Crew Chief Corner: California

Returning to California Speedway as defending champions has a great ring to it, and one that we plan on coming back with next season, too.

	Chad Knaus

California Speedway is a special place for Team Lowe's. It is the location where this team captured its first victory and a place that really launched the team to the next level, putting us on everyone's radar as a contending team.

In addition to our race win at California last season, California Speedway is the Winston Cup racetrack closest to where Jimmie Johnson grew up in El Cajon, Calif. Team Lowe's will have a lot of fans in the stands cheering us on to victory come Sunday.

Giving you some insight into our race plans this weekend isn't very hard to do. Just like last season, we plan to have a strong qualifying run and start near the front of the field. We plan to run up front, stay out of trouble and put ourselves into position to be there for the last run for the win. Come to think of it, this is really our game plan each week, but one we were able to work to perfection the last time we were at California.

One thing to keep in mind for Team Lowe's this weekend: We will not have the same Lowe's Chevy that we took to victory lane at California last year. Because of the new 2003 body style and NASCAR's new rules package, we will be using the same Chevy that we ran in Las Vegas. If you remember, this is a race car that we ran very well in, and one that we feel will give us the best opportunity to win on Sunday.