Catchfence

2010 NSCS Driver, Jimmie Johnson (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

2010   Starts: 17   Wins: 5   Top 5: 8   Top 10: 11

Current Driver Point Standings: 2nd    Points Behind 1^st: 105

Finish in New Hampshire: 1st   July 2009 Finish at Daytona: 2nd

NEWS

Jimmie Johnson has been nominated for two 2010 ESPY awards – Best Male Athlete and Best Driver.

Johnson will go up against Drew Brees, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Albert Pujols for Best Male Athlete and face Kyle Busch, Dario Franchitti, Ron Hornaday and Tony Schumacher for Best Driver.

Winners are based on a fan vote which will be collected at ESPN.com/ESPYS or facebook.com/ESPN from now through July 10. The show will be broadcast live for the first time since 2003 on ESPN July 14.

Jimmie won Best Driver in 2008 and 2009.

RACE NOTES
Daytona International Speedway

• Johnson has made 17 Sprint Cup Series starts at Daytona International Speedway, where he has earned one win, six top-five and nine top-10 finishes.
• Johnson has completed 98.2% (2906 of 2959) of competition laps at the 2.5-mile track and has led 59.
• He has an average start and finish of 9.1 and 15.4.

Chassis

• Johnson last piloted primary chassis No. 547 to a 35th-place result in the Daytona 500 after an axle broke late in the race.
• Johnson drove backup chassis No. 482 to a sixth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway last November.

QUOTES
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS BEING THE LAST RACE ON THE OLD RACING SURFACE AT DAYTONA?: “For the sport, I think the new surface is going to be really good for us. I predict that you’ll see much more of a Talladega-style race with the new asphalt. It’s great for the fans, the drivers don’t necessarily like it. We like Daytona right now because you actually need to handle, you need to know how to drive the car around the bumps and run the right line. Things that we do inside the car really make a difference. With the new surface, it’s going to throw all that out the window. I am a little disappointed, but I certainly understand the issue with the track and the fact that they need to fix it. At some point every track has to be repaved and right now it’s Daytona’s turn.”

IS THERE GOING TO BE MORE BUMP DRAFTING THIS WEEK AT DAYTONA?: “The bump draft is going to be much more difficult to pull off at Daytona. You can see it on the straightaways, but we won’t be able to lock up bumper to bumper on the turns. That potential exists when they repave it and get the bumps out of the race track or next year, but this year, people are going to be aggressive and it’s a night race so there is more grip. I think you’ll see more action-packed race than a day race because we’re strung out due to handling purposes.”

SPRINT CUP SERIES CAREER NOTES
Career Wins

• Johnson has 52 wins in his Sprint Cup Series career, his most recent coming at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 27, 2010.
• The El Cajon, Calif.-native is currently 10th on NASCAR’s all-time wins list, two victories 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 23 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 Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 20, 2009.

Career Starts

• In 17 2010 starts, Johnson has collected five wins, eight top five and 11 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 308 Sprint Cup Series starts, Johnson has posted 125 top-five and 191 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 10,370 laps (of 88,924) in his Sprint Cup career, covering over 118,954 miles.
• He has finished on the lead lap 238 times.

Primary Car History – Chassis No. 547

Backup Car History – Chassis No. 482

Jimmie Johnson – Daytona International Speedway

* Bold italics indicate July Daytona events

Jimmie Johnson – Year-by-Year Cup Statistics

* to date

No. 48 At-Track Crew List

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