Subway 500 - Jimmie Johnson Notes

Team 48 Martinsville Speedway Preview

Lowe’s Monte Carlo driver Jimmie Johnson and Team 48 return to Martinsville Speedway on Sunday for the sixth race of the 10 race NASCAR Nextel Cup “Chase for the Championship.” Johnson and Tony Stewart are tied for the points lead. Johnson won the first short track victory of his career at Martinsville last fall.

Martinsville: “I think Martinsville is a place where contact is going to come into play and tempers are going to be high a lot like a Bristol. There is a lot on the line for the Chase contenders on a track where you can never get away from lapped cars and cars that you are racing. The potential there is for contact and problems. Since they resurfaced the track, it is a single file track on the bottom. The way you make a position is by someone making a mistake or you helping them make a mistake.”

Momentum After Lowe’s Motor Speedway Victory: “Momentum is an important thing and we are happy to be already winning in the “Chase.” Last year we won four and so far this year we won two races. So, all of this is coming at a good time. We had a slow couple of months before the “Chase” started but we definitely have things going in the right direction now. But, it is tough to carry momentum to a half-mile track from a mile-and-a-half track. The tracks are really different but luckily for us (Martinsville) is a track where we have won before and we know how to race there and what to do. Hopefully we get everything under control and win the championship.”

2005 Chase: “It is really anybody’s championship at this point. After five races I am shocked just like everyone else is how close the championship race is. I think over the next five races it is only going to be more interesting, more aggressive, more stress and pressure and go down to the very end I think.”

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