After a well-deserved weekend off, the Sprint Cup Series travels to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Sunday's Brickyard event.
Johnson's six starts at the 2.5-mile track have produced one win and two top-five finishes. He and the Team Lowe's Racing crew kissed the bricks in 2006.
Last season, Johnson hoped to follow up his win with another solid finish but fell victim to two accidents by lap 61. The Lowe's driver was caught up in an eight-car wreck on lap 45 and then cut a tire and hit the wall on lap 61. He finished 39th.
JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES
ON GOING BACK TO INDY: "We've struggled at Indy for some reason -- it's definitely on our list of tougher tracks. We were able to get a win there a couple years ago, so we know we're a team capable of winning there. We just have to have all the pieces fall into place for us. It seems like it hasn't been bad performances that have kept us from good finishes. We just tend to get caught up in a wreck or have some bad luck in the pits. A solid finish is definitely within reach if we can just stay out of trouble."
ON ENJOYING THE LAST OFF WEEKEND OF THE SEASON: "It was great. Chani and I were out of the country, so it was a nice, relaxing way to spend the last off week. I think there are only like six or seven races left before the Chase gets started, so it'll probably be pretty intense between now and the end of the season."
RACE NOTES
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Johnson has made six Cup Series starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, finishing in the top five twice.
He won the 2006 event.
He has completed 80.2% (771 of 961) of competition laps at the 2.5-mile oval and has led 33.
Johnson has an average start and finish of 20.2 and 23.5.
Chassis
Johnson will drive chassis number 504 in Sunday's race. The two-time champion piloted that chassis to a sixth-place finish at Pocono Raceway in June. The backup chassis, No. 480, was driven to a fourth-place result in May's Sprint Cup Challenge.
CAREER NOTES
Wins
Johnson has 34 wins in his Sprint Cup Series career.
Johnson has won at least three Cup races a season since he posted his first victory in 2002. He is the only driver in the modern era to win at least three races in each of his first six full-time seasons.
Johnson's most recent victory at Phoenix (April 12, 2008) moved Johnson past legendary "Fireball" Roberts for 18th on NASCAR's all-time wins list. Johnson has the fourth-highest win total among active drivers, behind Jeff Gordon (81), Bill Elliott (44) and Mark Martin (35).
Johnson has won Sprint Cup Series races at all but seven (Bristol, Michigan, Infineon, Chicago, Watkins Glen, Kansas, Homestead) of the 22 tracks in which the series competes.
Johnson's 10 wins in 2007 were the highest number recorded in a single season since Jeff Gordon posted 13 victories in 1998.
The four consecutive wins scored by the No. 48 team in the 2007 Chase for the Championship ties a modern-era NASCAR record.
Poles
Johnson has collected 14 poles in his Sprint Cup career.
The championship driver has earned at least one pole a year since his first full-time season in 2002. He had a career-high four in both 2002 and 2007.
Johnson's most recent pole position was in the Feb. 17 Daytona 500.
Miscellaneous
Johnson has finished in the top five in the Sprint Cup Series point standings each year since his first full season in 2002.
In 238 Sprint Cup Series starts, Johnson has posted 91 top-five and 143 top-10 finishes.
He has a top-five finish at every track on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit.
Johnson has led a total of 6,103 laps (of 68,497) in his Sprint Cup career, covering more than 91,692 miles.
He has finished on the lead lap 181 times.
TELEVISION SCHEDULE
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
(All times Eastern)
Friday, July 25
Sprint Cup practice, 2 p.m. (not broadcast)
Sprint Cup practice, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2
Saturday, July 26
Sprint Cup qualifying, 10 a.m., ESPN2
Sprint Cup happy hour, 2 p.m., ESPN2
Sunday, June 27
Sprint Cup race, 1 p.m., ESPN
PRIMARY CAR: CHASSIS NO. 504 HISTORY
| Car | Date | Event | Start | Finish |
| 48-504 | 6/8/2008 | Pocono Race | 2 | 6 |
BACKUP CAR: CHASSIS NO. 480 HISTORY
| Car | Date | Event | Start | Finish |
| 48-480 | 3/10/2008 | Atlanta Race | 11 | 13 |
| 48-480 | 5/17/2008 | All-Star Charlotte Race | 21 | 4 |
JOHNSON'S INDIANAPOLIS RECORD
| Date | St | Fin | Laps | Money | Status | Led |
| 8/4/02 | 37 | 9 | 160/160 | 135,025 | running | 0 |
| 8/3/03 | 9 | 18 | 160/160 | 135,225 | running | 0 |
| 8/8/04 | 9 | 36 | 88/161 | 136,625 | engine | 0 |
| 8/7/05 | 42 | 38 | 144/160 | 179,626 | accident | 0 |
| 8/6/06 | 5 | 1 | 160/160 | 452,861 | running | 33 |
| 7/29/07 | 19 | 39 | 59/160 | 191,686 | accident | 0 |
JOHNSON'S 2008 SPRINT CUP STATISTICS
| Race | Site | Start | Finish | Laps | Status | Led | Points | Pt. total | Pt. pos. |
| 1 | Daytona | 1 | 27 | 200/200 | Running | 1 | 87 | 87 | 25 |
| 2 | Fontana | 1 | 2 | 250/250 | Running | 76 | 180 | 267 | 8 |
| 3 | Las Vegas | 33 | 29 | 265/267 | Running | 0 | 76 | 343 | 14 |
| 4 | Atlanta | 13 | 13 | 325/325 | Running | 0 | 124 | 467 | 13 |
| 5 | Bristol | 1 | 18 | 504/506 | Running | 14 | 114 | 581 | 13 |
| 6 | Martinsville | 10 | 4 | 500/500 | Running | 135 | 165 | 746 | 10 |
| 7 | Texas | 5 | 2 | 339/339 | Running | 65 | 175 | 921 | 6 |
| 8 | Phoenix | 7 | 1 | 312/312 | Running | 120 | 195 | 1116 | 4 |
| 9 | Talladega | 10 | 13 | 188/188 | Running | 1 | 129 | 1245 | 5 |
| 10 | Richmond | 12 | 30 | 400/410 | Running | 0 | 73 | 1318 | 7 |
| 11 | Darlington | 3 | 13 | 367/367 | Running | 0 | 124 | 1442 | 6 |
| 12 | Charlotte | 10 | 39 | 351/400 | Engine | 35 | 51 | 1493 | 9 |
| 13 | Dover | 4 | 7 | 399/400 | Running | 2 | 151 | 1644 | 7 |
| 14 | Pocono | 2 | 6 | 200/200 | Running | 59 | 155 | 1799 | 6 |
| 15 | Michigan | 6 | 6 | 203/203 | Running | 65 | 160 | 1959 | 5 |
| 16 | Infineon | 2 | 15 | 112/112 | Running | 27 | 123 | 2082 | 5 |
| 17 | New Hampshire | 23 | 9 | 284/284 | Running | 0 | 138 | 2170 | 5 |
| 18 | Daytona | 30 | 23 | 162/162 | Running | 4 | 99 | 2269 | 5 |
| 19 | Chicagoland | 5 | 2 | 267/267 | Running | 15 | 175 | 2444 | 5 |
JOHNSON'S YEAR-BY-YEAR CUP STATISTICS
| Year | Starts | Wins | Top-5s | Top-10s | Poles | Final pts |
| 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 |
NO. 48 AT-TRACK CREW LIST
| Name | Shop Job | Track Job | Hometown |
| Knaus, Chad | Crew Chief 48 | Crew Chief 48 | Rockford, IL |
| Bazzell, Kyle | Truck Driver 48 | Truck Driver 48 | Fairburg, IL |
| Bosserman, Todd | Shock Specialist 48 | Shock Specialist 48 | Waynesboro, VA |
| Bradshaw, Marcia | N/A | Scorer 48 | Charlotte, NC |
| Claridge, Joe | Mechanic | Mechanic 48 | Barrington, NH |
| Emerick, Danny | Engine Tuner | Engine Tuner 48 | Bryn Mawr, PA |
| Evans, Brandon | Engineer | Engineer | South Hill, VA |
| Gober, Ken | Truck Driver 48 | Truck Driver 48 | Manchester, NH |
| Gutierrez, Rich | Mechanic | Gas Man 48 | Yorba Linda, CA |
| Ives, Greg | Race Engineer | Race Engineer 48 | Bark River, MI |
| Kerlin, Sean | Mechanic | Tire Specialist 48 | Marysville, PA |
| Knauer, Mike | Mechanic | Catch Can 48 | Cambridge, MD |
| Lingerfelt, Mike | Mechanic | Front Tire Changer 48 | Greenville, SC |
| Malec, Ron | Mechanic | Car Chief 48/Rear Tire Carrier 48 | Franklin, WI |
| Morin, Greg | Pit Crew Coach | Pit Crew Coach | Waltham, MA |
| Nicely, Bobby | Asst. Pit Crew Coach | Asst. Pit Crew Coach | Virginia Beach, VA |
| Puchalski, Marc | Mechanic 48 | Mechanic 48 | San Jose, CA |
| Purcell, Kenneth | Mechanic | Jackman 48 | Savannah, GA |
| Reeves, Stevie | Machinist | Spotter 48 | Speedway, IN |
| Simmons, Art | Chassis Set Up | Front Tire Carrier 48 | Kirksville, MO |
| West, Jeremy | Mechanic | Rear Tire Changer 48 | Harbor City, CA |
