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| Johnson is making his 20th start at Charlotte Motor Speedway this week |
Jimmie Johnson will kick-off the Lowe’s Summer Salute program by driving a specially painted patriotic themed No. 48 Chevrolet in this weekend’s Memorial Day event. People are encouraged to “salute the troops” by visiting LowesRacing.com/SummerSalute. In addition, fans will have the opportunity to record their “salute” at special Summer Salute kiosks which will be set up around Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday.
RACE NOTES
Charlotte Motor Speedway
• Johnson has made 19 Sprint Cup Series starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he has six wins, 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes.
• Johnson has completed 96.6% (6421 of 6648) of competition laps at the 1.5-mile track and has led 1385.
• He has an average start and finish of 7.6 and 9.8.
Chassis
• Johnson will pilot chassis No. 659 in Sunday’s 600-mile event. He finished 15th in that car at Darlington Raceway on May 7.
• Johnson finished 16th in backup chassis No. 623 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.
JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTE:
GOING TO CHARLOTTE, YOU SAID YOU HAVEN’T HAD THAT SAME FEEL THERE LATELY. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT NOW?
“When they put that new surface down we lost the advantage we had. We still seem to run well there. We’ve been in contention and have been in the top five and been running well. I think we had a great shot to win last year’s All-Star race and led late and I think we had a problem on pit road and came out third; and restarted inside of the No. 11 (Hamlin) and spun out with I think just a lap or two to go. It was one of those make-it or break-it moves. I needed to get by him if I was going to have a shot at the No. 2 (Kurt Busch), and I just didn’t have that opportunity. So I just went out and went through the grass off of Turn 4 down the front stretch. So, we’re there. I enjoy that track. The old track, and how rough it was and abrasive it was, really fit my style. We had a great set-up for it and I knew how to drive the track. The rougher the track, the better in my opinion; I seem to do better at those tracks. So, in time, the track will get there. It changes a little bit each year and we’ll see where it is now. But I’m looking forward to it. There’s nothing like being home.”
SPRINT CUP SERIES CAREER NOTES
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.
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 338 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 97,888) in his Sprint Cup career, covering over 130,578 miles.
• He has finished on the lead lap 263 times.
- GMR Live Marketing for Team Lowe’s Racing, Press Release
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