Jimmie Johnson
2010 Starts: 29 Wins: 6 Top 5: 12 Top 10: 16
Current Driver Point Standing: 1s
Finish in Kansas: 2nd October 2009 Finish at California: 1st
NEWS
Jimmie and Chandra Johnson will be in the San Diego this week to participate in the 4th-Annual Jimmie Johnson Foundation Golf Tournament and Dinner Auction on the way to Auto Club Speedway.
The Johnsons are involved in several events in Jimmie’s hometown to raise funds for the local community. The golf tournament and dinner auction have raised over $500,000 each year since the inaugural event in 2007.
Johnson will be piloting the No. 48 Lowe’s/ Jimmie Johnson Foundation Chevrolet in Sunday’s event at Auto Club Speedway. Johnson is undefeated at the two-mile venue with that paint scheme on his car.
In addition, Johnson will be wearing the 2010 Samsung Helmet of Hope this weekend. The helmet features logos of 13 children’s charities that were nominated by fans and media members across the country. Each charity received a $10,000 grant and placement on Johnson’s helmet.
Two of the charities, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer and the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation, each earned an additional $20,000 grant through the Hope for More campaign.
For more information, visit www.jimmiejohnsonfoundation.org.
RACE NOTES
Auto Club Speedway
Johnson has made 15 Sprint Cup Series starts at Auto Club Speedway, where he has earned five wins, 10 top-five and 11 top-10 finishes.
He has won three of the last four races at the two-mile venue, including the last three fall events.
His last California win was in February.
Johnson has completed 100% (3755 of 3755) of competition laps at the venue and has led 824.
He has an average start and finish of 8.7 and 5.5.
Chassis
Johnson last piloted primary chassis No. 580 to a 35th-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway in August.
Backup chassis No. 553 was driven to Victory Lane by Johnson at Auto Club Speedway in February.
QUOTES
WHEN GOING THE FEELING OF GOING BACK HOME TO CALIFORNIA AND WHAT IS GOING TO BE ON YOUR SCHEDULE WHEN YOU GO BACK? “Excited to go back. We have our Jimmie Johnson Foundation major fund raiser that takes place in my hometown, the area of my hometown I should say. We do a lot of great things, raise some money for a variety of things. This year it is again going to be a grant system for school districts in the area. I’m very excited to go back although there is a lot of work for me going home for the golf tournament and the dinner that is beforehand. But I really enjoy the race track. I enjoy the weather, the atmosphere, In N Out Burger, Mexican restaurants I am fond of in the area. It is always good to go home. There is a certain feeling about it. I won my first race there. My 48th race there and there are a lot of cool things about that race track for me. Oh yea, fish tacos, lots of lime. Post race at a Corona to the mix and we are in good shape.”
ON BEING ABLE TO CHANGE AND IMPROVE DURING THE WEEKEND COMPARED TO OTHERS NOT BEING ABLE TO DO THAT: “As a driver you always have to search around on the race track and try to find a line or some type of rhythm that will help the balance of your race car. That’s what we do. I feel that growing up on the dirt (off-road racing) really helped me with that skill set. You don’t have a chance to come in and adjust on your car or work on it and it a lot of cases on the dirt, especially in the stuff I raced, all you worried about was going in a straight line over jumps. The corners, you had to figure that out as a driver. I think I fall back on that experience a lot. Last weekend was great for our team because last-minute decisions before qualifying gave us the speed we needed to win the race. Decisions that we made Saturday night in the motor home lot working on our race car, gave us the car to win the race on Sunday. So, I’m very proud that amongst the pressure last second, we made the right decisions and made the right calls and won the race. It was a good weekend for our race team; a good lift for us.”
SPRINT CUP SERIES CAREER NOTES
Career Wins
Johnson has 53 wins in his Sprint Cup Series career, his most recent coming at Dover International Speedway on Sept. 26, 2010.
The El Cajon, Calif.-native is currently 10th on NASCAR’s all-time wins list, one victory behind Lee Petty.
He is second in total wins among active drivers, behind Jeff Gordon (82).
Johnson needed only 296 starts to hit the 50 mark. Only three drivers have reached 50 victories quicker – Gordon (232), Darrell Waltrip (278) and David Pearson (293).
Johnson has won at least three Cup 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 eight full-time seasons.
Johnson has won Sprint Cup Series races at all but four (Michigan, Chicago, Watkins Glen, Homestead) of the 22 tracks on which the series competes.
Johnson was the first driver to win three of the first five races in The Chase.
Johnson’s 10 wins in 2007 was the highest number recorded in a single season since Jeff Gordon posted 13 victories in 1998.
The four-consecutive wins scored by the No. 48 team in the 2007 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup ties a modern-era NASCAR record.
Career Poles
Johnson has collected 25 poles in his Sprint Cup career.
The championship driver has earned at least one pole a year since his first full-time season in 2002.
He had a career-high six poles in 2008.
Johnson’s most recent pole position was at Dover International Speedway on Sept. 24, 2010.
Career Starts
In 29 2010 starts, Johnson has collected six wins, 12 top five and 16 top-10 finishes.
Johnson has finished in the top five in the Sprint Cup Series point standings each year since his first full season in 2002.
Johnson is the only driver to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup every year since the format was adopted in 2004.
In 320 Sprint Cup Series starts, Johnson has posted 129 top-five and 196 top-10 finishes.
He has a top-five finish at every track on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit.
Johnson has led a total of 10,955 laps (of 92,093) in his Sprint Cup career, covering over 123,379 miles.
He has finished on the lead lap 246 times.
