. I’m looking forward to that aspect of it and I think our teammate situation will continue to work as it has. I’m certainly hoping the 24 is lined up behind the 48 to push me to victory like I was able to help him out there in Daytona.”

RACE NOTES

CHASSIS INFORMATION - Team Lowe’s Racing will bring car No. 4882. This is the car’s first race. It tested at Talladega two weeks ago.

STATS & FACTS

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