Tuesday
Jimmie Johnson, 2011 NSCS Kobalt Tools 500(k) Race Preview
Press Release
STARTS: 34 WINS: 2 TOP 5: 14 TOP 10: 21
CURRENT DRIVER POINT STANDINGS: 6th (-55)
FINISH IN TEXAS: 14th 2010 FALL FINISH AT PHOENIX: 5th
NEWS
Jimmie Johnson will drive the newly designed 2012 Kobalt Tools paint scheme in this weekend’s Kobalt Tools 500.
RACE NOTES
Phoenix International Raceway
| • | Johnson has made 16 Sprint Cup Series starts at Phoenix International Raceway, where he has four wins, 11 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes. |
| • | Johnson has completed 100% (5062) of competition laps at the one-mile track and has led 876. |
| • | He has an average start and finish of 12.7 and 4.8. |
Chassis
| • | Johnson last drove primary chassis No. 689 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September. |
| • | Johnson has driven backup chassis No. 590 six times, most recently at Richmond International Raceway in September. |
Primary Car History – Chassis No. 689
| Date | Event | Start | Finish |
| 09/25/2011 | Loudon | 10 | 18 |
Backup Car History – Chassis No. 590
| Date | Event | Start | Finish |
| 03/29/2010 | Martinsville | 3 | 9 |
| 09/11/2010 | Richmond | 11 | 3 |
| 02/27/2011 | Phoenix | 28 | 3 |
| 04/30/2011 | Richmond | 30 | 8 |
| 07/17/2011 | Loudon | 28 | 5 |
| 09/10/2011 | Richmond | 3 | 31 |
HOW MUCH DIFFERENT IS PHOENIX GOING TO BE AND HOW MUCH ARE A LOT OF CREW CHIEFS AND ENGINEERS SCRATCHING THEIR HEADS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IT IS GOING TO BE LIKE NEXT WEEK?
“From my experience there, I was a part of that first tire test and then the open test. For whatever reason, if it is the asphalt or the tire, or both, and obviously the dirty air, the wind blowing dirt and being out in the middle of the desert, it takes a long time to burn in a lane that you can adjust to. My two times being there, you are chasing one balance of the race car and then finally the track rubbers up and you have to back all of that out and then you are finally on the path that you need to be on. I think we are going to be struggling when we unload, what do you unload with? When does the track show up and where do you build faith in your set up and what direction to go in. From there the second lane, even at the open test, it was really a grove and a half at the most width wise, and hopefully the races leading up to ours will clean up a second lane so that we can have good restarts and somewhere to race side by side but for whatever reason it just takes so long to burn a lane in and then you are afraid to move out and push it any wider, so it is going to be a guessing game to say the least.”
Career Wins
| • | Johnson has 55 wins in his Sprint Cup Series career, his most recent coming at Kansas Speedway on Oct. 9, 2011. |
| • | The El Cajon, Calif.-native is currently tied with Rusty Wallace for eighth on NASCAR’s all-time wins list. |
| • | He is second in total wins among active drivers, behind Jeff Gordon (85). |
| • | 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. |
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 361 Sprint Cup Series starts, Johnson has posted 148 top-five and 224 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 12,110 laps (of 104,216) in his Sprint Cup career, covering over 139,665 miles. |
| • | He has finished on the lead lap 282 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. |
Jimmie Johnson – Phoenix International Raceway
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| * Dates in RED, BOLD indicate Phoenix Chase Race Results. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Race 9 of 10 – Chase Stats
| Year | Track | Points Coming Into Event |
Starting Position | Finishing Position | Points After Event |
| 2004 | Darlington | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| 2005 | Phoenix | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| 2006 | Phoenix | 1 | 29 | 2 | 1 |
| 2007 | Phoenix | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| 2008 | Phoenix | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2009 | Phoenix | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 2010 | Phoenix | 2 | 21 | 5 | 2 |
Jimmie Johnson – 2011 Results
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| *Second in points after race. Points reset heading into Chase – Johnson 6th. |
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 Marketing for Team Lowe’s Racing, Press Release
Article Tags: Arizona, Avondale (AZ), Chevrolet Impala SS, Chevy Impala SS, Hendrick Motorsports, Jimmie Johnson, Kobalt Tools 500k, NASCAR, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, No. 48 Lowe's/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet Impala SS, NSCS, Phoenix, Phoenix (AZ), Phoenix International Raceway, PIR, Team Lowe's Racing
