Team 48 Bristol Motor Speedway
JIMMIE JOHNSON 2011
STARTS: 23 WINS: 1 TOP 5: 9 TOP 10: 15
CURRENT DRIVER POINT STANDINGS: 2nd POINTS BEHIND 1st: 10
FINISH IN MICHIGAN: 2nd 2010 FALL FINISH AT BRISTOL: 35th
TEAM ROSTERS WILL BE POSTED ON MEDIA.LOWESRACING.COM WHEN AVAILABLE
RACE NOTES
Bristol Motor Speedway
. Johnson has made 19 Sprint Cup Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he has one win, five top-five and 10 top-10 finishes.
. Johnson has completed 97.4% (9264 of 9513) of competition laps at the .533-mile track and has led 661.
. He has an average start and finish of 14.6 and 15.4.
Chassis
. Johnson will pilot chassis No. 592 in Saturday night’s event. He last drove that car to a third-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway in March.
. Johnson finished 16th in backup chassis No. 623 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.
Primary Car History – Chassis No. 592
Date Event Start Finish
05/30/2010 Charlotte 5 37
08/01/2010 Pocono 6 10
09/05/2010 Atlanta 7 3
10/03/2010 Kansas 21 2
03/20/2011 Bristol 6 3
Backup Car History – Chassis No. 623
Date Event Start Finish
10/16/2010 Charlotte 10 3
11/07/2010 Texas 17 9
03/06/2011 Las Vegas 14 16
JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES
AS A DRIVER, NOW THAT THERE ARE TWO GROOVES AT BRISTOL, DO YOU LOOK AT THAT RACE AS STILL A POTENTIAL WILD CARD, POTENTIAL WILD SHOW THAT WE USED TO HAVE THERE? IS THERE STILL TREPIDATION GOING THERE OR ARE YOU MORE IN CONTROL THERE?
“I feel a lot more in control going to Bristol these days. From a guy sitting behind the wheel, you want options and opportunities to race. The track has that now. In a certain respect, we almost have three lanes that you can run on around the race track especially as the race wears on and the groove gets pushed out. Behind the wheel, that is what we want. That is what we ask for. That is what they gave us. It is unfortunate that some people don’t see it that way. They prefer the old track and the craziness that would take place. As a driver, you want to have a chance to race. We have a chance to race there now.”
CAN YOU EXPLAIN HOW FAST THINGS HAPPEN AT BRISTOL?
“Not only is it fast, we make a lap in 15ish seconds depending on the run and the tire, but, the hard thing is also visibility and that helps enhance the sensation of speed. When you go into a corner at Bristol, the radius of the turn is so sharp, that you would literally need a sun roof to see the exit of the corner because you go in the corner and the exit is over here. So not only are you going really fast in a small area, you can’t see much. You only see, as you are going into the corner, you can maybe only see five car lengths in front of you, six car lengths. When something happened, you see it late and then you are going fast and you can’t stop and there’s so room and it just compounds from there and puts on exciting races; exciting stuff. It puts us in a position where we just have to build a lot of trust in spotters and assuming things are ok in front of you and just hope for the best.”
SPRINT CUP SERIES CAREER NOTES
Career Wins
. Johnson has 54 wins in his Sprint Cup Series career, his most recent coming at Talladega Superspeedway on April 17, 2011.
. The El Cajon, Calif.-native is currently tied with Lee Petty for ninth on NASCAR’s all-time wins list, one victory behind Rusty Wallace.
. He is second in total wins among active drivers, behind Jeff Gordon (84).
. 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 five (Michigan, Chicago, Watkins Glen, Homestead, Kentucky) of the 23 tracks on which the series competes.
. 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
. 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 350 Sprint Cup Series starts, Johnson has posted 143 top-five and 218 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 11,509 laps (of 100,452) in his Sprint Cup career, covering over 135,363 miles.
. He has finished on the lead lap 273 times.
Career Recognition
. Johnson was named by Forbes as the Most Influential Athlete in 2011.
. In 2009, Johnson became the first race car driver to be named Male Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in its 78-year history.
. Voted Driver of the Year four times in his career (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010), Johnson joins Jeff Gordon as four-time winners of the prestigious award.
. Johnson has won an ESPY for Best Driver four times, in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.
