Jimmie Johnson and the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series travel to Martinsville Speedway for Sunday’s sixth of the 10-race 2007 “Chase for the Nextel Cup.” After finishing 14th at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Saturday, Johnson is second among the 12 “Chase” drivers trailing Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon by 68 points. Johnson is aiming for his fourth victory in the last seven races at the flat half-mile track in southern Virginia where Johnson also owns top-five finishes seven of the last eight races.

DRIVER JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES:

IF TALLADEGA WAS TAMER THAN USUAL BECAUSE OF THE CHASE, ARE YOU WORRIED THAT MARTINSVILLE MIGHT NOT BE AS EXCITING AS IT SHOULD BE? "I don't think so. I think at Martinsville we'll put on a good show. It will be like what we saw in the spring. I don't think you're going to have the same concerns of a 'big one' on the short track. You certainly have spins and catch four or five cars but you can't clean out 15 cars. So I think everyone will be back to normal and racing hard there. With the bumpers and how tough these cars are, we might actually see a more intense and exciting Martinsville than what we had in the spring."

DESCRIBE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JEFF GORDON: "We're certainly still close. With him now being a father, our social scenes have ventured in different directions. We still are very close with Jeff and Ingrid. We spend time, go to dinner, and do those things. Jeff lives in downtown, I live in South Park. We're still close, absolutely still close. As time has gone on, he's helped me get off on my feet and I haven't been in the situation of needing as much help with driving the car and maybe some of the business stuff and things like that. So our conversation is probably less on the work side and more on the personal side and how each other are doing and what's new and how many diapers has he changed this week and things like that. The friendship is still there and it's as strong as it's ever been. I think as years go on, from my side I respect him and what he's accomplished more and more, especially how he's carried himself through Hendrick Motorsports, through our sport.

"And the fact that he brought me into the fold and put me in the No. 48 car and how his leadership and the way things work between the No. 24 and the No. 48, it would be easy for them to be sour and to have the dynamic be too competitive and us not work well together. But Jeff's really been the head of that and has led the team through all of that. I have more respect for him today than I did when I started driving for him."

IF YOU ARE CLOSER, IS IT GOING TO BE THAT MUCH HARDER GOING DOWN TO THE WIRE WITH HIM? "I don't think so, because our relationship has been competitive even though we've been friends. There's no doubt he wants to beat me, we saw that at Talladega. He made a move and got it done. But it's not that he hates me and wants to pass me or I hate him and want to pass him. We're friends and we have respect for one another on and off the track, but it comes down to the end of the race. That's what we're out there for is to get the job done. If we do get together and things happen, that's the stuff that puts a strain on our friendship or relationship. If you get passed and beat fair and square, that's one thing. But if you start crashing each other, that's where it would strain our friendship. I don't want to say we won't crash. You get into each other at some point. But it would take a lot to jeopardize the friendship and it's just not in either one of us to do that. It's just not who we are as racers on track."

NOTES

CHASSIS

Johnson will drive chassis 461 at Martinsville. It finished sixth at Loudon last month in its only race. Chassis 424 will serve as the backup. It won both races at Richmond this year and finished fifth at Loudon in April.

MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

Completed 5,446 of 5,500 laps Led 724 laps Three wins, seven top fives, 10 top 10s; one pole Average finish of 6.6, average start 13.9 Average Running Position of 7.9, third-best Driver Rating of 117.2, third-best 224 Fastest Laps Run, third-most 147 Green Flag Passes, eighth-most Third-fastest Green Flag Speed 2,093 Laps in the Top 15 (83.7%), third-most 111 Quality Passes, fifth-most

2007 CHASE FOR THE NEXTEL CUP

Johnson and Matt Kenseth are the only two drivers to participate in all four “Chase” battles. Johnson is aiming to post his sixth consecutive season finishing in the top 10 in points. Johnson’s only two “Chase” poles have come this season at Dover and Kansas. Johnson owns seven “Chase” victories, the most of any driver. Johnson has led 1,016 laps in “Chase” races but suffered five finishes outside the top 30 in his 35 career “Chase” races.

2007 SEASON

Johnson and Jeff Gordon are the only drivers with six victories. Chevrolet has won 22 of the season’s 31 races. Hendrick Motorsports has won 14 of the season’s 31 races. Hendrick Motorsports has won 7 of the 14 “Car of Tomorrow “races. Johnson has led in 19 of 30 races for 1,069 laps in 2007.

CAREER

Johnson has won at least three 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 victory at Richmond on Sept. 8 was the 29th of his Nextel Cup career. This win moves him to 21st on the list for most victories since 1949. Johnson’s owns 12 poles in his career. He has won a pole in each of his first six seasons.

HISTORY

In 214 starts, Johnson has posted 82 top-5 finishes and 129 top-10 finishes. He has a top-5 finish at every track on the NASCAR Nextel Cup series circuit. Johnson has led 5,264 laps and driven 61,121 laps in his Nextel Cup career covering over 81,994 miles. He has finished on the lead lap 162 times. He owns a career average start of 12.0 and an average finish of 12.2.

2007 “CHASE” STANDINGS

1 Jeff Gordon 5880 Leader

2 Jimmie Johnson 5812 -68

3 Clint Bowyer 5802 -78

4 Tony Stewart 5682 -198

5 Carl Edwards 5640 -240

6 Kyle Busch 5600 -280

7 Kurt Busch 5565 -315

8 Kevin Harvick 5552 -328

9 Denny Hamlin 5531 -349

10 Jeff Burton 5514 -366

11 Martin Truex Jr. 5502 -378

12 Matt Kenseth 5438 -442

JOHNSON’S CAREER ‘CHASE’ RACES

Year/Race Track S F Laps Purse Status Led

2007

1 Loudon 4 6 300/300 145,886 running 0

2 Dover 1 14 398/400 137,311 running 1

3 Kansas 1 3 210/210 221,661 running 1

4 Talladega 19 2 188/188 216,461 running 6

5 Lowe’s 2 14 337/337 167,586 Running 95

2006

1 Loudon 7 39 233/300 115,911 running 0

2 Dover 18 13 399/400 119,861 running 0

3 Kansas 3 14 267/267 141,486 running 105

4 Talladega 3 24 187/188 120,086 crash 6

5 Charlotte 10 2 334/334 221,511 running 72

6 Martinsville 9 1 500/500 191,886 running 245

7 Atlanta 3 2 325/325 251,686 running 27

8 Fort Worth 5 2 339/339 364,236 running 1

9 Phoenix 29 2 312/312 183,275 running 28

10 Homestead 15 9 268/268 119,986 running 2

2005

1 Loudon 10 8 300/300 127,141 running 0

2 Dover 5 1 404/404 296,641 running 134

3 Talladega 9 31 158/190 121,366 running 3

4 Kansas 22 6 267/267 150,816 running 1

5 Charlotte 3 1 336/336 264,991 running 13

6 Martinsville 6 3 500/500 136,441 running 0

7 Atlanta 12 16 325/325 135,341 running 0

8 Fort Worth 11 5 334/334 201,866 running 2

9 Phoenix 2 7 312/312 126,541 running 0

10 Homestead 32 40 124/267 107,066 crash 0

2004

1 Loudon 2 11 300/300 86,800 running 3

2 Dover 9 10 399/400 86,415 running 0

3 Talladega 16 37 157/188 81,150 engine 35

4 Kansas 4 32 239/267 65,200 crash 0

5 Charlotte 9 1 334/334 191,450 running 35

6 Martinsville 18 1 500/500 157,440 running 67

7 Atlanta 8 1 325/325 298,250 running 17

8 Phoenix 13 6 315/315 96,225 running 0

9 Darlington 4 1 367/367 269,675 running 124

10 Homestead 39 2 271/271 231,705 running 0

JOHNSON’S 2007 REGULAR SEASON RECORD

Race Site St Fin Laps Status Led

1 Daytona 21 39 173/202 crash 0

2 Fontana 23 3 250/250 running 31

3 Las Vegas 23 1 267/267 running 89

4 Atlanta 3 1 267/267 running 135

5 Bristol 6 16 503/504 running 0

6 Martinsville 20 1 500/500 running 113

7 Texas 3 38 260/334 running 0

8 Phoenix 5 4 312/312 running 0

9 Talladega 8 2 192/192 running 12

10 Richmond 4 1 400/400 running 105

11 Darlington 12 3 367/367 running 44

12 Lowe’s 21 10 400/400 running 83

13 Dover 27 15 399/400 running 0

14 Pocono 7 42 97/106 running 0

15 Michigan 2 19 199/200 running 56

16 Infineon 42 17 110/110 running 1

17 New Hampshire 10 5 300/300 running 12

18 Daytona 4 10 160/160 running 0

19 Chicagoland 8 37 222/267 crash 82

20 Indianapolis 19 39 59/160 crash 0

21 Pocono 7 5 200/200 running 0

22 Watkins Glen 7 3 90/90 running 0

23 Michigan 7 3 203/203 running 15

24 Bristol 9 21 499/500 running 0

25 California 2 1 250/250 running 84

26 Richmond 1 1 400/400 running 104

No. 48 AT-TRACK CREW LIST

Name Shop Job Track Job Original Hometown

Knaus, Chad Crew Chief 48 Crew Chief 48 Rockford, Ill.

Anderson, Pamela N/A Scorer 48 Chilhowie, Va.

Bosserman, Todd Shock Specialist 48 Shock Specialist 48 Waynesboro, Va.

Claridge, Joe Mechanic Mechanic Barrington, N.H.

Clark, Matt Pit Crew Coach Pit Crew Coach North Haven, Conn.

Emerick, Danny Engine Tuner Engine Tuner 48 Bryn Mawr, Pa.

Evans, Brandon Engineer Engineer South Hill, Va.

Gray, Jason Truck Driver 48 Truck Driver 48 Concord, N.C.

Gutierrez, Rich Mechanic Gas Man 48 Yorba Linda, Calif.

Ives, Greg Race Engineer Race Engineer 48 Bark River, Mich.

Kerlin, Sean Mechanic Tire Specialist 48 Marysville, Pa.

Knauer, Mike Mechanic Catch Can 48 Cambridge, Md.

Ladyga, Tim Mechanic Rear Tire Changer 48 Norwich, Conn.

Malec, Ron Mechanic Car Chief 48/Rear Tire Carrier 48 Franklin, Wis.

Puchalski, Marc Mechanic 48 Mechanic 48 San Jose, Calif.

Purcell, Kenneth Mechanic Jackman Savannah, Ga.

Reeves, Stevie Machinist Spotter 48 Speedway, Ind.

Rowe, Tony N/A Spotter/2nd Gas Man Wood River, Ill.

Simmons, Art Chassis Set Up Tire Carrier Kirksville, Mo.

Trower, Mike N/A Front Tire Changer Waterloo, Iowa.