Lowe's Dover Preview
Contact: John Lewensten, Team Lowe's Racing, 704/453-3942,jlewensten@golinharris.com TEAM LOWE'S RACING LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK TO WORK Dover International Speedway is among Johnson's favorites DOVER, Del. (May 28, 2002) -- Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse Chevrolet, is looking forward to getting back to work following last Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at the team's home track, Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Team Lowe's Racing dominated Speedweeks at LMS, winning the first two stages of The Winston, winning the pole position while setting a NASCAR Winston Cup Series track qualifying record and leading the most laps in the Coca-Cola 600. Unfortunately, the team was affected dramatically by the 10-car inversion in The Winston and a miscue on the final pit stop, which cost Johnson the 600 win. Team Lowe's Racing is looking forward to getting back on the racetrack and hope that Dover International Speedway is the perfect place to do it. This will be Johnson's first NASCAR Winston Cup Series race at Dover, but it was one of Johnson's favorite racetracks while competing in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series. With last Sunday's seventh place finish, Johnson improved two positions to fifth overall in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship standings, just 54 points out of third place. Johnson extended his lead in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year competition to 23 points. Jimmie Johnson Fast Facts * Ranks fifth in the Winston Cup Series Championship standings * Leads the Raybestos Rookie of the Year competition by 23 points (182-159) * Won his first Winston Cup race this season at California Speedway, his home racetrack * Has one win, two top-five and eight top-10 finishes * The eight top-10 finishes are tied for the most in the Winston Cup Series (Las Vegas - 6th, Atlanta - 3rd, Darlington - 6th, Bristol - 7th, Texas - 6th, Talladega - 7th, California - 1st and Lowe's Motor Speedway - 7th) * Has three Bud Pole positions this season, the most in NASCAR Winston Cup - Daytona, Talladega and Lowe's Motor Speedway * Only the third rookie in history to win the Daytona 500 pole * Only the second rookie in history to win a pole at Talladega Superspeedway * Holds the NWC qualifying record at Lowe's Motor Speedway * Has led four Winston Cup Series races this season (Las Vegas, Talladega, California and Lowe's Motor Speedway * Won the inaugural NASCAR Busch Series event at Chicagoland Speedway in 2001 Jimmie Johnson at Dover International Speedway * In the Busch Series, 18th was his average qualifying position and 24th was his average finishing position * His Busch Series record at Dover International Speedway is: o MBNA Platinum 200 - 2001: started 7th and finished 25th (accident), 2000: started 31st and finished 20th o MBNA.com 200/MBNA Gold 200 - 2001: started 12th and finished 33rd, 2000: started 24th and finished 18th No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet Fast Facts * Team Lowe's Racing will bring car 4850 * This is the same race car that Johnson drove to a 28th place finish in Rockingham and a 7th place finish in Bristol this season. Jeff Gordon drove this race car in both of last season's Bristol races (finished 4th and 3rd) and the 2000 Homestead race (finished 7th). Jimmie Johnson on Dover International Speedway "Looking at my Busch Series history at Dover, you wouldn't think it would be one of my favorite racetracks, but it is. I enjoy racing the one-mile oval and I think it fits really well into my driving style. My teammate, Jeff Gordon, has had a tremendous amount of success at Dover, winning four races there, including last season's MBNA Platinum 400. So, I know we'll have good notes heading into the weekend and the Lowe's Monte Carlo will have a solid setup for the race." Johnson on bouncing back from the Coca-Cola 600 "If you look at the big picture, we achieved our goals in the 600. We qualified in the top-15 and finished in the top-15 and on the lead lap. Of course it was disappointing that we didn't get the win. However, in NASCAR, the most dominant race car does not always win the race. Mark Martin did a tremendous job of putting himself in position to win the race at the end. "Looking at the bigger picture, Team Lowe's Racing is a young team that still has some growing to do. To be where we are so early in our rookie season, top-five in points and having won a race, is tremendous. Team Lowe's is going to continue to learn and build on what we've started. I think all of us are looking forward to returning to our home racetrack, Lowe's Motor Speedway, in the fall." Broadcast Schedule Qualifying - Friday, May 31 1:30 p.m. (ET) on FOX Sports Net 1 p.m. (ET) on MRN Race - Sunday, June 2 12:30 p.m. (ET) on FX 12:30 p.m. (ET) on MRN # # #