Jimmie Johnson Dover Preview
TEAM LOWE'S RACING LOOKING TO GO TWO FOR TWO AT DOVER Johnson hopes to have same success for his second NWC event at DIS DOVER, Del. (Sept. 16, 2002) - Team Lowe's Racing finds itself just 40 points out of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series lead and returning to a racetrack, Dover International Speedway, that was the site of this rookie team's second win of the season. Can Team Lowe's duplicate its win from earlier this year? How will the new tires that Goodyear is bringing to the racetrack have an effect on the race? Team Lowe's Racing's rookie driver Jimmie Johnson and its crew chief Chad Knaus shed some light on heading back to Dover. Jimmie Johnson on racing at Dover International Speedway "I'm really looking forward to returning to Dover. Obviously it is a place that we know we can run well at and win. I said it before we won there earlier this season, I was not that successful there in the Busch Series, but Dover is a track that fits my driving style. With the success that Jeff and Hendrick Motorsports has had there over the years, I'm sure that the Lowe's team will have a strong run there again this race." Johnson on being only 40 points out of the lead "It's great, but it isn't going to change our philosophy on how we are going to race the rest of the season. A few weeks back we started to points race and when we did, we started to get in trouble and not run as well as we had in the beginning of the season. The entire team has just made a decision to do what we were doing in the beginning of the year and race as hard as we can each week and let the chips fall where they will. That mentality has gotten us two wins and four poles, so we'll just have to see what is going to happen here in the last part of the season." Chad Knaus on the challenges of Dover International Speedway "The track is constructed in a way that drivers can really overdrive the race car. When a driver enters the turns, they actually drop away from the turn and the race car can get airborne, especially in turns one and three. This affects the way that we'll setup the Lowe's Chevy so when it lands it won't cut and spinout. You also have to be aware of the exit of the corners making sure that the way that race car rises up on exit doesn't get the car too loose. It's a very tough track to prepare for and it will be a challenge for the Lowe's team, but one that we are definitely up for." Knaus on the new tire for Dover "It will just be another challenge that we'll have to face this weekend. Goodyear is bringing a new tire to the track that is supposed to fall off and slowdown more than the last tire we used there. This is a tire that has the same construction as the last tire we used there, but it will have a softer compound and should fall off faster. It's frustrating in a sense that things keep changing on us throughout this season, but this team is very open minded and can easily adapt to change. That might be an advantage we have over other teams, we don't have a certain setup that we need to run at each track, we can adapt to the conditions and go from there." Jimmie Johnson Fast Facts * Ranks third in the Winston Cup Series championship standings, 40 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 16 top-10 finishes in 27 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 24 points back in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year Competition (328-304) * Has been the highest finishing rookie 13 times this season * The 16 top-10 finishes is tied for the 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, Darlington - 9th and New Hampshire - 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 Dover International Speedway * Johnson has competed in one Winston Cup Series event and he started 10th and finished 1st * 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: * MBNA Platinum 200 - 2001: started 7th and finished 25th (accident), 2000: started 31st and finished 20th * 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 Lowe's Chevy that Johnson won with in Dover earlier this season. He also drove it to a 28th place finish in Rockingham and a 7th and 31st place finishes 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) Broadcast Schedule Qualifying - Friday, Sept. 20 2 p.m. (ET) on TNT 2 p.m. (ET) on MRN Race - Sunday, Sept. 22 12:30 p.m. (ET) on TNT 12:30 p.m. (ET) on MRN