It could be said Irish eyes have been smiling on Jimmie Johnson and Team Lowe’s Racing as the No. 48 team has compiled three top-10 finishes in the first three races of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. While a little Irish luck never hurt anyone, hard work and determination are the real reasons the No. 48 team has turned in consistent performances that have led to Johnson currently leading the driver’s point standings.
However, a notoriously challenging track lies ahead for Johnson as the series travels to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and the tight confines of its .533-mile high-banked concrete oval. The driver of the No. 48 Kobalt Tools Chevrolet SS has a March 2010 win at the track, which has since undergone a new configuration, but he has struggled on the track in the past.
Bristol ranks in the bottom four tracks for Johnson in NASCAR’s driver rating system. But lately, the five-time Sprint Cup champion seems to have found his groove, notching five consecutive top-10 finishes starting with his 2010 win.
With one short track in the books with the new sixth-generation car introduced at the start of the season – Phoenix International Raceway, where Johnson finished third – Bristol will provide a different kind of challenge. And while there are sure to be many race fans clad in green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day during Sunday’s Food City 500, Johnson hopes all of those “Irish” eyes will be smiling down on him in victory lane.
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