Catchfence

Johnson Continues to Decorate Helmet of Hope

Special Operations Warrior Foundation and The Taylor Brooks Foundation Latest Charities Chosen

Special Operations Warrior Foundation (Tampa, Fla.) and The Taylor Brooks Foundation (Lawrenceville, Ga.) have been selected as the latest charities to be featured on the Jimmie Johnson Foundation Helmet of Hope, the race helmet Johnson will wear during the Sprint Cup Series event at Auto Club Speedway in October.

Greg Engle, who covers NASCAR for the NASCAR Examiner, nominated the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which provides college educations to surviving children of fallen Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps special operations personnel who lose their lives in combat or training.  They also provide immediate financial assistance for special operations personnel severely wounded in action.

Jacki Wilbourne of Lawrenceville, Ga. nominated The Taylor Brooks Foundation. The mission of the group is to serve patients, families and doctors dealing with rare forms of childhood cancer through increasing the visibility of childhood cancer, humanitarian support of the patients and care-givers, resources to analyze and implement treatment options and resources to research new treatments.

Lowe’s Toolbox for Education also is featured on the helmet. The foundation is partnering with the Lowe’s program to raise funds for education initiatives in Johnson’s hometown of El Cajon, Calif. The funds will be raised through the 3^rd-Annual Jimmie Johnson Foundation Golf Tournament to be held on Oct. 7 in San Diego.

TO NOMINATE A CHARITY, VISIT WWW.JIMMIEJOHNSONFOUNDATION.ORG.

Johnson will draw two charities each race weekend through the New Hampshire event in September, collecting a total of 12 winning organizations.  The first two charities chosen were Victory Junction (Randleman, N.C.) and Zepp Children’s Foundation (Westminster, Md.). Each winning charity will receive a $1,048 donation in addition to proceeds from the sale of a Helmet of Hope t-shirt.

New to the program this year, the foundation will donate $1,048 to each selected charity and distribute 100% of the proceeds from a special Helmet of Hope t-shirt between the organizations.  The t-shirt will feature each charity’s logo and is on sale now at www.jimmiejohnsonfoundation.org.

RACE NOTES

Atlanta Motor Speedway

• Johnson has made 16 Sprint Cup Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway, earning three wins, nine top-five and 11 top-10 finishes.
• The three-time champion has completed 99.6% (5111 of 5132) of competition laps at the track and has led 385.
• Johnson has an average start and finish of 8.1 and 9.1.

Chassis

• Johnson will pilot brand new chassis number 558 in Sunday night’s race.
• Johnson last drove backup chassis number 504 to a 13^th-place finish at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May.

2009 NSCS Jimmie Johnson - (Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images for NASCAR)

HOW DO YOU THINK ATLANTA IS GOING TO CHANGE BEING UNDER THE LIGHTS? “Under the lights the track gains a lot of grip and picks up speed and changes the balance of what we’re used to compared to a day race. We’ve had some races finish up in the twilight and even a night one if I remember right or something and it really changed the balance of our car and we had a hard time getting the car set up right. So I think the night race will throw a lot of challenges at the teams from a handling standpoint.”

YOU’VE WON ATLANTA AND AT RICHMOND, DO THOSE PLACES KIND OF GIVE YOU A BUMP BEFORE THE CHASE KNOWING YOU RUN SO WELL THERE? “Truthfully Atlanta has been tough on us. We’ve been able to get some good finishes based on Chad’s (Knaus) creativity. Last year in the Chase when he put tires on at the end and I was able to driver to second, but before that we were like a 10^th, 11^th place car all day. So it didn’t hurt my feelings to see Atlanta taken out of the Chase then California Speedway put back in. Especially in the fall race we’ve won the last couple of times there. Hopefully that works with us for the Chase.”

SPRINT CUP SERIES CAREER NOTES

Career Wins

• Johnson has 43 wins in his Sprint Cup Series career, his most recent coming at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2009.
• The El Cajon, Calif.-native is 15^th on NASCAR’s all-time wins list.
• He also has the third-highest win total among active drivers, behind Jeff Gordon (81) and Bill Elliott (44).
• 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 seven full-time seasons.
• Johnson has won Sprint Cup Series races at all but six (Bristol, Michigan, Infineon, Chicago, Watkins Glen, Homestead) of the 22 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 20 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 Watkins Glen International on Aug. 10, 2009.

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 one of only two drivers to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup every year since the format was adopted in 2004. Matt Kenseth is the other.
• In 279 Sprint Cup Series starts, Johnson has posted 110 top-five and 171 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 8,678 laps (of 80,080) in his Sprint Cup career, covering over 107,523 miles.
• He has finished on the lead lap 216 times.

- GMR Live Marketing for Team Lowe’s Racing, Press Release