DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.�Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 Team Lowe's Racing crew will start the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season exactly where they ended 2007�in the number one position.
Johnson will start the 50th running of the Daytona 500 from the inside of the front row after scoring the pole position for "The Great American Race" on Sunday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.
Johnson circled the 2.5-mile superspeedway in 48.109 seconds, at an average speed of 187.075 miles per hour, to claim the second Daytona 500 pole position, and the 14th pole overall, of his Sprint Cup Series career.
Johnson sat on the pole in his first Daytona 500 start as a rookie in 2002 and won the event two years ago.
"Today, it didn't have a lot to do with the driver," Johnson said. "My guys really put the speed in this car, and I can't thank them enough. ... I'm just so proud of this race team. As we all know, a lot goes into it. We had everything aligned just right and got all of the speed out of it. (We have) a great engine and a great car. Last night, we had a great race (in the Bud Shootout), but I'm really looking forward to what this car can do in the 500."
Joining Johnson on the front row is Michael Waltrip, who posted the second-fastest lap time of 48.197 seconds.
Positions 3-39 will be decided by the finishing order of the two 150-mile "Gatorade Duel" qualifying races on Thursday afternoon. Those drivers who don't finish well in the qualifying events must look to their qualifying-lap times on Sunday to help them secure one of the final four positions in the 43-car field.
Teams who finished the 2007 season in the top 35 in points are guaranteed a starting spot.
Johnson and his Team Lowe's Racing crew will look to become the first team to win the Daytona 500 after starting from the pole since Dale Jarrett accomplished the feat in 2000.
The Gatorade Duels will air on Thursday, Feb. 14, beginning at 2 p.m. EST on SPEED, while the Daytona 500 will be broadcast live on FOX beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17.
JOHNSON FINISHES THIRD IN BUD SHOOTOUT
Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 Team Lowe's Racing Chevrolet crew kicked off the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season with a third-place run in the Budweiser Shootout on Saturday night at Daytona.
While not a win, the finish was satisfying for Johnson, who drove a short-track backup car in the race after his primary car suffered damage in a crash during practice on Friday night.
The event was won by Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving in his first event as Johnson's teammate at Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson proved himself a cooperative teammate in the event�Earnhardt credited Johnson with helping to push him to the win.
"I felt like (Fred) Flintstone in this thing trying to get this short-track car to go," Johnson said. "We had a great effort. The car really drove well, and that's what kept me in the game. I made some smart moves and good decisions and was up there racing with the guys. It was a lot of fun racing with those guys�I'm glad to see we had a pretty clean race, and I'm definitely happy for Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. getting his victory in his first time in a Hendrick car."
Another of Johnson's teammates, Jeff Gordon, was also forced to a backup car after the incident during final practice on Friday night. Replays showed the cars of Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman making contact, setting off a chain reaction that collected seven cars.
Instead of relying on the car the team will use in Thursday's 150-mile Gatorade Duel qualifying race, crew chief Chad Knaus chose to have a car brought down from the team's shops in Charlotte. That chassis, normally designated for short-track races, has structural differences that were evident to Johnson during the Bud Shootout.
"The thing about the short-track car, the panels, you try to make it light and not brace everything like you would on a different car," Johnson said. "I thought the windshield, the roof and the sides were going to blow off the car, everything was shaking so bad when I got in the draft. (It) sounded like the body was going to blow off the car."
The race featured two segments of 20 and 50 laps, respectively, with a 10-minute intermission in between. While Johnson was strong throughout the second segment, consistently running in the top five, the first part of the race was a challenge.
"At the start, we had something not exactly right with the travel in the front of the car," Johnson said. "Really, I lost the draft. The car wasn't all that good and I lost the draft. We came in during the break and made some changes and got the car to drive better. ... My car drove really well (in the second segment). I could get through traffic, I found myself up there in the top five, top four and ended up having a good night."
After starting the second segment in 11th position, Johnson found his way to the front of the field, and all four Hendrick cars (Earnhardt, Gordon, Casey Mears and Johnson) lined up nose to tail at one point in the high line of traffic.
With seven laps remaining, a spin by Kurt Busch brought out the final caution flag of the event. When the race restarted two laps later, Johnson was shown in fourth position before dropping in behind Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevrolet. Johnson closed on Earnhardt's bumper and gave his teammate a hard nudge with the bumper of the Lowe's Chevrolet, catapulting Earnhardt ahead of Tony Stewart in the closing laps. Earnhardt was able to hold off Stewart for the win, and Johnson crossed the finish line in third.
It was a great night for Hendrick Motorsports as all four Hendrick entries finished in the top 10. Jeff Gordon was fourth and Casey Mears was sixth.
TELEVISION SCHEDULE (all times Eastern)
Daytona International Speedway
Wednesday, Feb. 13
Sprint Cup practice, noon on SPEED
Sprint Cup practice, 2 p.m. on SPEED
Thursday, Feb. 14
Gatorade Duels, 2 p.m. on SPEED
Friday, Feb. 15
Sprint Cup practice, 1:30 p.m. on SPEED
Saturday, Feb. 16
Sprint Cup practice, 10:30 a.m. on SPEED
Sunday, Feb. 17
Pre-race, 2 p.m. on FOX
Race, 3:30 p.m. on FOX
