Tuesday
Jimmie Johnson, 2011 NSCS Jeff Byrd 500 Race Preview
Press Release
2011 STARTS: 3
WINS: 0
TOP 5: 1
TOP 10: 1
CURRENT DRIVER POINT STANDINGS: 12th
POINTS BEHIND 1st: 26
FINISH IN LAS VEGAS: 16th
SPRING 2010 FINISH AT BRISTOL: 1st
RACE NOTES
Bristol Motor Speedway
| • | Johnson has made 18 Sprint Cup Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he has earned one win, four top-five and nine top-10 finishes. |
| • | Johnson has completed 97.2% (8764 of 9013) of competition laps at the .533-mile bullring and has led 497. |
| • | He has an average start and finish of 15.1 and 16.1. |
Chassis
| • | Johnson will pilot chassis No. 592 in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series event. He last drove that car to a runner-up finish at Kansas Speedway in Oct. 2010. |
| • | Backup chassis No. 553 crossed the finish line first at Auto Club Speedway in Feb. 2010. |
JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE AT BRISTOL THIS WEEKEND?:
“I’m just excited to go back. I think we were in position in the fall race to fight for the win and race with Kyle (Busch). I feel good. After we won in the spring and coming back in the fall, just didn’t want to be too full of myself. Wanted to be able to go there and run well, but we backed it up there in the fall and had an awesome weekend. Unfortunately we crashed late in the race on the back straightaway. Looking forward to going back. We’re sitting decent in the points, but a good run at Bristol would move us in the right direction in the points. Look forward to going back.”
IS THE BRISTOL CAR ONE THAT YOU ARE STILL DEVELOPING?:
“Fortunately the short track stuff — over the years it does migrate a little bit toward the new technology, but Martinsville, Bristol — it doesn’t change. Guys joke around that their Bristol setups that they’re running today is what they ran in the 90s with the old, old car — Luminas and stuff like that. Some tracks, especially where down force isn’t involved, there’s very little change over the years there’s more change due to tires and the evolution of the tire than much of anything else.”
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’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 330 Sprint Cup Series starts, Johnson has posted 135 top-five and 204 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 11,015 laps (of 94,996) in his Sprint Cup career, covering over 127,442 miles. |
| • | He has finished on the lead lap 255 times. |
Primary 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 |
Backup Car History – Chassis No. 553
| Date | Event | Start | Finish |
| 07/26/2009 | Indy | 15 | 1 |
| 10/10/2009 | California | 3 | 1 |
| 11/22/2009 | Homestead | 1 | 5 |
| 02/21/2010 | California | 7 | 1 |
Jimmie Johnson – Bristol Motor Speedway
| Race | Start | Finish | Laps | Status | Led |
| 03/24/2002 | 33 | 7 | 500/500 | Running | 0 |
| 08/24/2002 | 32 | 34 | 462/500 | Running | 0 |
| 03/23/2003 | 23 | 8 | 499/500 | Running | 0 |
| 08/23/2003 | 16 | 5 | 500/500 | Running | 0 |
| 03/28/2004 | 11 | 16 | 500/500 | Running | 8 |
| 08/28/2004 | 11 | 3 | 500/500 | Running | 20 |
| 04/03/2005 | 14 | 6 | 500/500 | Running | 1 |
| 08/27/2005 | 29 | 36 | 410/500 | Engine | 0 |
| 03/26/2006 | 5 | 30 | 487/500 | Running | 0 |
| 08/26/2006 | 18 | 10 | 500/500 | Running | 0 |
| 03/25/2007 | 6 | 16 | 503/504 | Running | 0 |
| 08/25/2007 | 9 | 21 | 499/500 | Running | 0 |
| 03/16/2008 | 1 | 18 | 504/506 | Running | 14 |
| 08/23/2008 | 34 | 33 | 482/500 | Running | 0 |
| 03/22/2009 | 3 | 3 | 503/503 | Running | 88 |
| 08/22/2009 | 21 | 8 | 500/500 | Running | 107 |
| 03/21/2010 | 4 | 1 | 500/500 | Running | 84 |
| 08/21/2010 | 1 | 35 | 415/500 | Running | 175 |
Jimmie Johnson – Year-by-Year Cup Statistics
| Year | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Poles | Final Points |
| 2001 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52 |
| 2002 | 36 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 4 | 5 |
| 2003 | 36 | 3 | 14 | 20 | 2 | 2 |
| 2004 | 36 | 8 | 20 | 23 | 1 | 2 |
| 2005 | 36 | 4 | 13 | 22 | 1 | 5 |
| 2006 | 36 | 5 | 13 | 24 | 1 | 1 |
| 2007 | 36 | 10 | 20 | 24 | 4 | 1 |
| 2008 | 36 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 6 | 1 |
| 2009 | 36 | 7 | 16 | 24 | 4 | 1 |
| 2010 | 36 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 2 | 1 |
| 2011 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
- GMR Live Marketing for Team Lowe’s Racing, Press Release
Article Tags: 2011 Jeff Byrd 500, BMS, Bristol Motor Speedway, Chevrolet Impala SS, Chevy Impala SS, Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City, Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, No. 48 Lowe's/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet Impala SS, NSCS, Team Chevy, Team Lowe's Racing
