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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Johnson, Lowe’s Re-Up With Hendrick
Jimmie Johnson will remain at Hendrick Motorsports through 2015...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted November 20, 2009   Homestead, FL
Jimmie Johnson and Lowe's announced Friday that they will continue their relationship with Hendrick Motorsports. Lowe's for three years and Johnson for five. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Jimmie Johnson said Thursday that Hendrick Motorsports is his home. And on Friday, the team announced Hendrick will be his home for at least six more seasons.
Jimmie Johnson and Lowe's announced Friday that they will continue their relationship with Hendrick Motorsports. Lowe's for three years and Johnson for five. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Hendrick officials said Friday that Johnson has signed a five-year contract extension that will keep him in the seat of the No. 48 Chevrolet Impala SS through the end of the 2015 season, while Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe's Cos. Inc. has signed on as Johnson’s primary sponsor through 2013.

“I've wanted my whole life to be able — to be a champion, to compete against the best drivers in the world,” Johnson said Thursday during a press conference in Coral Gables, Fla. “With what we have going on in our sport, the competition, I don't see where else there is to race. You know, this is it. This is home. Hendrick Motorsports is home.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. But given Johnson’s phenomenal success since he began racing full-time in the Sprint Cup Series in 2002, it’s surely a substantial commitment for all parties involved.

And Johnson clearly likes it where he’s at right now. “Racing's it. It's all I've ever done,” he said. “I'm glad it's worked out because I don't know what the hell I'd be doing otherwise. I'm finally good at it, and I want to keep it up, I want to keep it going. “

As a team Hendrick Motorsports has enjoyed a record season, with drivers Johnson, Martin and Jeff Gordon 1-2-3 in points heading into Sunday’s season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Gordon leads fourth-place Kurt Busch by 42 points and if he can hold Busch off, it will be the first time one team owner has swept the top three positions in points in a single Sprint Cup season. Hendrick Motorsports has nine Cup championships as a team now, tying it with Petty Enterprises on NASCAR’s all-time title list.

“I would have to say this is probably as good as it gets,” said team owner Rick Hendrick. “You know, to have the three cars in the points where they are right now, having the championship as owner going into Homestead already secured, we've won a lot of races, and this has got to be as good as any season we've ever had.”

Since his first full-time Sprint Cup season in 2002, Johnson has earned a series-leading 47 victories and only twice has finished outside the top two in championship points. Of the 16 NASCAR drivers who have recorded 40 or more wins, just three — Herb Thomas, David Pearson and Richard Petty — have higher career winning percentages.

Through 35 of 36 races in 2009, the No. 48 Lowe's team led by crew chief Chad Knaus has posted 15 top-five finishes, 23 top-10s and a series-high seven wins. Johnson leads the championship standings with a 108-point margin over teammate Martin going into Sunday's season finale. He will clinch his record fourth consecutive championship if he finishes 25th or better in the Ford 400.

“Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports are a key part of our marketing efforts and outreach to our more than 225,000 employees,” said Robert A. Niblock, Lowe's chairman and CEO. “We believe this is the best combination in racing, and we're proud to have Jimmie carry the Lowe's name in NASCAR.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED, and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com! Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to



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