Jimmie Johnson heads to the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. following two days of Jimmie Johnson Foundation activities in his hometown. (Full recap of week’s activities to follow)

SPECIAL PAINT SCHEMES:

Johnson will pilot the No. 48 Lowe’s/ Jimmie Johnson Foundation Impala SS in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event and the No. 5 Lowe’s/ Jimmie Johnson Foundation Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the Nationwide Series race.

HELMET OF HOPE:

The two-time, reigning Sprint Cup Series champion will wear the Helmet of Hope in Sunday’s Sprint Cup event. The race helmet was part of a new Jimmie Johnson Foundation Initiative, which allowed race fans and members of the media to nominated charities they felt should be recognized. Twelve charities were selected to adorn the helmet, which will be auctioned off during Tuesday night’s dinner auction.

CALIFORNIA HIGHLIGHTS:

· Johnson picked up his first career Sprint Cup Series win at Auto Club Speedway on April 4, 2002.

· He has collected more points at the southern-California track in the last 10 races than any other driver.

· Johnson has finished in the top-five seven times in 11 starts.

· His lowest finish is 16th.

· He has an average finish of 6.4 at the two-mile oval.

· The two-time Sprint Cup Champion has completed 100% of the competitions laps since he began competing there in 2002 (2755 of 2755 laps).

JOHNSON QUOTES:

ON MAKING A STOP IN SAN DIEGO FOR JIMMIE JOHNSON FOUNDATION EVENTS ON THE WAY TO FONTANA: “The Jimmie Johnson Foundation, we have an annual golf tournament that's taking place tomorrow, Wednesday out here. Today (Tuesday) is a special day for us. We are heading out to the build site where we are building four homes with Habitat For Humanity through the Jimmie Johnson Foundation.

“It's an exciting day. My wife and I are all dressed up and ready to have a good day today and then we have dinner tonight with some auction stuff that's going on, a lot of people are participating and I want to thank them for that. And that helmet will be auctioned off tonight and I will be wearing that on Sunday afternoon.”

From a driver's perspective any thoughts on the shuffle between Atlanta, Fontana and Talladega, is that a positive or negative for you?: “I don't see it being a problem for us. All of the tracks are good for the 48. When I heard of the changes, I understood with the weather and things like that how they would make the change.

So I don't see any big impact on myself. I think that it's going to be nice for the California fans to have a race a few months later so the climate is better and things like that and the Atlanta race, it will certainly be hotter and hopefully we won't have any weather.”

RACE NOTES – SPRINT CUP

Auto Club Speedway

Johnson has made 11 Cup Series starts at Auto Club Speedway, posting seven top-five and seven top-10 finishes. He has won two pole positions there – April 2002 and Sept. 2007 Johnson has completed 100% (2755 of 2755) of competition laps at his home track and has led 295. Johnson has an average start and finish of 10.6 and 6.4.

Chassis

Johnson last drove this weekend’s primary chassis, No. 504, to victory lane at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August. He also finished sixth in it at Pocono Raceway in June. He started on the pole at Indy and second at Pocono. Johnson qualified first and finished third in the backup chassis (No. 502) at Pocono Raceway in August.

CAREER NOTES – SPRINT CUP

Career Wins

Johnson has 35 wins in his Sprint Cup Series career. Johnson’s most recent victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 27, 2008) moved the reigning champion into a tie with Mark Martin for both 17th-place on NASCAR’s all-time wins list and the third-highest win total among active drivers, behind Jeff Gordon (81) and Bill Elliott (44). 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 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 was 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.

Career Poles

Johnson has two poles at Auto Club Speedway – April 2002 and Sept. 2007. Johnson has collected 16 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 Aug. 3 event at Pocono Raceway.

Career Starts

Johnson has finished in the top five in the Sprint Cup Series point standings each year since his first full season in 2002. In 243 Sprint Cup Series starts, Johnson has posted 93 top five and 146 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 6,222 laps (of 69,629) in his Sprint Cup career, covering 93,470 miles. He has finished on the lead lap 185 times.

RACE NOTES – NATIONWIDE

Auto Club Speedway

Johnson has made five Nationwide Series starts at Auto Club Speedway, collecting one top-five finish. He has completed 99.7% of competition laps (748 of 750) and has an average start and finish of 22.8 and 13.4. Chassis

Johnson will be piloting JR Motorsports’ chassis No. 295 in Saturday’s Nationwide Series event. Landon Cassill last drove that chassis to a ninth-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway in June. History

In 89 Nationwide Series starts, Johnson has posted one win (Chicago 2001), eight top fives and 23 top-10 finishes. He also has two pole positions.