Subscibe to our feedTeam Lowe's Racing Looks for Fourth Win in Richmond
Jimmie Johnson and Team Lowe’s Racing have one last chance to score their fourth victory of the season before next week’s Chase for the Sprint Cup begins.
As it stands, Johnson will line up third when the field is set next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The top 12 drivers will line up based on number of wins – Mark Martin has four, while Tony Stewart and Johnson have three. Because Stewart is currently ahead of Johnson in points, he will get the second spot. (If Kyle Busch races into the Chase Saturday, he will be second with four wins.)
If Johnson were to earn a victory in Saturday night’s race at Richmond International Raceway, however, the 48 team would leave the track holding the lead. And while there will be a lot of teams vying for good finishes, the three-time Sprint Cup Champion has a good shot at grabbing that win – he’s won three of the last five events at the .75-mile track, including last fall.
“We’ll just to do the things we've been doing,” said Johnson. “I feel that we've had a bunch of victories kind of slip through our fingers here lately. It would be nice to have those points. Outside of that, I think we have the speed in the cars and if we can take a chance to win the race, we should do that. At the same time, running in the top five and having great pit stops and is good for the team's confidence and for mine as well. So if we don't have a shot at winning, a realistic shot at taking a chance to win something and we're running in the top five, I think our goal at that point is to get a good finish, collect points, and get the mindset right for the Chase."
And once the Chase begins?
“I'm a big believer in keeping it simple and I've said that over the last couple of Chases,” explained Johnson. “I do disagree that every race in the Chase is the same. You might want to tell yourself that it's the same and that it's no big deal. I tell myself that. But I climb in the car and I know it's a Chase race no matter how often I tell myself its no big deal, it's no big deal. You know what's on the line.”
“You've got to do your job. You give 100 percent; no more, no less,” added Johnson. “If you can rule out all the other tricks you're trying to play with people or tricks with the set up or funny strategy or whatever it may be and just go out and run your race and do your job and everybody leave that race weekend and know they gave 100 percent, you're going to have good results. That's really what we have done. We try to put blinders on and run our race and do our thing and don't leave anything at the track."
Saturday night’s Sprint Cup Series event will be broadcast live on ABC beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
RACE NOTES
Richmond International Raceway
- Johnson has made 15 Sprint Cup Series starts at Richmond International Raceway, earning three wins, four top-five and four top-10 finishes.
- The three-time champion has won three of the last five events at the .75-mile oval.
- Johnson has completed 92.2% (5536 of 6003) of competition laps at the track and has led 369.
- He has an average start and finish of 12.1 and 18.7.
Chassis
- Johnson will pilot chassis number 461 in Saturday night’s race. He last drove that car to a runner-up finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last fall.
- Johnson last piloted backup chassis number 520 to a 36th-place result at Richmond in May.