 |
| Jimmie Johnson has just one 2014 win at Michigan over his career...crazy! |
“Michigan is so big, fast and has so much grip, the amount of wide-open throttle you can carry around the track is the key to success. The longer you can stay in the gas pedal, the faster you will be. They did a really nice job repaving the track. It's been slow to open up a wider groove. Hopefully we can get up above the middle portion of the track near the wall this time around.”
GAINING GROUND: Even though it’s been a full season since Jimmie Johnson has pulled into Victory Lane, the El Cajon, California, native has finished outside the top 10 just twice in the last seven races. Since the race at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 15, Johnson and the No. 48 Lowe’s for Pros team have accumulated two top-five finishes and five top-10s. Johnson finished third at Bristol, sixth at Richmond Raceway, 12th at Talladega Superspeedway, ninth at Dover International Speedway, 19th at Kansas Speedway, fifth at Charlotte Motor Speedway and eighth last weekend at Pocono Raceway. Additionally, in three of the last seven races, Johnson has earned valuable stage points in every stage of the events.
MICHIGAN AVERAGES: Johnson has 32 starts at Michigan International Speedway with an average starting position of 10th and average finish of 16.3. Johnson’s lone win came on June 15, 2014, when he led 39 laps to beat competitor Kevin Harvick to the stripe by 1.214 seconds. The win at Michigan came during a four-race stretch that season when Johnson won back-to-back races at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the 600-mile event and at Dover the very next week, then finished sixth at Pocono followed by a win at Michigan.
LOCAL CREWMAN: Brandon Harder, longtime fueler for the No. 48 team, views Michigan International Speedway as a hometown track of sorts. Harder went to Bowling Green State University and grew up in Oak Harbor, Ohio, roughly 90 miles from the track. He has been a member of the No. 48 team since 2009.
COLLEGE CONNECTION: Tanner Andrews, a tire changer on the No. 48 team, attended Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan, and was a member of the school’s Greco-Roman wrestling program and trained at the United States Olympic Education Center. Andrews, a native of North Aurora, Illinois, graduated in 2013 with a degree in criminal justice and joined Hendrick Motorsports as a developmental pit crew member in 2014.
83 AND COUNTING: Johnson's next trip to Victory Lane will be his 84th points-paying NASCAR Cup Series win. He secured his 83rd in June 2017 to tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough for sixth on the all-time wins list. An 84th win would tie Hall of Famers Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison for fourth all-time. Johnson is currently 10 wins behind former teammate Jeff Gordon, who has 93 victories and is third on the list. Johnson has the most wins of all active drivers and No. 48 team crew chief Chad Knaus has the most wins of all active crew chiefs with 81.
| |
| | | |
| |
| |
| | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment