Jimmie Johnson and Team Lowe's Racing return to Michigan International Speedway for the second time this season when they take the green flag in the No. 48 Kobalt Tools Chevrolet on Sunday.

Johnson started and finished sixth at the 1.5-mile track in June and has six top-10 finishes in 13 starts at the Brooklyn, Mich., venue. It is one of only seven tracks at which the back-to-back Sprint Cup champion hasn't visited Victory Lane.

JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES

ON NOT WINNING AT MICHIGAN YET: "To be honest with you, I'm shocked that we haven't won here. We've had very good cars and have been in contention a couple of different times. It always seems like there's a crazy strategy at the end that keeps us from winning. It's either a two-tire deal, (or) we've taken no tires when we've had a great race car and been leading and lost to guys that have had tires. We've also lost to fuel mileage before. So it's just a weird finish to this race. In some cases the best car wins here, but in other cases it's something strategy-wise that plays out and it just hasn't worked for us here."

DO YOU ENJOY RACING AT MIS? "Yeah, definitely. This track is a lot of fun from the inside white line all the way up to the wall -- you can find different lines to run on. It's probably one of the early forms of a progressively banked track, and it's worked out really well over the years."

IN THE NEXT FIVE RACES, ARE YOU JUST RACING FOR BONUS POINTS SINCE ONCE YOU'RE IN, YOU'RE IN? DOES IT CHANGE THE WAY YOU APPROACH THESE NEXT FIVE RACES? "I don't think about it that much, to be honest with you. I just give it everything I can every lap and if it's for a win, great. I think Texas was a good example of that last year of racing with (Matt) Kenseth. I really wasn't thinking about what was on the line. I just knew that we could win and I was going to do what I could to win. Over the years, and that may change, I've had a good understanding of what's pushing too hard and what's not trying hard enough and finding that balance to race for wins and win a lot of races but not make too many mistakes. And I hope that never changes. If that does change and I make bad decisions, then I'll probably think a little bit more. But right now I just try to keep things as simple as possible. I try to lead a lap to get the bonus, and try to lead the most laps if I can, and try to finish as good as I can without sticking it in the fence and without not finishing the event."

RACE NOTES

Michigan International Speedway

Johnson has made 13 Cup Series starts at Michigan International Speedway, posting two top-five and six top-10 finishes.

He won the pole position there in August 2004.

Johnson has completed 95.2% (2,413 of 2,535) of competition laps at the 1.5-mile oval and has led 219.

Johnson has an average start and finish of 10.5 and 14.2.

Chassis

Chassis No. 465 will be the primary for Sunday's Sprint Cup event. Johnson has posted three top-10 finishes in that chassis this season, including runner-up results at California (February) and Texas (April).

He also has three top-10 finishes in the backup chassis, No. 504. Most recently, he drove it to a third-place result Aug. 3 at Pocono Raceway.

CAREER NOTES

Wins

Johnson has 35 wins in his Sprint Cup Series career.

Johnson's most recent victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 27, 2008) 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 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 one pole at Michigan International Speedway -- Aug. 22, 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 241 Sprint Cup Series starts, Johnson has posted 93 top-five and 146 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 6,210 laps (of 68,947) in his Sprint Cup career, covering more than 92,813 miles.

He has finished on the lead lap 184 times.

TELEVISION SCHEDULE

Michigan International Speedway

(All times Eastern)

Friday, Aug. 15

Sprint Cup practice, noon, SPEED

Sprint Cup qualifying, 3:30 p.m., SPEED

Saturday, Aug. 16

Sprint Cup practice, 12:30 p.m., SPEED

Sprint Cup happy hour, 1:50 p.m., SPEED

Sunday, Aug. 17

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

Sprint Cup race, 2 p.m., ESPN

PRIMARY CAR: CHASSIS NO. 465 HISTORY

BACKUP CAR: CHASSIS NO. 502 HISTORY

JOHNSON'S RECORD AT MICHIGAN

JOHNSON'S 2008 SPRINT CUP STATISTICS

JOHNSON'S YEAR-BY-YEAR CUP STATISTICS

* to date

NO. 48 AT-TRACK CREW LIST