Race 2 Win: DirecTV - Jimmie Johnson Notes

Nextel Cup Series

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DirecTV 500 - Jimmie Johnson Notes

Team 48 Martinsville Preview

Lowe’s Monte Carlo driver Jimmie Johnson and Team 48 travel to Martinsville Speedway this weekend for the 500-lap NASCAR Nextel Cup race. The Nextel Cup Series races its two half-mile tracks in back-to-back weekends. Johnson is third in points trailing Matt Kenseth by 19 points and second place Kasey Kahne by 11 points in the season points race.

DRIVER JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES:

Martinsville: "Martinsville is a demanding track. Your equipment takes a beating. The demands on your brakes and your equipment is unbelievable. If you listen to our radio on Sunday you will hear Chad remind me to take care of my brakes about every 50 laps. At Martinsville, it isn’t just the car that takes a beating. It's tough for the drivers as well. Think about it. Five hundred laps with two very difficult turns means you make a thousand turns. That's a lot.

“The place is also mentally demanding. Really you have to be able to stay calm and keep your emotions in check. When a guy is beating on your bumper or there is a car in front of you slowing you down, it is real easy to lose your patience or get mad. If you get too emotional you can use up your brakes too fast and it can make your day even worse.”

Running Back-To-Back Short Tracks: “I really don't think it makes a difference to the drivers which track you are racing whether you have two short tracks or two intermediates back-to-back. I think it may make it more interesting for the fans with some of the emotions that may carry over from the previous track but from a driver's standpoint it is not something we think about.”

RACE NOTES

Chassis

Team 48 will use chassis No. 48278 as the primary car and chassis No. 48264 as the backup. The primary car finished third at Martinsville in October. The backup car last raced at Pocono in July.

Career

Johnson’s victory at Las Vegas was the 20th of his Nextel Cup career. This win tied him with Speedy Thompson for 30th on the list for most victories since 1949. Only eight active drivers have more victories.

In 152 starts, Johnson has posted 56 top-5 finishes and 90 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 3,366 laps and driven 43,510 laps in his Nextel Cup career covering 58,228.1 miles. He has a career average starting spot of 12.4 and an average finishing position of 12.6. He has finished on the lead lap 114 times.

Top 10

Johnson has ranked among the top 10 in the points standings since Atlanta in March 2004, a string of 74 consecutive races – the longest of any active 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 Martinsville

Johnson started the race in sixth place and ran near the front most of the race on the flat half-mile track. Although he never lead a lap, Johnson’s car appeared one of the fastest on the track but late in the race he couldn’t hold off Tony Stewart or mount a charge on teammate Jeff Gordon who swept both races at Martinsville in 2005.

News and Results | Point Standings | 2006 Schedule | 2006 Teams | 2005 Schedule and Results