NASCAR Cup
Rockingham: Jimmie Johnson qualifying press conference
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo - qualifies 11th - fastest qualifying rookie Press Conference "We tested here and knew we had a set-up that fit my driving style. We chose to follow how the No. 24 car was set-up. In practice, we ...
Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo - qualifies 11th - fastest qualifying rookie
Press Conference
"We tested here and knew we had a set-up that fit my driving style. We chose to follow how the No. 24 car was set-up. In practice, we were decent but we felt another package had a little bit more to it. We had tested here with it and so we decided to put it in and see if we could do any better. The way the tires fall off here, it was hard to know if it made it better or not. The track conditions were very similar with the temperature and all. So we tried it and the car was really good. I was conservative on my first lap. I wanted to make sure I had had a starting spot in this race. We stepped it up for the second lap.
After winning the pole for the Daytona 500, did you have any aspirations of back-to-back poles?
"Realistically, no. Daytona was everything to do with Chad Knaus (crew chief) and Hendrick Motorsports and that whole No. 48 team. I'm very happy with the qualifying effort here. The driver plays a much bigger part in how the car performs at all these other tracks outside of superspeedways. So it makes me feel better about my abilities in the start of the season. We'll get some more experience tomorrow and I'm excited about the race."
What is the culture shock been like with the media between the Busch Series and the Winston Cup Series
"It's an amazing difference just to put Winston Cup in front of your name instead of Busch Grand National driver. It makes a huge difference. There's been a big change since Daytona. There was a lot of excitement there. You can't even walk down pit road to your racecar without a sea of people. It's a lot different and it actually adds a lot of stress and pressure to you because you can feel want you for autographs and photos and all. You want to be nice to everyone, but at the same time you need to get in that racecar and do your job. It's really hard to stay focused. It seems like the fans and the media give you some space and I've been appreciative of that. I'm looking forward to walking out to pit road and hopping in the car and put the window net up and my helmet on and just sit there to have some time to myself to drive a lap and get recalibrated and back to the racing."
-tmc-
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article BUSCH: Las Vegas to honor military
Next article SBRS: Barber graduates at Rockingham
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"
Jimmie Johnson explains why the time was right for Legacy to add a third car full time
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Jimmie Johnson explains why the time was right for Legacy to add a third car full time
Why the 2027 Daytona 500 is the end of a road for Jimmie Johnson
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Daytona 500
Why the 2027 Daytona 500 is the end of a road for Jimmie Johnson
More from
Hendrick Motorsports
Winners and losers from the penultimate round of 2026 NASCAR Cup season at Martinsville
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
Winners and losers from the penultimate round of 2026 NASCAR Cup season at Martinsville
Official race results: NASCAR Cup Martinsville Chase race
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
Official race results: NASCAR Cup Martinsville Chase race
William Byron ends NASCAR Cup win drought as Kyle Larson denied early title clinch
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
William Byron ends NASCAR Cup win drought as Kyle Larson denied early title clinch
Latest news
Why Max Verstappen ended F1 practice early in Brazil – Red Bull explains
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
2 min
Why Max Verstappen ended F1 practice early in Brazil – Red Bull explains
F1 Brazil GP: Saturday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
29 min
F1 Brazil GP: Saturday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
McLaren’s upgrade is "a pleasant surprise" – but will it stay on the car in Brazil?
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
45 min
McLaren’s upgrade is "a pleasant surprise" – but will it stay on the car in Brazil?
Justin Allgaier retired and unretired without telling anyone
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Homestead-Miami
51 min
Justin Allgaier retired and unretired without telling anyone
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe