PERSONAL PROFILE
	Hometown: El Cajon, CA Birthdate: September 17, 1975 Hobbies: Watersports

Jimmie Johnson was the third man in the 2000 Busch Series rookie invasion, but he had an impressive enough rookie season to end it with a Hendrick Motorsports contract to compete in the Winston Cup Series in 2002. Johnson, a former off-road racer, started 31 races and finished 10th in the point standings with six top-10 finishes.

Even though Johnson's consistency was what earned him his point position, with 24 top-25 finishes and an average finish of 20th, the enduring image of him from 2000 is his crash through the Styrofoam blocks at Watkins Glen after a Turn 1 brake failure. Due to the great seasons by fellow rookies Kevin Harvick and Ron Hornaday, Johnson finished only third in the rookie of the year standings.

Johnson started a career-best fourth at the second Darlington event and capped only his third season in stock cars off with a career-best sixth place finish at Homestead. Johnson, an off-road racer who won championships in the Mickey Thompson Stadium Championship from 1992-94, won the ASA ACDelco Challenge Series Rookie of the Year Award in 1998 and had made less than 100 stock car starts in his career heading into the 2001 season, when he will continue to drive for Herzog Motorsports.