Car: #48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet
Drives for: Hendrick Motorsports
Crew chief: Chad Knaus
Born: September 17, 1975; El Cajon, CA
Teammates: Jeff Gordon (24), Mark Martin (5), Dale Earnhardt Jr.(88)
Marital status: Married; Chandra Johnson

Career highlights: Johnson is a popular driver and one of the most consistent in the Sprint Cup Series. He has never finished lower than fifth in the points standings, and was runner-up twice, in 2003 and 2004.

In 2006, he captured his first Daytona 500, but the win was not without controversy. Earlier in the week, his crew chief, Chad Knaus, had been sent home by NASCAR for an intentional rules infraction, and was later suspended for three races. Johnson’s winning car passed post-race inspection, but there was much grumbling about whether or not Johnson and his team were cheating.

• Johnson began his career in off-road racing, and moved up to the Busch Series in 1998, where he ran three races. He became a full-time Busch Series driver in 2000, and finished 10th in the points standings.

• In 2002, Johnson moved up to the Cup Series driving for owner Rick Hendrick, and had immediate success, winning the pole for the Daytona 500, winning three races, becoming the first rookie in the Cup series to sweep both races at a track, and becoming the only rookie to ever lead the points standings, finishing fifth in points for the season.

• Johnson won another three times in 2003, and finished second to Matt Kenseth for the championship.

• In 2004, Johnson got off to a slow start but finished with a fury, winning eight races and losing the inaugural Chase for the Championship to Kurt Busch by just 8 points.

• Johnson had another solid year in 2005, winning four races and had a chance to win the Chase for the Championship before he crashed early in the season finale and wound up fifth in the points standings.

• Leading the standings all throughout the 2006 season except for two weeks and most of the chase, Johnson came over hardships to clinch his first Nextel Cup Championship.
  
• In 2006, Johnson opened the season with his first Daytona 500 victory, followed by a victory at Las Vegas and Talladega followed later by winning the All Star Race at Charlotte. Remaining at or near the top of the points standings all season long, Johnson became the only driver to visit victory lane at the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 and go on to win the Championship title.

• In 2007 Johnson won a series leading 10 races including four in a row near the tail end of the season. He went on to win the Championship.

• 2008 started out rocky with his only win in the first half of the season being at Phoenix and due to a fuel mileage race that took Mark Martin out of contention. However he lit up during the second half winning six races, including the brickyard 400, and won the championship over favorites Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards.

Other Information:

• Jimmie Johnson has been winning championships since the age of 8.

• Johnson started racing on 50cc motorcycles at age 4, and won the 60cc class championship four years later.

• For three consecutive years from 1992-94 Johnson won championships in the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group Stadium Racing Series. In 1993 supercross champion Rick Johnson introduced the younger Johnson to Herb Fishel, the executive director of GM Racing.

• Fisher was impressed, and Johnson began racing in off-road events and even doing color commentary for ESPN in the Short Course Off-Road Drivers Association (SODA) Series. He won championships in the SCORE Desert series in 1994 and the SODA Winter Series in '96 and '97.

• In 1998 Johnson was named American Speed Association (ASA) Pat Schauer Memorial Rookie of the Year after finishing fourth in points in just his first full season on tour. Johnson also made his Busch Series debut in 1998, starting three races with a best finish of 15th at Gateway International Speedway in October. Johnson followed a similar path in '99, placing third in the ASA points while finishing a career-best seventh (at Milwaukee) in five Busch races.

• In 2000 Johnson ran his first full Busch Series schedule. He had six top-10s and finished 10 in points. In July '01 Johnson posted his first victory, at Chicago. Johnson made his Cup debut in October 2001 for Hendrick Motorsports, finishing 15th at Lowe's. The next season Hendrick paired Johnson with aspiring owner Jeff Gordon, who was coming off his fourth Cup title.

• The Gordon magic seemed to rub off on the 2002 rookie. In May, Johnson posted the first Cup victory of his career, at Lowe's, and finished the season with three wins, six top-fives and 21 top-10s in 36 races. He finished fifth in points.

• Johnson became the only driver to finish in the top five in the standings in his first five full seasons.

• Johnson is the only driver in the modern era to win at least three races in each of his first five full-time seasons.

• Johnson has recorded 20-plus top-10 finishes in all four of his Cup seasons, and in 2004 he had a season-high eight wins with 20 top-fives and 23 top-10s. He won four of the final six races that season but lost the title by eight points.