Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Toyota/Save Mart 350 - Jimmie Johnson Notes

Team 48
Infineon Raceway Preview

Lowe’s Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson and the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series travel to Infineon Raceway for Sunday’s road course race. The 2006 Nextel Cup champion finished 19th in Sunday’s race in Michigan and is third in the 2007 points race trailing Jeff Gordon by 337 points. Johnson’s four victories equal Gordon’s as the most for any driver in 2007. Johnson will drive a Chevrolet Impala SS “Car of Tomorrow” this weekend.

DRIVER JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES:

EXPECTATIONS AT INFINEON: “Ultimately, I want to win. It’s a goal I’ve set to achieve and hopefully we’re able to get it done. That’s our first priority. But more than anything, I want to make sure I’m competitive and qualify good. Road course racing can be such a stressful experience. If you have a bad qualifying effort it just leads to a long weekend and crazy strategy to be competitive. I’m just looking forward to a competitive weekend with a smooth qualifying effort, get in the race, run in the top five, and fight for a win.”

CAR OF TOMORROW (IMPALA SS) ON A ROAD COURSE: “The car is different. We’ve been doing some testing. It’s been tough to get a real good feel for it because we’re not on the tire we’re going to race on. The things that are going on with this car I think will lead to more tire give up and more tire fall off, which will make Infineon more challenging than it has been in the past.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: “He’s going to do a great job at Infineon. He showed at the Busch race (Mexico) that it wasn’t a huge challenge for him to switch over from road course (racing) in a stock car versus road course in an F1 car. I think he’ll certainly be tough. It’s still a different format. I don’t know if he has any experience at that track, but we’re all learning this car of tomorrow. It’s going to be relatively new for all of us to try it out. I think that would be one of his better chances to win – at the Glen or at Infineon.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR. JOINING HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS: “I called him and said 'hey, teammate, congrats'. I could hear in his voice how happy he is and excited. He's like a little kid right now. I'm happy for him that he's made a great decision and I obviously support his decision to come to Hendrick Motorsports. It's a fantastic company, great owner, great team and it's all in front of him. The world's in his hands and he can certainly take advantage of it at our company."

NOTES

Chassis

Johnson will drive chassis 442 this weekend at Infineon. Chassis 419 will serve as the backup. Neither has raced.

Gillette Young Guns

Tune in Tuesday at 8pm ET on ABC to watch the sixth and seventh episodes of “Fast Cars & Superstars -- Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race,” a first-of-its-kind stock car racing reality series featuring Jimmie Johnson and the Gillette Young Guns plus stars from the world of sports, music and entertainment. Twelve celebrity drivers partner with the Gillette Young Guns to learn what it takes to win on the race track. Johnson drives the Kobalt Tools car in the series in “Fast Cars & Superstars – Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race.” The episode on June 19 will air at 8pm ET, with the finale on Sunday, June 24 at 7pm ET. For more information on the series, log onto GYGTV.com.

ESPN Sportscenter

Jimmie Johnson will be featured on ESPN’s SportsCenter My Wish Series on Monday, June 25. The series chronicles children’s unique sports-themed experiences granted through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Johnson granted the wish of 16 year old at Darlington Raceway in May.

Infineon Raceway

In five starts, Johnson has completed 543 of 550 laps. He owns an average starting spot of 20.8 and average finish of 20.6. He has led 2 laps.

2007 Season

Johnson and teammate Jeff Gordon are the only drivers with four victories.

Chevrolet has won 13 of the season’s 15 races.

Hendrick Motorsports has won 10 of the season’s 15 races.

Hendrick Motorsports has won 5 of the 6 “Car of Tomorrow “races.

Johnson has led in 9 of 15 races for 668 laps in 2007.

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 six full-time seasons.

Johnson’s victory at Richmond on May 6 was the 27th of his Nextel Cup career. This win gives him sole possession of 22nd place on the list for most victories since 1949.

Johnson’s owns nine poles in his career. He has won a pole in each of his first five seasons – the longest streak among active drivers.

History
In 198 starts, Johnson has posted 74 top-5 finishes and 119 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 4,863 laps and driven 57,195 laps in his Nextel Cup career covering over 76,348 miles. He has finished on the lead lap 150 times. He owns a career average start of 12.3 and an average finish of 12.2.