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 number of all-star wins.

Johnson has been the car 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 all 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 BURNOUT 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 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (March 2008).

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 collected 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 over 88,532 miles. He has finished on the lead lap 175 times.