USG Sheetrock 400 - Jimmie Johnson Notes

Team 48 Chicagoland Preview

Jimmie Johnson and Team 48 race at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday in the 18th race of the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. Johnson leads the 2005 points race by 73 points over Greg Biffle. There are nine races remaining before the “Chase For The Championship.” Only the top 10 drivers and those drivers within 400 points of the leader are eligible for the “Chase.”

Johnson is also running the No. 48 Kobalt Power Tools Chevrolet in Saturday’s Busch Series race.

Johnson:
(IS THERE MORE COMPETITION IN 2005 AND DO YOU THINK MORE THAN 10 DRIVERS WILL MAKE THE CHASE?) “Well, I hope that only 10 are in it. I think if Biffle and I stay up there right now leading the points, we need to really work hard to keep it a 10-car race for the championship. And yes, I do believe it’s more competitive than it’s ever been. The more rules you add, it limits the top teams from expanding and getting away and it allows everyone else to stick close to them. That’s just really closing the gap and making the competition stronger and better. It’s just a tougher system than we had last year.”

(IS THERE A PARTICULAR RULE CHANGE NOW THAT HAS BROUGHT THE FIELD CLOSER TOGETHER?) “Possibly the gear rule. I don’t know. It’s an accumulation of rules. Each year we have three or four rules changes that develop through the season and over the off-season. It’s just a steady progression of things that continue. I could think through and argue a couple of different facts about the spoiler and the gear rule – I think that’s helped – but for me personally, I’d say the gear rule. It’s changed our cars a little since we can’t run the high rpm that we did last year in getting up off the corners. That would be the one.”

(ONCE THE CHASE BEGINS, DOES IT REALLY MATTER WHERE YOU ARE IN THE TOP 10?) “In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter as long as you’re in the top 10. But it certainly does help if you’re leading the points and are able to dominate and have things going in the right way. Last year it worked against us. We were on top of the pile and leading the points and then lost the point lead. We kept going down and down and couldn’t get it turned around in time to start the final 10. This year, my goal is just to not have the low be as low as what we had last year. We’ve had a very solid season so far. Things could definitely get worse. I feel very lucky with our season and that things have been going so well. I look at the No. 24 and the bad luck they’ve had. It’s got to come around for them. Last year, the final 10 was a totally different final points race than anybody thought it would be last year. I don’t expect this year to be any different.”

(HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO HAVE MOMENTUM GOING INTO THE FINAL 10?) “We call it momentum, but there are so many other factors that go into it (like) the timing of your cars and whether you have the latest trick figured out. Last year we had some things figured out and NASCAR came in and made a rules change on the rear shocks that had us scrambling to get things back on track. So there are a lot of factors that play into it. We can easily call it momentum but there are other factors involved.”

CREW CHIEF CHAD KNAUS:
(WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO WIN AT YOUR HOMETOWN TRACK OF CHICAGO?) “Oh yeah. It would be awesome to win at Chicago. I’d like to win there not just because it’s close to home (Rockford, Ill.), but for the simple fact that it’s a great venue and a lot of cool things that race track has to offer. We’re running the Kobalt car there in the Busch Series. It’s one of my favorite tracks and I’ve always been able to run pretty competitively there with the drivers I’ve been there with and I’m looking forward to it.”

RACE NOTES

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