Jimmie Johnson New Hampshire Preview
TEAM LOWE'S HOPES TO CONTINUE CLIMB TO THE TOP Team Lowe's Racing hopes NHIS is another step closer to the top in Winston Cup points LOUDON, N.H. (Sept. 10, 2002) - Team Lowe's Racing has had somewhat of a funny situation developing over the second half of the season. The theory goes that teams should be better when they return to racetracks the second time around, especially a rookie team with a rookie driver like Team Lowe's Racing. If one were to look over the times Team Lowe's has traveled back to a track this season, only three out of the six times has it improved on its first visit (Daytona, Michigan and Richmond). Team Lowe's Racing and its rookie driver Jimmie Johnson enter this weekend's race at New Hampshire International Speedway with high hopes after improving to third overall in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship points standings. The team raced to a 13th place finish in last weekend's Chevy Monte Carlo 400. The 13th place finished coupled with poor finishes by teams ahead of them in the points race allowed Team Lowe's to cut 95 points off of its deficit in the series standings. Jimmie Johnson on New Hampshire International Speedway "I'm hoping that the track will be in better condition the second race at NHIS. If it is, it should offer more opportunity for the fans to watch some solid racing. Last time there if you got out of the lower groove just a little bit, you very well likely were going to hit the wall. "Overall, I've raced pretty well there in my Busch career and had a decent run there earlier this season. Hopefully we can continue to ride the momentum from last weekend and make up some more ground in the points standings." Chad Knaus on New Hampshire International Speedway "We are looking forward to heading back to New Hampshire. Last time there we made some set up decisions following Happy Hour that hurt us during the race and I don't think that we were able to really show how good we can be at New Hampshire. We are going to get back there with a whole new outlook on the race and with a new setup, which I think is going to lead to a better run than we had there last time." Jimmie Johnson Fast Facts * Ranks third in the Winston Cup Series championship standings, 72 points out of first * Has won two NASCAR Winston Cup races this season (California and Dover) * Is tied for the fastest modern day driver to reach two wins * Has two wins, five top-five and 15 top-10 finishes in 26 races * Has four Bud Pole positions this season, tied for the most in NASCAR Winston Cup (, Daytona, Talladega, Lowe's Motor Speedway and Richmond) * Is only 15 points behind the leader in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year Competition (316-301) * Has been the highest finishing rookie 13 times this season * The 15 top-10 finishes are the second most in the Winston Cup Series (Las Vegas - 6th, Atlanta - 3rd, Darlington - 6th, Bristol - 7th, Texas - 6th, Talladega - 7th, California - 1st, Lowe's Motor Speedway - 7th, Dover - 1st, Pocono - 3rd, Daytona (Pepsi 400) - 8th, Chicagoland - 4th, Indianapolis - 9th, Michigan - 7th and Darlington - 9th) * 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 ten Winston Cup Series races this season (Las Vegas, Talladega, California, Lowe's Motor Speedway, Dover, Michigan, Chicago, Pocono, Darlington (Southern 500) and Richmond (Fall)) * Won his first Winston Cup race of his career at California Speedway, his home racetrack Jimmie Johnson at New Hampshire International Speedway * In Winston Cup, Johnson has only one career start earlier this season when he started 13th and finished 15th * In the Busch Series, 15th was his average qualifying position and 13th was his average finishing position * His Busch Series record at New Hampshire International Speedway is: * CVS Pharmacy 200 - 2001: started 18th and finished 13th * Busch 200 - 2000: started 13th and finished 13th No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet Fast Facts * Team Lowe's Racing will bring car 4838 * This is the same Lowe's Monte Carlo that Johnson drove in Martinsville earlier this season to a 35th place finish. The team lost a rear gear early in the race forcing them behind the wall for a considerable amount of laps. Knaus has redesigned the front-end geometry of the Lowe's Chevy and the team used it at a Goodyear tire test at Richmond earlier this year. Broadcast Schedule Qualifying - Friday, Sept. 13 3 p.m. (ET) on SPEED 3 p.m. (ET) on MRN Race - Saturday, Sept. 15 12:30 p.m. (ET) on NBC 12:30 p.m. (ET) on MRN