Tuesday
Jimmie Johnson, 2011 NSCS STP 400 Race Preview
Press ReleaseJIMMIE JOHNSON 2011
STARTS: 12 WINS: 1 TOP 5: 4 TOP 10: 7
CURRENT DRIVER POINT STANDINGS: 3rd POINTS BEHIND 1st: 37
FINISH IN CHARLOTTE: 28th 2010 FINISH AT KANSAS: 2nd
RACE NOTES
Kansas Speedway
| • | Johnson has made nine Sprint Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway, where he has one win, three top-five and seven top-10 finishes. |
| • | Johnson has completed 98.8% (2317 of 2346) of competition laps at the 1.5-mile track and has led 304. |
| • | He has an average start and finish of 7.3 and 9.3. |
Chassis
| • | Johnson will pilot brand new chassis No. 669 in Sunday’s 267-lap race. |
| • | Johnson finished 16th in backup chassis No. 623 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. |
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 |
AS A FORMER KANSAS WINNER, YOUR THOUGHTS ON TWO RACES IN KANSAS AND DO YOU HAVE TO THROW THE NOTES OUT THE WINDOW FROM THE FALL?
“So much has changed with us we’re going back with an empty notebook. New cars, new concepts. I’m excited. I think the track is a great race track to compete on. What has happened in that area and surrounding the track is just amazing. Excited to go back. We’re there for two dates and hopefully the grandstands are full for both dates and I know that we’ll put on a good show.
“My win, that’s a great win. The track in my opinion has aged really well and I guess there is some concern that it may have aged too much in a short period of time but the bumps, the asphalt fading and losing grip as it has really promotes multiple lanes of racing and that’s what we’re looking for as drivers so when I think of Kansas, I’m excited about my win and I want to win again, but I’m think of a racer’s race track.”
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 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 339 Sprint Cup Series starts, Johnson has posted 138 top-five and 210 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 11,469 laps (of 98,288) in his Sprint Cup career, covering over 131,178 miles. |
| • | He has finished on the lead lap 263 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 three times, in 2008, 2009 and 2010. |
Jimmie Johnson – Kansas Speedway
| Race | Start | Finish | Laps | Status | Led |
| 09/29/2002 | 2 | 10 | 266/267 | Running | 0 |
| 10/05/2003 | 1 | 7 | 267/267 | Running | 20 |
| 10/10/2004 | 4 | 32 | 239/267 | Accident | 0 |
| 10/09/2005 | 22 | 6 | 267/267 | Running | 1 |
| 10/01/2006 | 3 | 14 | 267/267 | Running | 105 |
| 09/30/2007 | 1 | 3 | 210/210 | Running | 1 |
| 09/28/2008 | 1 | 1 | 267/267 | Running | 124 |
| 10/04/2009 | 11 | 9 | 267/267 | Running | 53 |
| 10/03/2010 | 21 | 2 | 267/267 | Running | 0 |
Jimmie Johnson – 2011 Results
| Date | Race | Start | Finish | Laps | Status | Laps Led | Points Following Event |
| 02/20/2011 | Daytona | 23 | 27 | 189/208 | Running | 0 | 25 |
| 02/27/2011 | Phoenix | 28 | 3 | 312/312 | Running | 19 | 13 |
| 03/06/2011 | Las Vegas | 14 | 16 | 267/267 | Running | 0 | 12 |
| 03/20/2011 | Bristol | 6 | 3 | 500/500 | Running | 164 | 7 |
| 03/27/2011 | California | 16 | 2 | 200/200 | Running | 3 | 5 |
| 04/03/2011 | Martinsville | 17 | 11 | 500/500 | Running | 65 | 3 |
| 04/09/2011 | Texas | 6 | 8 | 334/334 | Running | 0 | 4 |
| 04/17/2011 | Talladega | 2 | 1 | 188/188 | Running | 14 | 2 |
| 04/30/2011 | Richmond | 30 | 8 | 400/400 | Running | 0 | 2 |
| 05/07/2011 | Darlington | 19 | 15 | 370/370 | Running | 0 | 2 |
| 05/15/2011 | Dover | 1 | 9 | 400/400 | Running | 207 | 2 |
| 05/29/2011 | Charlotte | 6 | 28 | 395/400 | Engine | 0 | 3 |
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 |
- GMR Live Marketing for Team Lowe’s Racing, Press Release
Article Tags: Chevrolet Impala SS, Chevy Impala SS, Hendrick Motorsports, Jimmie Johnson, Kansas Speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet Impala SS, NSCS, STP 400, Team Chevy, Team Lowe's Racing
