Dickies 500 - Jimmie Johnson Notes

Team 48 Texas Motor Speedway Preview

Lowe’s Monte Carlo driver Jimmie Johnson and Team 48 return to Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday for the eighth race of the 10-race NASCAR Nextel Cup “Chase for the Championship.” Johnson trails point’s leader Tony Stewart by 43 points. One of Johnson’s four victories in 2005 have come during the “Chase.” Last year four of his eight victories came during the “Chase.”

TEXAS: “We tested there a month or so ago. It was pretty early in the scheme of things but we had a good test. We've been really working hard on the mile-and-a-half stuff and making the cars better.

”It's a mile-and-a-half, so the aero stuff is important. But, it's a little different mile-and-a-half than the other tracks that we run on. The entry to the turns is pretty difficult to get it right. The transitions are pretty abrupt and it seems like you have a hard time getting the front end of the car to stay on the track getting through the corners. So, we went there and worked on that and hopefully we can come back and everything's right”

LAST WEEK’S ATLANTA RACE: “We finished 16th. It's not the end of the world. But there are three to go and we'll just keep fighting."

CONFIDENCE FROM LAST YEAR’S CHASE VICTORIES: “It's just confidence. It helps build confidence and helps us believe in ourselves and in our team and to stay focused on what the job is that we have to do.”

RACE NOTES

Chassis