Jimmie Johnson and Team Lowe's Racing are looking to make it three in a row at Richmond International Raceway (RIR) this weekend as they vie for another victory at the .75-mile track.
In addition to his two wins, Johnson has three top-five finishes and two poles in his 12 career Cup starts at RIR.
TEAM LOWE'S RACING QUOTES
JIMMIE JOHNSON ON THE RICHMOND RACE: "I'm excited to go to Richmond. We've won the last two there, and that's been one of my toughest tracks. So I'm really excited to go back. Our short-track program is working really well for us, and hopefully we can visit victory lane again."
CHAD KNAUS ON RACING AT RICHMOND: "I enjoy going to Richmond. It's good, it's fun. We didn't run well at all there for a long time, and then we started running a lot better and I started enjoying it a lot more. I don't care so much about it being a night race verses a day race, we just want to be competitive. We've won the last two (races) there and hope we can do it again this weekend."
RACE NOTES
Chassis
Team Lowe's Racing will use chassis No. 461 as its primary in the May 3 race at RIR. In addition to a fourth-place finish at Martinsville in March, Johnson drove this chassis to two victories last fall -- at Martinsville in October and at Phoenix in November. In its only start, backup chassis No. 419 finished 29th at Las Vegas in March.
Richmond
In 12 Cup Series starts at the Virginia short track, Johnson has completed 4,368 of 4,793 competition laps (91.1%). He has won the last two events at RIR and has three top-five finishes. His average starting spot is 12.7 and average finish is 17.8.
Career
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 six full-time seasons.
Johnson's most recent victory at Phoenix (April 12, 2008) was the 34th of his Sprint Cup career. The win moves Johnson past legendary "Fireball" Roberts for 18th on NASCAR's all-time wins list. Johnson has the fourth-highest win total among active drivers, behind Jeff Gordon (81), Bill Elliott (44) and Mark Martin (35).
Johnson has won Sprint Cup Series races at all but seven (Bristol, Michigan, Infineon, Chicago, Watkins Glen, Kansas, Homestead) of the 22 tracks where the series competes.
Johnson's 10 wins in 2007 is 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 ties a modern-era NASCAR record.
History
In 228 Sprint Cup Series starts, Johnson has posted 90 top-five and 138 top-10 finishes. He has a top-five finish at every track on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit. Johnson has led 5,896 laps and driven 65,752 laps in his Sprint Cup career, covering more than 87,730 miles. He has finished on the lead lap 174 times.
TELEVISION SCHEDULE
Richmond International Raceway
Friday, May 2
Sprint Cup happy hour, 11 a.m. ET (broadcast at 1:30 p.m. ET on SPEED)
Sprint Cup qualifying, 5:30 p.m. ET on SPEED
Saturday, May 3
Sprint Cup pre-race, 7 p.m. ET on FOX
Sprint Cup Series race, 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX
PRIMARY CAR: CHASSIS NO. 461 HISTORY
| Car | Date | Event | Start | Finish |
| 48-461 | 8/21/2007 | Milwaukee Test | n/a | n/a |
| 48-461 | 9/16/2007 | New Hampshire Race | 4 | 6 |
| 48-461 | 10/21/2007 | Martinsville Race | 4 | 1 |
| 48-461 | 11/11/2007 | Phoenix Race | 6 | 1 |
| 48-461 | 3/3/2008 | Phoenix Test | n/a | n/a |
| 48-461 | 3/30/2008 | Martinsville Race | 10 | 4 |
BACKUP CAR: CHASSIS NO. 419 HISTORY
| Car | Date | Event | Start | Finish |
| 48-461 | 8/21/2007 | Milwaukee Test | n/a | n/a |
| 48-461 | 9/16/2007 | Loudon Race | 4 | 6 |
| 48-461 | 10/21/2007 | Martinsville Race | 4 | 1 |
| 48-461 | 11/11/2007 | Phoenix Race | 6 | 1 |
| 48-461 | 3/3/2008 | Phoenix Test | n/a | n/a |
| 48-461 | 3/30/2008 | Martinsville Race | 10 | 4 |
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 |
JOHNSON'S 2008 STATISTICS
| Race | Site | Start | Finish | Laps | Status | Laps Led | Pts | Pts total | Pts. 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 |
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 |
| Evans, Brandon | Engineer | Engineer | South Hill, VA |
| 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 |
| 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 Set Up | Front Tire Carrier 48 | Kirksville, MO |
| West, Jeremy | Mechanic | Rear Tire Changer 48 | Harbor City, CA |