Johnson Takes on Darlington Raceway
For the second week in a row, the Sprint Cup Series will be racing under the lights on a Saturday night when it travels to Darlington Raceway for this weekend’s Mother’s Day event.
Johnson has won at the 1.366-mile oval two times in his 10 Sprint Cup starts and is hoping for better luck than he’s had the past couple of weeks.
"I’m looking forward to going to Darlington,” said Johnson, who is currently sixth in the driver point standings. “I really enjoy racing there. It’s such a unique track with so much history and tradition surrounding it. The track itself is really narrow and can be tricky, but it’s starting to give up some grip so it’s not quite as bad as with the old pavement. Hopefully we can get a good finish.”
Last year, Johnson struggled at the South Carolina-track, wrecking two cars before the green-flag waved and, after running in the top 10 throughout the night, falling to a 13th-place finish with a tight-handling car.
“We had some back luck there last year and wrecked a couple of cars,” said Johnson. “Then something happened late in the race that hurt us, so I’m looking forward to going back and having some better results this time.”
Maybe Johnson’s mom will be able to provide the luck her son needs.
"My mom will be coming to the race with us this weekend and get to be part of the special pre-race festivities and Mother’s Day stuff they have there, so that’ll be cool,” added Johnson. “Nothing too special, but having her there on Mother’s Day weekend will be nice.”
Saturday’s race will be broadcast live on FOX beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
RACE NOTES
Darlington Raceway
- Johnson has made 10 Cup Series starts at Darlington Raceway, posting two wins, five top-five and eight top-10 finishes.
- Johnson has completed 99.9% (3449 of 3451) of competition laps at the 1.366-mile oval and has led 407.
- Johnson has an average start and finish of 9.0 and 7.4.
Chassis- Johnson has driven primary chassis No. 502 five times in his Sprint Cup Series career. He last piloted the machine to a ninth-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March.
- Johnson finished 13th at Darlington last year in the backup chassis, No. 465.