Race 2 Win: Daytona 500 - Jimmie Johnson Notes

Nextel Cup Series

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Daytona 500 - Jimmie Johnson Notes

Team 48 Daytona Qualifying Race/Daytona 500 Preview

Lowe’s Monte Carlo driver Jimmie Johnson and Team 48 will start 29th Thursday in the first of Daytona International Speedway’s two 150-mile qualifying races. The finishing order of these races determines the starting order for most of the field in Sunday’s Daytona 500. Team Engineer Darian Grubb will assume Crew Chief Chad Knaus’ at-track duties this weekend. Knaus will not participate in this weekend’s activities after NASCAR imposed sanctions following Sunday’s post-qualifying inspection.

DRIVER JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES:

2006 FOCUS: "Starting off the season, points are important but I think everybody shows up at Daytona really just looking at winning the Daytona 500. That's on my mind and I know my team's mind as well. I just want to go out and try to win the biggest race of the season and really start worrying about points after this event and the races following."

ANY CHANGES IN YOUR APPROACH FOR 2006? "No, we've looked back over each year and tried to make changes and address little things that we thought might have affected the championship run for us. And we've done that again. We're fresh and eager and have had a great off-season. We have some new members on the Lowe's No. 48 team and everybody is excited and geared up."

ON CHAD KNAUS: “Daytona is the biggest race of the year. It’s our Super Bowl. So obviously we’re all disappointed and probably no one more so than Chad. I think he’s the best crew chief in the business. He pushes hard every day to give me the best cars possible. He works incredible hours and puts his heart and soul into everything he does. He’s very competitive.”

RACE NOTES

Chassis

Team 48 will use chassis No. 48-350 as its primary car in Daytona. This car last raced at Talladega in Sept. 2005. Chassis No. 48-253 will serve as its backup. This chassis raced in the Daytona 500 in 2005 when it finished fifth.

Career

Johnson’s latest victory came at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Oct. 15, 2005, and was the 18th of his Nextel Cup career. This win tied him with Geoffrey Bodine, Neil Bonnett and Harry Gant for 34th on the list for most wins since 1949. In 147 starts, Johnson has posted 53 top-5 finishes and 85 top-10 finishes. He has a top-10 finish at every track on the NASCAR Nextel Cup series circuit. Indianapolis and Kansas are the only two tracks where he has not posted a top-five finish. Johnson has led 3,341 laps and driven 41,974 laps in his Nextel Cup career covering 56,053.5 miles. He has a career average starting spot of 12.6 and finishing position of 12.8. He has finished on the lead lap 110 times.

Daytona International Speedway

Johnson has finished on the lead lap in all but one of the NEXTEL Cup points races he’s competed in at Daytona International Speedway. In his first Daytona 500 start in 2002, Johnson started on the pole, but finished one lap down in 15th position.

Johnson has six top-10 finishes in eight Cup Series points race starts at Daytona, and has finished in the top-10 in all three of his Budweiser Shootout starts.

Top 10

Johnson has ranked among the top 10 in the points standings since Atlanta in March 2004, a string of 69 consecutive races – the longest of any driver.

Loves Superspeedways

All but one of Johnson’s career victories have come on superspeedways, with his win at Martinsville Speedway in October, 2004, as the lone exception.

Last race at Daytona International Speedway

On the final restart of the Pepsi 400 last July, Jimmie Johnson was in fourth position with 10 laps remaining. He slipped past Kasey Kahne for third on the restart. With five laps to go, Johnson tried to get past Jamie McMurray for second place but was pushed out of the draft and fell back to seventh. Johnson regained a spot but the leaders stayed single file in the final laps and Johnson crossed the finish line in sixth place.

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