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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
ALL-STAR: Home Sweet Home - Jimmie Johnson
NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson is a winning machine at Charlotte Motor Speedway...
Jared Turner  |  Posted May 17, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Jimmie Johnson with his winning check for the 2003 NASCAR Sprint All-Star race. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Impala
First All-Star start: 5/18/2002
Best finish: 1st (2003, 2006)
How he made the race: All-Star winner and series champion in last 10 years

Editor’s note: Eighteen drivers are guaranteed to start in the May 22 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, which will be televised live on SPEED, starting at 7 pm Eastern. Following is profile number 15 of 18 of those drivers locked into the field.

No active NASCAR Sprint Cup driver brings a more impressive resume to Charlotte Motor Speedway than Jimmie Johnson.

There’s no reason to believe Johnson can’t pad that resume a little more in Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star Race (Live! on SPEED, 7 pm ET).

Enjoying yet another superb season in his bid for an unprecedented fifth straight Cup title, Johnson rolls into CMS as the most recent winner at the 1.5-mile track, and looking for a little vengeance after a pit-road speeding penalty cost him a likely victory on Sunday at Dover.

Like so many stops on the Cup tour, Charlotte has been incredibly generous to Johnson since he joined NASCAR's top series in 2002. He has two All-Star wins and a pole over eight starts in the prestigious exhibition event while finishing outside the top 10 just twice.

Johnson has been perhaps even more impressive in the track’s two annual points races; scoring six wins, four poles and 13 top-10s in 17 starts.

The most recent of those victories came last fall when Johnson led 92 laps en route to a convincing triumph that proved key to his title run.

Will the Johnson juggernaut continue at CMS in this weekend’s 26th edition of the All-Star Race? Don’t bet against it.
Jimmie Johnson grabbed another million for winning the 2006 NASCAR Sprint All-Star race. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

“We've taken a lot of pride in the years to run well here in everyone's backyard,” the Hendrick Motorsports driver said, referring to the track’s location within just a few minutes of most teams’ shops. “ … We've always been able to look at this track and feel like we can come here and run well. We've been competitive.”

Johnson gets especially motivated for the All-Star Race, which will award a tad over $1 million in winner’s earnings again this year.

“When you win that race, we all look at the purse that we win week in and week out, it's part of our income and it's a huge part of our income,” the four-time and defending series champion said. “You can really change and make it a very successful year in earnings either by winning the Daytona 500 or the All-Star Race. They both pay a million dollars to the winner. It's a really cool feeling once you do it and you leave and you get home and start thinking about raising that bottom line at year's end. It makes a huge difference."

For all of his All-Star success, Johnson has also endured some disappointments.

One came last season when he started from the pole and led all 50 laps of the opening segment before being getting shuffled back on pit road.

Running fifth at the start of the final 10-lap segment, Johnson spun after a tap from Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin. Despite escaping with no real damage, Johnson had to settle for 13th.

The El Cajon, Calif., native knows that the potential for trouble is always elevated in the All-Star Race because of the dearth of points but lucrative payout.

“The fact that you know there aren't any points, you take a lot of extra risks,” Johnson said. “I think some finishes have shown the risks and then others have been more of a runaway and maybe you could argue this point. Having it be a situation with less pressure, you can take more risks and just makes it more exciting from the driver's standpoint and makes it more entertaining from our standpoint.”

After winning three of the season’s first five races and taking the early points lead, Johnson has cooled off a bit in recent weeks – failing to win since Bristol on March 21 and falling to fourth in the standings.

But the All-Star Race, and the following weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, should provide a nice remedy for driver No. 48.

“It is a great race and I've been able to win it a couple times and would love to win it again,” Johnson said.

2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star Week • The Stars Come Out. The Gloves Come Off. • Saturday, May 22nd at 7 pm ET
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