Chevy Rock & Roll 400 - Jimmie Johnson Notes

Team 48 Richmond Preview

Jimmie Johnson and Team 48 race at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday night in the 26th race of the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. Johnson is third in the season points race trailing Tony Stewart by 258 points in the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup points race. There is the final race before the “Chase for the Championship.” Only the top 10 drivers are eligible for the “Chase.” Six drivers have clinched spots in the “Chase.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON:

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO TAKE IT UP A COUPLE OF NOTCHES WHEN THE CHASE BEGINS? "Yeah, I think we've been mirroring what we had last year in the points. We had a nice comfortable lead and won some races right out of the box. We were dominant. And then over time toward the middle part of the season and lost some momentum. We came back and really poured it on hard at the end. This year reminds me of last. With the testing we've done and the testing we're getting ready to do, I feel we will catch back up. We simply haven't tested. Our teammates have been holding their tests close as well and we've all been preparing for this final 10. The Roush guys as a whole have been the strongest throughout the entire season. The No. 20 (Tony Stewart) has been the hottest of late. I really feel that we're gaining momentum. And with all the testing coming up, we will hopefully start peaking.”

CAN YOU COMPARE LAST SEASON WITH THIS SEASON AS FAR AS THE POINTS AND THE CHASE GO? "The seasons to me seem very similar. I think last year we didn't hit bottom soon enough to turn the corner and get things back on track. I truly feel that we're back on track. I know Indianapolis wasn't a good race for us, but from Indy on, last year, we were just struggling and searching -- trying to get the car right and trying to get the speed out of the car. At Indy this year, we didn't qualify as fast and didn't look very good (laughs). But we came through the pack a couple of times and I even spun out once and didn't hit anything and came back through the pack before I blew a tire and hit the wall and knocked my head a little wacky for a couple of days. But we passed a lot of cars on a very difficult track to pass. I think that really had us excited going to Michigan and we backed it up at Michigan and ran in the top five all day long. We're really excited about all of it and hopefully we've hit bottom early enough that we're turning the corner and coming out with out best stuff right now -- within the next couple of weeks to a month."

WAS LAST YEAR'S FALL RACE AT RICHMOND AS RAMPED-UP AS EVERYBODY THOUGHT IT WAS AND IS IT SOMETHING YOU ANTICIPATE AGAIN? "Yeah, it's going to be crazy. Last Richmond race last fall, I couldn't believe the intensity of the drivers -- especially everybody who was on the bubble trying to work their way in or who had a chance of falling out. I saw stuff I knew existed, but didn't think I would really see it. In previous championship battles I'd been in, there were one or two guys fighting for points. But it was usually a good spread so you wouldn't see the desperation and intensity and fighting for every spot and trying to rough somebody up to get by. At Richmond last fall, I was shocked. I couldn't believe it. There wasn't just one car. There were five our six guys who were feeling the championship pressure. When you have that many people dealing with it, and it's everyone's dream, everybody is just fighting so hard. I'm very happy to say I'm in the Chase and I don't have to worry about Richmond."

RACE NOTES

Chassis