Team 48 Las Vegas Preview

Lowe’s Monte Carlo driver Jimmie Johnson and Team 48 travel to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend for the 400-mile NASCAR Nextel Cup race. Johnson earned his first Daytona 500 victory at the first race of the season and finished second two weeks ago at California Speedway. Johnson leads the Nextel Cup points race by 39 points over Casey Mears.

DRIVER JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES:

LAS VEGAS: “Anyone who gets on a plane headed to Vegas wants to win. Race car drivers are no different. It’s an exciting place to visit and a great place to race and an even better place to win. We did that last year and would certainly like to do it again this weekend.”

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN YOUR OLD CAR AND THE NEW MONTE CARLO SS: "I think we are still learning the car. In the past, the car would usually start off usually free and get tight over a run. But today it was the opposite, so I am not sure if it is all body but we are working with a new car. It is still a Monte Carlo but all the templates are different and it is really a whole new model change. We have been working on some other stuff chassis-wise. So, at this point it is still a little early to tell exactly what it is, the car is a little free so if we can get it tightened up a little bit over the long haul I think it will be a great race car for us. It showed its promise to us today, especially at the end of the race. It took us a little while to get there but at least we figured it out. When we get home, we will put the car up on the scales and understand exactly where the car is at, we will have a little more knowledge going in to the Vegas race.”

SEASON SO FAR: “To me it looks a lot like last year. I think we at Hendrick Motorsports have closed the gap and we have some great things we are working toward and hopefully we will be on the same page if not ahead of these (other teams) soon. But they have done great things with the Roush cars and the Gibbs guys are steady and strong and have been for a good 14 months, maybe 18 months when you look back on how these guys ran in '04. They have been on their marks. We have had our runs, won some races and been able to compete, but I think we are really making ground right now.”

FOCUS ON RACING: "Before I go to the race track, I think it is natural to over think things and be more concerned. But I learned this in Daytona, if I sit here and harp on it or dwell on the fact Chad is gone and dwell on it, I am going to start the race behind, further behind than I am already. So I believe in my guys, believe in myself, believe in the team and let’s just go racing. That is what we did in Daytona and that is what we did this weekend and not that I am surprised, but it is just amazing that our team has been able to perform like it has and I am really proud of them. I am living it again being here with you guys as well. It is like Wow, here we were racing for the win at California with all the troubles we have had."

RACE NOTES

Chassis