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Team 48 Watkins Glen preview
08/06/2008

Team Lowe's Racing driver Jimmie Johnson is looking for Victory Lane in this weekend's road-course race at Watkins Glen International.

The championship driver has turned in three top-three finishes in as many weeks, including a third-place result at Pocono Raceway last weekend. He has started from the pole in the last two events -- Pocono and Indy.

Watkins Glen International is one of seven Sprint Cup Series tracks in which Johnson hasn't visited Victory Lane. He has three top-five finishes in six starts there.

JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES

HOW MUCH HARDER, MENTALLY AND EMOTIONALLY AND CONCENTRATION-WISE, IS A ROAD COURSE COMPARED TO AN OVAL? "I would definitely say that (it's harder). With every corner there's a different rhythm to it, even on an oval, but it's repetitive. Indy might be one of the hardest ovals because each corner is so different. I'd put Pocono maybe second most intense, mentally. But when you get to a road course, you've got to turn left, turn right, hard-braking zones and intermediate braking zones, down-shifts and up-shifts. There is a lot of stuff going on over the course of a lap on a road course."

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO RECOVER FROM A LITTLE MISTAKE ON A ROAD COURSE AS OPPOSED TO AN OVAL? "If you're under pressure and somebody gets by you, you're in trouble at that point. But in my own mind, I typically chase the lap times that are fed to me over the radio. So if it's Bristol and a 15-second lap, I only have 15 seconds to worry about it and then I try again. At Watkins Glen, it's a minute and something before I get another shot at it. So that's what you really focus on."

RACE NOTES

Watkins Glen International

Johnson has made six Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen International, collecting three top-five finishes and starting from the pole once.

Watkins Glen International is one of only seven tracks at which the back-to-back Sprint Cup champion hasn't won.

Johnson has completed 87.6% (475 of 542) of competition laps at the 2.45-mile road course.

Johnson has an average start and finish of 7.8 and 14.2.

Chassis

Johnson will pilot chassis number 442 in Sunday's 90-lap race. The Lowe's driver drove that chassis to a 15th-place finish at Infineon Raceway in June. The backup chassis, No. 419, was last driven at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.

CAREER NOTES

Wins

Johnson has 35 wins in his Sprint Cup Series career.

Johnson's most recent victory, on July 27 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, moved the reigning champion into 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 six 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 at 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 ties a modern-era NASCAR record.

Poles

Johnson has one pole at Watkins Glen International -- Aug. 15, 2004.

Johnson has collected 16 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 four in both 2002 and 2007.

Johnson's most recent pole position was in the Aug. 3 event at Pocono Raceway.

Miscellaneous

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

In 240 Sprint Cup Series starts, Johnson has posted 93 top-five and 145 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 6,208 laps (of 68,857) in his Sprint Cup career, covering more than 92,592 miles.

He has finished on the lead lap 183 times.

TELEVISION SCHEDULE

Watkins Glen International

(All times Eastern)

Friday, Aug. 8

Sprint Cup practice, noon, ESPN2

Sprint Cup qualifying, 3 p.m., ESPN2

Saturday, Aug. 9

Sprint Cup practice, noon, SPEED

Sprint Cup happy hour, 1:20 p.m., ESPN2

Sunday, Aug. 10

Sprint Cup pre-race, 1 p.m., ESPN

Sprint Cup race, 2 p.m., ESPN

PRIMARY CAR HISTORY: CHASSIS NO. 442

Car Date Event Start Finish
48-442 6/24/2007 Infineon race 42 17
48-442 8/12/2007 Watkins Glen race 7 3
48-442 6/22/2008 Infineon race 2 15

BACKUP CAR HISTORY: CHASSIS NO. 419

Car Date Event Start Finish
48-419 3/01/2008 Las Vegas race 35 29

JOHNSON'S WATKINS GLEN RECORD

Race St Fin Laps Money Status Led
8/11/02 12 16 90/90 44,000 running 0
8/10/03 20 4 90/90 86,850 running 0
8/15/04 1 40 23/90 72,640 engine 1
8/14/05 2 5 92/92 136,596 running 2
8/13/06 5 17 90/90 110,111 running 1
8/12/07 7 3 90/90 169,711 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 2170 5
18 Daytona 30 23 162/162 Running 4 99 2269 5
19 Chicagoland 5 2 267/267 Running 15 175 2444 5
20 Indianapolis 1 1 160/160 Running 71 195 2639 4
20 Pocono 1 3 200/200 Running 34 170 2809 4

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

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
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