Race 2 Win: Chevy Rock & Roll 400 - Jimmie Johnson Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Chevy Rock & Roll 400 - Jimmie Johnson Notes

Team 48 Richmond Preview

This weekend Lowe’s Monte Carlo driver Jimmie Johnson and Team 48 travel to Richmond International Raceway for Saturday night’s NASCAR Nextel Cup race. Johnson trails Matt Kenseth by nine points. It marks the first time in 16 races Johnson has not held the points lead. Johnson, for the third consecutive year, and Kenseth are the only drivers who have clinched places in the 2006 “Chase for the Championship” that begins at New Hampshire International Speedway on Sept. 17.

DRIVER JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES:

RICHMOND: “We want to run good at Richmond. It's not been one of our best tracks, so we've got personal goals that we want to accomplish. We're just going to try to keep this momentum going and carry the same mindset into the final 10 and hopefully do our job."

HOW CONCERNED ARE YOU ABOUT MATT KENSETH'S MOMENTUM AT THE MOMENT? "Oh, I'm very concerned - not only with Matt's momentum, but you look at the Childress cars and what they've been able to do. There have been a lot of guys earning points over the last 10 races but it's been hard to notice it because the point separation has been so big from first to 11th. But the No. 17 and the No. 29 (Kevin Harvick) and the No. 31 (Jeff Burton) have been doing an awesome job. The No. 24 (Jeff Gordon) has really been earning a lot of points lately. It's going to be interesting Chase. I think it's going to be the best one we've had yet."

ON HAVING A DIFFERENT GROUP OF DRIVERS MAKING THE CHASE THIS YEAR: "I really think we have a lot of great competitors and I believe you'll see a turnaround from year to year of guys not making the Chase. I think you'll see four or five guys that don't come back that find their way into the Chase the following year. There is that much competition. If you add up all the cars that Childress has, and Gibbs, and Hendrick Motorsports, and Roush, you've got about 16 cars. So there's going to be a lot of turnover from year to year, and I think that says a lot for our sport."

DOES IT AFFECT YOU TO RACE AGAINST GUYS THAT HAVE NEVER RACED IN THE CHASE BEFORE? "Not really. I think if you make the Chase, you've shown that you have the ability to race for a championship and that things are working right for you that year. And in a 10-race stretch, everybody has a chance to be a champion."

Race Notes

Chassis

Team Lowe’s Racing will take chassis 48354 as the primary car this weekend in Richmond. This car finished 12th at Richmond in May. Chassis No. 48264 will serve as the backup. It last raced at Pocono in July of 2005. Richmond

Johnson has completed 3,169 of 3,593 laps in his nine starts at Richmond International Raceway. He has an average starting position of 14.2 and an average finishing position of 21st. He has led 124 laps in three of the nine races.

Last Lap

Johnson pass for victory at Las Vegas was the first last-lap pass for a win since Talladega in October. Johnson has been involved in three of the four last lap passes for victory winning two (Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May 2005 and Las Vegas 2006)

Year

Johnson’s Lowe’s Monte Carlo has been running at the end of every race in 2006. He owns four victories – second only to Kasey Kahne’s five wins - and 18 top-ten finishes – three more than any other driver. Johnson and Kenseth are the only drivers to average a top ten finish while Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Mark Martin are the only three drivers who have been running at the end of every race this season. Johnson has finished on the lead lap in the last 20 races.

Streak

Johnson has been among the top 10 in points for 94 consecutive races, since March 2004. Johnson is fifth on the consecutive races in the modern era’s point’s top 10 list. Dale Earnhardt’s 174 races tops the list.

Career

Johnson has won at least three races a season since he posted his first victory in 2002. He is the only driver in the modern era to win at least three races in each of his first five full-time seasons.

Johnson’s victory at Indianapolis was the 22nd of his Nextel Cup career. This win tied him with Terry Labonte for 26th on the list for most victories since 1949. Only five active drivers have more victories.

Johnson’s pole at Martinsville was the ninth of his career. He has won a pole in each of the last five seasons.

History

In 172 starts, Johnson has posted 61 top-5 finishes and 104 top-10 finishes. He has a top-10 finish at every track on the NASCAR Nextel Cup series circuit. Kansas is the only track where he has not posted a top-five finish. Johnson has led 3,705 laps and driven 48,988 laps in his Nextel Cup career covering over 66,000.2 miles. He has finished on the lead lap 134 times.

May Richmond Race

Jimmie Johnson needed the race to last about 100 more laps. That’s because the checkered flag fell just as Johnson’s Lowe’s Monte Carlo had regained the lap he lost earlier in the race. Before he could move up the scoring monitor, the checkered flag fell and Johnson settled for a 12th-place finish.