Subscibe to our feedJohnson Hopes to Pick Up Where He Left Off in Michigan
After leading 146 laps at Michigan International Speedway in June, Jimmie Johnson found himself credited with a 22nd-place result after running out of gas on the last lap of the race.
Johnson was looking to break his winless streak at the two-mile oval on which he’s earned two top-five and six top-10 finishes in 15 starts. Johnson is hoping that this time around he will be able to take his Lowe’s Impala SS to Victory Lane and that gas will not be the issue.
“I remember at Michigan we had a dominant car; such a fast race car all day long,” explained Johnson. “So I'm really excited going back. It wasn't too long ago, so hopefully the advantage we had will still be there and hopefully we can make one more lap on fuel. We came up just one (lap) short last time, so fuel mileage races and the No. 48 car just don't mix. But I'm looking forward to it. That's one of the tracks (where) we've been getting better and better. Our finishing results don't show it, but if you look at laps led, we've been up front a lot there. We just haven't been able to close the deal yet."
Johnson added, “Fuel mileage is always in our minds at places like Pocono, Michigan and the road courses for sure. So hopefully it doesn’t come down to that. We all like to race hard and stand on the gas.”
Sunday’s race will be broadcast live on ESPN beginning at 1 p.m. ET.
RACE NOTES
Michigan International Speedway
- Johnson has made 15 Sprint Cup Series starts at Michigan International Speedway, posting two top-five and six top-10 finishes.
- The two-mile oval is one of only six Sprint Cup tracks on which Johnson hasn’t visited Victory Lane. The others are Bristol, Infineon, Chicago, Watkins Glen and Homestead.
- The three-time champion has completed 95.8% (2813 of 2935) of competition laps at the track and has led 377.
- Johnson has an average start and finish of 9.4 and 14.9.
Chassis- Johnson will pilot chassis No. 552 in Sunday’s race. He finished eighth in that car at Chicagoland Speedway in July.
- The three-time Champions last drove backup chassis No. 504 to a 13th-place result at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May.