JIMMIE JOHNSON A Loan of Some Good Michigan Luck Is in Order HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (June 11, 2013) – With Quicken Loans serving as the title sponsor for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race this weekend at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Jimmie Johnson may want to get a loan on some good luck. The request isn’t without reason. Johnson and Team Lowe’s Racing have experienced some frustrating finishes at the 2-mile oval. Michigan has been a thorn in the side of Johnson and the No. 48 over the years. It is one of only five tracks on the circuit where Johnson never has celebrated one of his 63 victories. Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kentucky Speedway in Sparta and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International are the others. In this race last year, Johnson nearly ran out of gas but managed to pull off a fifth-place finish. But that was followed by a DNF (did not finish) in August. In June 2011, the No. 48 machine broke loose on lap eight. While Johnson saved the car from hitting the wall, a part broke, forcing Johnson to enter pit road for lengthy repairs. He never was able to recover due to long green-flag runs in the race. While Johnson earned a respectable sixth place in June 2010, August wasn’t as kind. Overcoming early pit road issues, Johnson was in contention but took on four tires on the final stop while most of the field stayed out or took fuel, relegating him to a 12th-place finish. In 2009, fuel was the issue. Johnson dominated the June race by leading 146 of 200 laps, but ran out of gas after taking the white flag and finished 22nd. He led 133 laps in the August race but again ran out of fuel during the final two laps and finished 33rd. He may have a little more confidence this weekend, coming off a dominating win last Sunday at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, stretching his lead in the driver standings to 51 points over second-place Carl Edwards. But it’s not surprising that Johnson wouldn’t mind a little loan on some good luck at Michigan. Johnson’s Michigan and Season Quick Stats: · Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn is one of five tracks (out of 23) on which the series competes that Johnson has not recorded a victory. Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Kentucky Speedway in Sparta are the others. · No poles. · Four top-five finishes (18.2 percent) and nine top-10s (40.9 percent) in 22 starts. · Two DNFs – did not finish (August 2012 and 2004). · Average start of 8.8 and average finish of 15.2. · Completed 4,209 of 4,339 laps (97.0 percent) and led 565. · Sprint Cup’s fourth-best driver rating (104.2 average of a possible 150 points). · Sprint Cup’s second-best average green-flag speed (176.274 mph). · Sprint Cup’s best in fastest laps run (318). · In 14 Sprint Cup races run this season, Johnson has seven top-five finishes. · Driver, Team and Sponsor Notes · Johnson will drive the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS at Michigan International Speedway. JIMMIE JOHNSON, Driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS for Hendrick Motorsports: twitter/jimmiejohnson, twitter/lowesracing and twitter/teamhendrick What are you thought’s about racing at Michigan this weekend? “The Michigan track surface has had summer and winter on it, and we’ll see how much grip is just in the surface. I would assume we’ll go as fast as we did (last year) if not faster; and with the flatter track, I think the Gen-6 car will outperform the Gen-5. The question really comes down to how much grip is still in the asphalt. I would assume it’s going to be high. On fresh repaves, the grip is always at its highest. I’m not exactly sure how that will play out, but I’m happy that a summer and a winter have been on the track. It will make the racing wider for us, and that’s what we’re all hoping for. We’ve had weird things happen at Michigan, but one of these times it (a win) will happen for us; and I hope it’s this year.” Are you doing anything special for Father’s Day? “They’ll have the ‘Father’s Day Olympics’ again, so I’ll be out there with (daughter) Evie. MRO (Motor Reaching Outreach) puts it on, and we’ll be out there for that. Last year, she really didn’t understand the relay races and what was going on, but this year she’ll be much more involved, and it’ll be fun!” JIMMIE JOHNSON MICHIGAN PERFORMANCE PROFILE Year Event Start Finish Status/Laps Laps Led 2012 Quicken Loans 400 10 5 Running, 200/200 0 Pure Michigan 400 3 27 Engine, 195/200 23 2011 Heluva Good! 400 21 27 Running, 199/200 0 ×Pure Michigan 400 19 2 Running, 203/203 18 2010 Heluva Good! 400 3 6 Running, 200/200 0 CARFAX 400 2 12 Running, 200/200 14 2009 LifeLock 400 3 22 Running, 200/200 146 CARFAX 400 4 33 Running, 199/200 133 2008 †×LifeLock 400 6 6 Running, 203/203 65 3M Performance 400 2 17 Running, 200/200 12 2007 Citizens Bank 400 2 19 Running, 199/200 56 ×3M Performance 400 7 3 Running, 203/203 15 2006 *3M Performance 400 4 6 Running, 129/129 0 GFS Marketplace 400 8 13 Running, 200/200 0 2005 Batman Begins 400 16 19 Running, 200/200 2 GFS Marketplace 400 10 10 Running, 200/200 0 2004 DHL 400 3 4 Running, 200/200 6 †GFS Marketplace 400 1 40 Engine, 81/200 0 2003 Sirius 400 11 16 Running, 199/200 0 GFS Marketplace 400 15 27 Running, 199/200 50 2002 Sirius Satellite Radio 400 14 14 Running, 200/200 25 Pepsi 400 29 7 Running, 200/200 0 † Qualifying canceled due to weather, starting position set via car owner points. × Race length extended due to green-white-checkered finish. Jimmie Johnson NASCAR Sprint Cup Career Statistics: Career Wins: · Johnson has 63 wins in his Sprint Cup career, his most recent coming last Sunday at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. · El Cajon, Calif., native Johnson is eighth on NASCAR’s all-time wins list, trailing Dale Earnhardt, who is seventh with 76 wins. · He is second in total wins among active drivers behind Jeff Gordon’s 87. · Johnson needed only 296 starts to hit the 50-win mark. Only three drivers have reached 50 victories sooner – Gordon (232), Darrell Waltrip (278) and David Pearson (293). · Of the 23 tracks on which the series competes, Johnson has won Sprint Cup races at all but five – Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Kentucky Speedway in Sparta. · Johnson’s 10 wins in 2007 was the highest number recorded in a single season since Gordon posted 13 victories in 1998. · Johnson earned his fourth Brickyard 400 victory July 29, 2012 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, tying him with Jeff Gordon as the winningest driver in the famed race. Johnson and Gordon also are tied for second on the all-time Indianapolis Motor Speedway win list with four-time Indianapolis 500 winners A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears. Seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher is the track’s all-time leader with five United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis victories. · With his win in the 2013 Sprint All-Star Race, Johnson became the all-time winningest driver in the event with four victories, breaking a tie with Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon. · With his win at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in April, Johnson became the win leader among active drivers at the track, with eight victories. He is third on the track’s all-time win list behind Richard Petty (15 wins) and Darrell Waltrip (11 wins). Career Poles: · Johnson has collected 30 poles in his Sprint Cup career. · He earned at least one pole per year in the first 10 years of his full-time career. · He had a career-high six poles in 2008. · Johnson’s most recent pole position was April 5 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Career Starts: · Johnson has finished in the top-10 in the Sprint Cup point standings each year since his first full season in 2002 and in the top-five in 10 of those 11 years. · Johnson is the only driver to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup every year since the format was adopted in 2004. · In 413 Sprint Cup starts, Johnson has posted 173 top-five finishes and 257 top-10s. · He has a top-five finish at every track on the Sprint Cup circuit. · In 119,213 laps run in his Sprint Cup career, Johnson has led a total of 14,582 laps, covering more than 158,687.7 miles. · He has finished on the lead lap 320 times. Career Recognition: · Johnson was named by Forbes magazine as its Most Influential Athlete in 2011 and 2012. · In 2009, Johnson became the first racecar driver to be named Male Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in its 78-year history. · Voted Driver of the Year four times in his career (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010), joining Gordon as the only other four-time winner of the prestigious award. · Johnson has won an ESPY for Best Driver four times – 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. · For his work throughout the year in social media, Johnson ranked as the top driver in NASCAR for strongest and most engaging use of social media in a study by Tuckahoe Strategies. · Won four #Sports Awards for use of social media in sports, including Best Overall Brand on Social Media, Most Engaging Athlete on Twitter, Most Engaging Athlete on Facebook and Best Instagram Photo (for his 2012 photo of Bristol Motor Speedway). · With his wife, Chandra, launched the Jimmie Johnson Foundation in 2006. The foundation is dedicated to helping children, families and communities in need. To date, more than $5.6 million has been contributed to various organizations. JIMMIE JOHNSON 2013 SPRINT CUP RESULTS Date Race Start Finish Status Laps Led Points 2/16/13 ^Daytona 11 14 Accident, 14/75 0 -- 2/24/13 Daytona 9 1 Running, 200/200 17 1 3/3/13 ×Phoenix 3 2 Running, 316/316 1 1 3/10/13 † Las Vegas 3 6 Running, 367/367 66 1 3/17/13 Bristol 13 22 Running, 498/500 0 3 3/24/13 Fontana 18 12 Running, 200/200 0 3 4/7/13 Martinsville 1 1 Running, 500/500 346 1 4/13/13 Fort Worth 7 6 Running, 334/334 0 1 4/21/13 Kansas 21 3 Running, 267/267 9 1 4/27/13 ×Richmond 26 12 Running, 406/406 0 1 5/5/13 *×Talladega 8 5 Running, 192/192 16 1 5/11/13 Darlington 2 4 Running, 367/367 0 1 5/18/12 ^Charlotte 18 1 90/90 Running 10 -- 5/23/13 Charlotte 12 22 Running, 395/400 0 1 5/30/13 Dover 24 17 Running, 399/400 143 1 6/9/13 †Pocono 1 1 Running, 160/160 128 1 † Qualifying canceled due to weather, starting position set via car owner points. *Qualifying canceled due to weather, starting position set via practice speeds. × Race length extended due to green-white-checkered finish. ^ Denotes non-points paying event. JIMMIE JOHNSON YEAR-BY-YEAR SPRINT CUP STATISTICS Year Starts Wins Top-5 Top-10 Poles Final Points 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 2008 36 7 15 22 6 1 2009 36 7 16 24 4 1 2010 36 6 17 23 2 1 2011 36 2 17 21 0 6 2012 36 5 18 24 4 3 -TSC-
Posted on: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 20:45:03 +0000
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