Jimmie Johnson heads to Lowe's Motor Speedway vying for his third All-Star Race win. Saturday night's non-points event will be the seventh of his career. If Team Lowe's Racing finds victory lane, Johnson would tie teammate Jeff Gordon and the late Dale Earnhardt for the most All-Star wins.
Johnson has been the driver to beat at Lowe's Motor Speedway since his first All-Star win there in 2003. Since then, the Lowe's driver has won six more races at the 1.5-mile venue.
JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE EXCITEMENT AROUND THE NIGHT OF THE ALL-STAR RACE? "It is a great night. I think everybody looks forward to it. It doesn't matter if you are a driver or a crew member or whatever that may be, everybody is fired up for that race. The cool million at the end of the night is something everyone wants a shot at, too. I really do love it. I really, really enjoy the All-Star event and am glad to see that it is growing in popularity and that Sprint is getting behind it. They have been advertising it like crazy. So I am excited to see all that and look forward to putting on a good show."
YOU HAVE TWO WEEKS IN CHARLOTTE. IS IT LIKE A VACATION BEING HOME FOR TWO WEEKS? "No, not for me. Being the Lowe's driver at Lowe's Motor Speedway is pretty busy for me. It's that way for a lot of the teams. You're able to sleep in your own bed and enjoy that, but that's a hometown track. There's just a lot going on. All sponsors, NASCAR, Sprint -- you know everybody involved does whatever they can to really blow out being at home and everybody does a great job. It's an active week, two weeks for us. On top of that, with all the testing we have now with the Cup car, the Nationwide test and then we're trying to get prepared for the road-course events coming up with some road-course testing, this month is really, really busy for this Lowe's race team and I assume it's that way throughout the garage."
WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO DO THE BURN-OUT COMPETITION? "It's just something different. Something cool. We sit around all day long and really don't do much. So we might as well do something. The unique opportunity like this I'll definitely carve the time out for and have some fun and put on a good show for the fans."
WHEN YOU DO A BURN-OUT, IS IT JUST A MATTER OF PUTTING ONE FOOT ON THE ACCELERATOR AND ONE ON THE BRAKE AND HOLDING ON? "It kind of depends. I didn't practice the burn-outs. So I'll just kind of be there and see what the car will do. I'm not sure how much horsepower we'll have or what the tire situation will be on the cars, but I'll watch the guys. Hopefully I'm not the first guy, but I'll watch the guys in front of me and just have some fun and let 'er rip."
PART OF THE ALL-STAR WEEK IS THE PIT CREW CHALLENGE. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN DO TO PUMP YOUR GUYS UP FOR THAT? ARE YOU GOING TO SHOW UP AND BE A CHEERLEADER ON THE SIDELINES? "Absolutely. I'll be there to cheer my guys on. There is nothing I can really do. They've been practicing and working on whatever techniques are needed for that event. I would imagine it's a lot like last year, which is much different than a normal pit stop. So they're working hard on it and everybody wants those bragging rights. So I know everybody is going to put a lot into it, and I'm going to be there to cheer them on."
RACE NOTES
Chassis
Chassis No. 480 will be used as the primary for Team Lowe's Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star Race. In its only other start, Johnson drove the car to a 13th-place finish in March at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The backup chassis is No. 417, which Jeff Gordon finished third in at Darlington Raceway last weekend. Gordon has collected three top-five finishes in that car, including a win at Darlington in May 2007.
Lowe's Motor Speedway -- All-Star Events
In six All-Star Race starts, Johnson has five top-five finishes, including two victories (2003, 2006).
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) was the 34th of his Sprint Cup career. The win moves 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 where the series competes.
Johnson's 10 wins in 2007 is 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.
History
In 230 Sprint Cup Series starts, Johnson has posted 90 top five and 138 top-10 finishes. He has a top-five finish at every track on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit. Johnson has led 5,896 laps and driven 66,519 laps in his Sprint Cup career, covering more than 88,532 miles. He has finished on the lead lap 175 times.
TELEVISION SCHEDULE (All times Eastern)
Lowe's Motor Speedway
The All-Star Race
Friday, May 16
All-Star Race final practice, 1:30 p.m. on SPEED
All-Star Race Qualifying, 6:15 p.m. on SPEED
Saturday, May 17
All-Star Race, approx. 9 p.m. on SPEED
PRIMARY CAR HISTORY: CHASSIS NO. 480
| Car | Date | Event | Start | Finish |
| 48-480 | 3/10/2008 | Atlanta Race | 11 | 13 |
BACKUP CAR HISTORY: CHASSIS NO. 417
| Car | Date | Event | Start | Finish |
| 24-417 | 3/25/2007 | Bristol Race | 1 | 3 |
| 24-417 | 5/13/2007 | Darlington Race | 10 | 1 |
| 24-417 | 2/9/2008 | Daytona Bud Shootout | n/a | 4 |
| 24-417 | 3/16/2008 | Bristol Race | 2 | 11 |
JOHNSON'S ALL-STAR STATISTICS
| Event | Start | Finish | Notes |
| 2007 | 2 | 2 | Avoided three accidents in the final segment to finish second to Kevin Harvick by hundredths of a second. Started second in the first segment. Started third and finished eighth in the second segment. Started eighth and finished eighth in the third segment. Started eighth in the final segment. |
| 2006 | 2 | 1 | Started second in the first segment and finished 12th despite a pit lane speeding penalty that almost cost him a lap. Started 12th in the next segment and finished second. Started second in final segment and passed Harvick with 18 laps to go. |
| 2005 | 6 | 5 | Started sixth in first segment and finished seventh, avoiding multi-car wreck, finished seventh in second segment, started final segment in seventh finished fifth. |
| 2004 | 11 | 17 | Caught up in lap 11 wreck and finished 11th in first segment, finished 17th after a spin on lap 54 in 2nd segment, didn?t race in final segment. |
| 2003 | 16 | 1 | Second in first segment; seventh in second; started fourth in final segment; was Humpy Wheeler's pick to win the event. |
| 2002 | 17 | 5 | Won first two segments, but inversion dropped him to seventh before final segment. |
JOHNSON'S LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY STATISTICS
| Race | Start | Finish | Laps | Status | Led |
| 10/7/2001 | 15 | 39 | 192/334 | Accident | 0 |
| 5/26/2002 | 1 | 7 | 400/400 | Running | 263 |
| 10/13/2002 | 3 | 6 | 334/334 | Running | 66 |
| 5/23/2003 | 37 | 1 | 276/276 | Running | 34 |
| 10/11/2003 | 3 | 3 | 334/334 | Running | 104 |
| 5/30/2004 | 1 | 1 | 400/400 | Running | 334 |
| 10/16/2004 | 9 | 1 | 334/334 | Running | 35 |
| 5/29/2005 | 5 | 1 | 400/400 | Running | 11 |
| 10/15/2005 | 3 | 1 | 336/336 | Running | 13 |
| 5/28/2006 | 3 | 2 | 400/400 | Running | 24 |
| 10/14/2006 | 10 | 2 | 334/334 | Running | 72 |
| 5/27/2007 | 21 | 10 | 400/400 | Running | 83 |
| 10/13/2007 | 2 | 14 | 337/337 | Running | 95 |
JOHNSON'S 2008 STATISTICS
| Race | Site | Start | Finish | Laps | Status | Led | Pts | 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 |
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 |