Johnson's Daytona Diary: Friday

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Valentine's Day at Daytona was more about sun and fun than the heat of competition for Jimmie Johnson. After finishing fourth in his first career start in the International Race of Champions series, Johnson headed for Orlando for a day at Universal Studios with his girlfriend.

Friday, February 14

7 a.m. Woke up

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7:30 a.m. Showered and got ready for the track

8 a.m. Left for the track

8:30 a.m. Arrived at the track

9 a.m. IROC driver's meeting

9:30 - 10:20 a.m. Winston Cup practice

"I felt like we had a really good Chevy. Chad and the guys have a done a great job of freeing the race car up and that is helping me control the race car on both the low and high lines.

"The Lowe's Chevy posted the fastest time in practice, but again, that only looks good on paper. Handling and having teammates or drafting partners with you will be the key to success."

10:25 a.m. Conducted a few impromptu interviews with the local media

10:30 a.m. Changed into IROC drivers suit

10:45 a.m. Met with the other IROC drivers at the IROC garage

10:50 a.m. Walked to pit road for the start of the race

10:55 a.m. Got into my No. 4 IROC race car

11:05 a.m. Started the race (40 laps)

11:06 a.m. Led the second lap of the race

11:06 - 11:45 a.m. Had an absolute blast racing my tail off and finished fourth

"I had a great time racing against some of the best drivers in the world. As you will see on ESPN2 tomorrow night, there was a lot of bump drafting going on. For my first IROC race I learned a lot about how the racecar will handle and what I can and can't do with it.

"The last couple of races at Daytona, especially this week in the Bud Shootout, Gatorade 125 and in the IROC race, I worked myself into a position to contend for the win or take the lead with 2/3 of the race complete. When I made my move, I hung myself out and lost some hard earned positions.

"Hopefully, I've learned from those mistakes and won't make the same mistake on Sunday. I just have a hard time not competing for the lead or win. I need to learn to relax, sit back and not be too aggressive. I need to wait a little longer and make sure I've got reliable drafting partners working with me."

11:50 a.m. Completed the race and conducted interviews

12:15 a.m. Changed into street clothes

12:45 a.m. Showered and got ready to leave

1:15 p.m. Left for the Orlando airport

1:45 p.m. Arrived at the airport

2 p.m. Picked up my girlfriend

3 p.m. Arrived at Universal Studios

"We decided to go to Universal Studios for the afternoon and enjoy the park with some friends. I can't tell you what a great time we had. It's been a while since I've gone on roller coasters and there were some really cool rides there.

"The Hulk and Spiderman were a couple of our favorites. It was fun to get away for a while and just relax. If there is one thing I learned from last season, it is take time to enjoy things and keep yourself mentally fresh or you will get burned out."

5:45 p.m. Showered and got ready for dinner

7:30 p.m. Had dinner at a great restaurant near Orlando

10 p.m. Started back to Daytona Beach

10:30 p.m. Arrived back at condo

11 p.m. Bedtime