Jimmie Johnson New Hampshire Preview
CHASE FOR THE NEXTEL CUP: RACE 1

Jimmie Johnson and the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series travel to New Hampshire International Speedway this weekend for the first of the ten 2007 “Chase for the Nextel Cup” races. Johnson leads the 12 “Chase” drivers based on his season-leading six victories. The 2006 champion and the Lowe’s team spent Monday and Tuesday testing the Chevrolet Impala SS “Car of Tomorrow” at Talladega. This weekend Johnson aims for his third consecutive victory after winning at California and Richmond.

DRIVER JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES:

NEW HAMPSHIRE: “Being the top seed is certainly an advantage. We've got a 20-point margin over (Jeff Gordon) and it goes on down from there. I'm not sure how helpful that's going to be. I'm hoping that that works in the right direction and helps us out and helps us win the championship. But I'm excited about what we have going on at Hendrick Motorsports and the cars that we're bringing on the racetracks. And really the racetracks coming up on the schedule are great tracks for me. I know they're really strong tracks for Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, and a lot of these guys that should be fighting for the championship. I really don't have a clear cut strategy. It's more about getting in my own head. Getting in my own world and putting together the best ten races that I can and that my team can.”

LEADING THE POINTS VERSUS TRAILING IN THE CHASE: “I think I like the mindset I've been in before where I'm in a hole and we need to dig out. I think I've shown we're capable of operating well in that pressure and that situation. I guess in my mind I still feel like Jeff (Gordon) had such a great year that, he's probably the guy to keep our eyes on the most. And I guess more than anything, I just like to operate in that mindset and not being in a place to defend. We need to stay aggressive. We need to continue to do the things that the 48 does best and not get off our game. So mentally I think we're just keeping that same mindset.”

PRESSURE OF THE CHASE: “The pressure intensity and intensity really ramps up in the final ten. And your whole season, everything that you've done was to get in position to race in those ten races to make the Chase. Get your cars right, pit crew right, all that stuff. So the pressure really, really magnifies. The one thing that I've learned is you look at it on paper and you think ten races, that's a short period of time. But when you're living it day-to-day, that's a long ten races. It's two, three months of racing. So it's long, and you've got to set a pace that you can maintain and keep. And I think that's something that the 48's good at doing.”

NOTES Johnson’s Season Track Sweeps: