Looking ahead

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, stands on pit road during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 21, 2012 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, stands on pit road during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 21, 2012 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)

LOUDON, N.H. — Most Chase contenders are focused on the one-mile flat track at Loudon, but Jimmie Johnson took a moment to reflect on the third race track in the Chase, one-mile, high-banked concrete Dover.

If Johnson looks on Dover more fondly than most other drivers do, there’s a reason. The five-time Cup champion is a seven-time winner at the Monster Mile, with a record that includes victories at Chase races there in 2005, 2009 and 2010. Johnson also won the spring race at Dover this year and expects to run the same car in the Sept. 30 AAA 400.

“So far it’s been a great track for us,” Johnson said. “If we can run up front and kind of control the race and control who we are racing around, I feel like we can make up a lot or hopefully distance ourselves.

“I want to come out of (New Hampshire) with the points lead, and hopefully we can distance ourselves from the guys.”

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.