Jimmie Johnson Texas Motor Speedway Preview
This weekend Lowe’s Monte Carlo driver Jimmie Johnson and Team 48 travel to
Texas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup race. This race marks the eighth of ten 2006 “Chase for the Championship” races. Johnson is second in the points race, 26 behind leader Matt Kenseth. Johnson owns two second-place finishes and a victory in the last three races. Johnson has left Atlanta second in points in all three years of the “Chase.”
DRIVER JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES:
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY: “It's been a decent track for us. We've been learning some things on the 1.5-miles lately and have been a lot more competitive. So, I'm excited going there. Hopefully we can get up there and race for the win. But of the three tracks remaining, I guess I'm not really sure on Phoenix and Texas. But I feel really strong about Homestead. Coming into Martinsville and Atlanta, I felt like we were going to be competitive for the win. Going into Phoenix and Texas, I feel like we'll be competitive for a top five."
2006 CHASE: "I feel great about it. But I'm sure every team feels that way though. I'm sure Junior feels he's got a great shot. He's close, mathematically. Matt (Kenseth) is coming up to some good tracks. I think that everybody is in a good spot. I don't think anybody is really worried about not performing. It's just going to come down to luck and maybe who can outscore one another on the track."
2006 SEASON: "We typically are slow in August for whatever reason and this year we were able to win the Brickyard. I felt like we were more competitive in that month or two in the summer than in other years. I don't know why. Maybe it's just tracks that don't fit me, or the team. As we get into the final 10 races, these area all good tracks for me. That would have more to do with it than anything. We as a team, don't pick certain parts of the season to try to perform better. Obviously, if we can hold onto anything we want to save it for the final 10. But making the final 10 is a challenge all its own. I think it's more about the tracks and our style than anything."
Race Notes
Chassis
Team Lowe’s Racing will take chassis 48359 to Texas this weekend. This car won at Indianapolis in August. Car No. 48363 will serve as backup. It finished second at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in October.
Texas Motor Speedway
Johnson has completed all 2,004 laps in his six starts at Texas. He has an average starting position of 11.7 and an average finish of 7.0 - second best among the “Chase” drivers. Johnson has led two laps in one of his six Texas races.
Chase
Johnson is one of three drivers to participate in all three “Chase” battles. He finished second in the 2004 “Chase” and fifth last year. This will be Johnson’s fifth consecutive season finishing in the top ten in points.
Johnson owns seven “Chase” victories, the most of any driver, and led 882 laps but suffered five finishes outside the top 30 in his 27 career “Chase” races.
Johnson and Jeff Gordon are the only drivers to lead in five of the seven “Chase” races. Johnson has led 455 laps and earned 35 lap-leader bonus points – the most of any “Chase” drivers.
Year
Johnson was the point leader after all but four races in the 26-race regular season.
Johnson’s five victories is second only to Kasey Kahne’s six victories.
Johnson owns 21 top ten finishes this season – the most of any driver.
Career
Johnson has been among the top 10 in points for 102 consecutive races, since March 2004 which is the longest current streak. 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.
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 Martinsville was the 23rd of his Nextel Cup career. The win tied him with Ricky Rudd for 25th on the list for most victories since 1949. Only five active drivers have more victories.
Johnson’s pole at Martinsville in April was the ninth of his career. He has won a pole in each of the last five seasons.
In 180 starts, Johnson has posted 64 top-5 finishes and 107 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 4,164 laps and driven 51,631 laps in his Nextel Cup career covering over 69.106 miles. He has finished on the lead lap 138 times. He has a career average start of 12.2 and an average finish of 12.3.
Texas April Race
Johnson started 16th, and ran in the top half of the field for most of the race before lap 145 when he came to pit road for tires and fuel. Seconds after leaving his pit the yellow flag waved for a loose tire rolling off pit lane. The caution forced Johnson to fall down two laps to the leaders who pitted under the caution. Johnson got one of those laps back on lap 160 and then the other on lap 251. At the end of the race, Johnson made a fuel stop hoping the leaders would have to pit if the race ran caution free. But two late-race cautions ended that hope and Johnson crossed the start/finish line in 11th.
