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Team 48 Richmond preview
09/05/2008

After dominating Sunday's Sprint Cup event at Auto Club Speedway and picking up his third win of the season, Jimmie Johnson turns his focus to Richmond International Raceway, site of the last event before the 10-race Chase for the Championship begins.

The Southern California win allowed Johnson to break a tie with Mark Martin for 17th place on NASCAR's all-time wins list with 36 victories.

Johnson swept Richmond last season with wins at the spring and fall events but is looking to redeem himself after an 11-car accident relegated him to a 30th-place finish in May.

CHASE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP: With Johnson clinching a spot in the Chase for the Championship at California, he is officially competing for his third consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship. The only other driver in NASCAR's history to accomplish that feat is Cale Yarborough.

This is the fifth year Johnson has made the field for the Chase. He and Matt Kenseth, who is not locked in yet, are the only two drivers who have been in the Chase each year since its inception.

JIMMIE JOHNSON FOUNDATION GOLF TOURNAMENT: For the second consecutive year, the Jimmie Johnson Foundation Golf Tournament and Dinner Auction raised more than $500,000. Proceeds will benefit the San Diego area, including San Diego Habitat for Humanity, which is building four homes on newly named and formed Foundation Lane. Johnson and his wife, Chandra, also passed the keys to the first homeowner, an El Cajon resident and employee of the city's police department.

HELMET OF HOPE: Johnson's Helmet of Hope, which he wore during his winning performance at Auto Club Speedway, was one of many items for bid at the JJF dinner auction. The helmet was purchased for $18,000 and contributed to the $150,000 raised at the auction.

JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES

WHAT MAKES RICHMOND UNIQUE FOR YOU? "I guess it's one of the very few D-shaped, .75-mile ovals that we have. They've done an amazing job with the transitions into the corners so you can run side-by-side. Yes, you're a little tight, especially off of (turn) two, but it's kind of what a D-shaped race track will deal. They've done a great job working this track, and it's always been one of my favorites and (a favorite) for fans and drivers for years."

THEY HAVEN'T PAVED THE TRACK IN FOUR YEARS. DO YOU FEEL AS IF THAT'S GOING TO BE ANY ADVANTAGE OR DISADVANTAGE? "I think that for our cars, the older the surface, the better. The track is really holding up well. There aren't a lot of bumps. Doesn't seem like the asphalt is pulling apart, but the asphalt is losing grip and I think that's a good thing for our stock cars. It allows a second and third lane to come into play and be useful to put on great racing. I think this track has held up over time. They just need to leave it alone. It's done a great job for us."

ON YOUR VICTORY AT CALIFORNIA AND HOW IT RELATES TO ENTERING THE CHASE: "I'm just not sure how it's going to shake out. The weak spot for us has been the 1.5-mile and two-mile tracks, and the Chase is full of those. In our results at the start of the season and early summer, there were some flashes of hope in there, but we weren't where we needed to be. Just before Chicago there were a couple of races where we were competitive and running well. I think Michigan was really the first sign that we were working in the right direction. We've been getting better each week, and this car is still so finicky. The second Michigan we got a little more aggressive with the setup of the car thinking we could get away from it, and it turned away from us and was loose and got into bad position there. The last couple races for us have been odd tracks for us and crashing and all that stuff. I'm happy to win and win on a big track, because of the bulk of the races are on these big downforce tracks, and I feel like we're doing the right things to have a fighting chance at the championship -- and that's really all we can ask for."

RACE NOTES

Richmond International Raceway

Johnson has made 13 Cup Series starts at Richmond International Raceway, posting two wins, three top-five finishes and three top-10s.

He has won two pole positions there -- September 2002 and September 2007.

Johnson has completed 91.6% (4,768 of 5,203) of competition laps at the .75-mile oval and has led 337.

Johnson has an average start and finish of 12.6 and 18.8.

Chassis

Johnson will pilot brand new chassis No. 520 in Sunday's Sprint Cup event at Richmond (the race was postponed because of rain).

The backup chassis, No. 424, has two Richmond wins on its resume, May and September 2007.

CAREER NOTES

Wins

Johnson has 36 wins in his Sprint Cup Series career.

Johnson's most recent victory at Fontana, Calif.'s Auto Club Speedway (Aug. 31, 2008) allowed Johnson to break a tie with Mark Martin for both 17th place on NASCAR's all-time wins list and 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 seven (Bristol, Michigan, Infineon, Chicago, Watkins Glen, Kansas, Homestead) of the 22 tracks in 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 Championship tied a modern-era NASCAR record.

Poles

Johnson has two poles at Richmond International Raceway -- May 2007 and September 2007.

Johnson has collected 17 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 has had a career-high four in 2002, 2007 and 2008.

Johnson's most recent pole position was in the Aug. 31 event at Auto Club Speedway.

Miscellaneous

Johnson has finished in the top five in the Sprint Cup Series point standings each year since his first full season in 2002.

Johnson will be in the Chase for the Championship for the fifth consecutive year.

In 244 Sprint Cup Series starts, Johnson has posted 94 top five finishes and 147 top-10s.

He has a top-five finish at every track on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit.

Johnson has led a total of 6,450 laps (of 69,879) in his Sprint Cup career, covering 93,970 miles.

He has finished on the lead lap 186 times.

REVISED TELEVISION SCHEDULE

Richmond International Raceway

Sunday, Sept. 7

Sprint Cup race, 1 p.m. Eastern, ABC

BACKUP CAR: CHASSIS NO. 424 HISTORY

Car Date Event Start Finish
48-424 4/3/2007 Richmond Test n/a n/a
48-424 5/6/2007 Richmond Int�l. Raceway 4 1
48-424 7/1/2007 New Hampshire Int�l Speedway 10 5
48-424 8/21/2007 Milwaukee Test n/a n/a
48-424 9/8/2007 Richmond Int�l Raceway 1 1
48-424 2/10/2008 Bud Shootout- Daytona Int�l. Speedway 18 3
48-424 4/12/2008 Phoenix Race 7 1
48-424 6/29/2008 New Hampshire 23 9

JOHNSON'S RICHMOND STATISTICS

Race Start Finish Laps Status Laps Led
5/5/2002 26 31 360/400 Running 0
9/7/2002 1 13 399/400 Running 1
5/3/2003 10 19 393/393 Running 0
9/6/2003 26 11 400/400 Running 0
5/15/2004 5 2 400/400 Running 91
9/11/2004 3 36 338/400 Running 32
5/14/2005 28 40 80/400 Accident 0
9/10/2005 24 25 399/400 Running 0
5/5/2006 5 12 400/400 Running 0
9/9/2006 19 23 399/400 Running 4
5/6/2007 4 1 400/400 Running 105
9/8/2007 1 1 400/400 Running 104
5/3/2008 12 30 400/410 Running 0

JOHNSON'S 2008 SPRINT CUP STATISTICS

Race Site Start Finish Laps Status Led Points Pt. total Pt. pos.
1 Daytona 1 27 200/200 Running 1 87 87 25
2 Fontana 1 2 250/250 Running 76 180 267 8
3 Las Vegas 33 29 265/267 Running 0 76 343 14
4 Atlanta 13 13 325/325 Running 0 124 467 13
5 Bristol 1 18 504/506 Running 14 114 581 13
6 Martinsville 10 4 500/500 Running 135 165 746 10
7 Texas 5 2 339/339 Running 65 175 921 6
8 Phoenix 7 1 312/312 Running 120 195 1116 4
9 Talladega 10 13 188/188 Running 1 129 1245 5
10 Richmond 12 30 400/410 Running 0 73 1318 7
11 Darlington 3 13 367/367 Running 0 124 1442 6
12 Charlotte 10 39 351/400 Engine 35 51 1493 9
13 Dover 4 7 399/400 Running 2 151 1644 7
14 Pocono 2 6 200/200 Running 59 155 1799 6
15 Michigan 6 6 203/203 Running 65 160 1959 5
16 Infineon 2 15 112/112 Running 27 123 2082 5
17 New Hampshire 23 9 284/284 Running 0 138 2220 5
18 Daytona 30 23 162/162 Running 4 99 2319 5
19 Chicagoland 5 2 267/267 Running 15 175 2494 5
20 Indianapolis 1 1 160/160 Running 71 195 2689 4
21 Pocono 1 3 200/200 Running 34 170 2859 4
22 Watkins Glen 4 7 90/90 Running 2 151 3010 3
23 Michigan 2 17 200/200 Running 12 117 3127 3
24 Bristol 34 33 482/500 Running 0 64 3191 4
25 California 1 1 250/250 Running 228 195 3386 3

JOHNSON'S YEAR-BY-YEAR CUP STATISTICS

Year Starts Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Final pts
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* 25 3 8 13 4 3

* to date

NO. 48 AT-TRACK CREW LIST

Name Shop Job Track Job Hometown
Knaus, Chad Crew Chief 48 Crew Chief 48 Rockford, IL
Bazzell, Kyle Truck Driver 48 Truck Driver 48 Fairburg, IL
Bosserman, Todd Shock Specialist 48 Shock Specialist 48 Waynesboro, VA
Bradshaw, Marcia N/A Scorer 48 Charlotte, NC
Claridge, Joe Mechanic Mechanic 48 Barrington, NH
Emerick, Danny Engine Tuner Engine Tuner 48 Bryn Mawr, PA
Gober, Ken Truck Driver 48 Truck Driver 48 Manchester, NH
Gutierrez, Rich Mechanic Gas Man 48 Yorba Linda, CA
Ives, Greg Race Engineer Race Engineer 48 Bark River, MI
Kerlin, Sean Mechanic Tire Specialist 48 Marysville, PA
Knauer, Mike Mechanic Catch Can 48 Cambridge, MD
Lingerfelt, Mike Mechanic Front Tire Changer 48 Greenville, SC
Malec, Ron Mechanic Car Chief 48/Rear Tire Carrier 48 Franklin, WI
Michel, Peter Asst. Race Engineer Asst. Race Engineer 48 Cobleskill, NY
Morin, Greg Pit Crew Coach Pit Crew Coach Waltham, MA
Nicely, Bobby Asst. Pit Crew Coach Asst. Pit Crew Coach Virginia Beach, VA
Puchalski, Marc Mechanic 48 Mechanic 48 San Jose, CA
Purcell, Kenneth Mechanic Jackman 48 Savannah, GA
Reeves, Stevie Machinist Spotter 48 Speedway, IN
Simmons, Art Chassis Setup Front Tire Carrier 48 Kirksville, MO
West, Jeremy Mechanic Rear Tire Changer 48 Harbor City, CA
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