Viewer's Guide: Sonoma

Jimmie Johnson admits that this weekend's trip to Daytona International Speedway for Saturday's Pepsi 400 (7:30 p.m. Sat., FOX) will be a little bit different.

After all, he's now a Daytona 500 champion.

	Inside the Numbers Jimmie Johnson's record in restrictor-plate races Starts 18 Wins 2 Top-5s 7 Top-10s 10 Poles 2 Laps Led 216 Avg. Start 8.0 Avg. Finish 13.8 NOTE: Johnson's two wins have come in the two most recent restrictor-plate races.

"Not only the 500 champion but we've won both plate races," said Johnson, who also won at Talladega earlier this season. "We feel great about our plate program and feel very confident in driving the car. It's what I've been looking for so I am definitely excited for the 400 coming up."

So far this season, Johnson has seemed to follow the same pattern he has for the past few years, that is to say he's gotten off to a quick start and has a healthy point lead heading into the season's traditional halfway point. However, in none of the previous cases has it resulted in a championship.

Johnson seems aware of the issue, but says he hopes for a slight change in luck this time around.

"The crazy thing is that none of us can plan on when we're going to peak," Johnson said. "So you just kind of roll the dice. We've been known to peak early and then again late. But it's been a little too late. Hopefully we can adjust that around a little bit and peak at the right time."

That's not to say Johnson doesn't hope his good fortune continues Saturday night -- even if he won't be running the same car he won the 500 with since it's currently on display at Daytona USA.

"We don't have the car that won the 500 but we have the car that won at Talladega," Johnson said. "I think our day setup will work really well for the night race.

"The thing I have learned in restrictor-plate races is patience," he said. "That has worked twice this year and I hope it works again Saturday night."

A reminder that Saturday's Pepsi 400 is the final NASCAR telecast for FOX this season. The NBC/TNT crew takes over beginning next week at Chicagoland.

Jamie McMurray, Jason Leffler, Kasey Kahne and Casey Mears are among the scheduled guests for this week's edition of Trackside from Daytona.(11:30 p.m. ET Fri., SPEED).

The ratings news was OK for FOX last week at Sonoma. The network's coverage of last Sunday's Dodge/Save Mart 350 drew a 4.6 overnight rating and a 10 share, matching what the race earned one year ago.

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On to this weekend's busy schedule:

Nextel Cup Series: Pepsi 400

Track: Daytona International Speedway
• 2.5-mile oval
• 31-degree banking in turns
• 18-degree banking in tri-oval
• 3-degree banking on straights
• Length of frontstretch: 3,800 feet
• Length of backstretch: 3,400 feet

Race length: 160 laps/400 miles

TV schedule: (All times ET)
• NASCAR Live: 3:30, 7 p.m. Fri.., SPEED
• Bud Pole Qualifying: 4:30 p.m. Fri. SPEED
• Trackside: 11:30 p.m. Fri., (tape), SPEED
• NASCAR Live: 10:30 a.m. Sat.., SPEED
• NASCAR Raceday: 6 p.m. Sat., SPEED
• Pre-race: 7:30 p.m. Sat., FOX
• Race: 7:55 p.m. Sat., FOX

2005 FlashbackReview Stewart's wet and wild win at Daytona Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

One year ago, Tony Stewart dominated the rain-delayed Pepsi 400, but still needed a dramatic four-wide pass to move to the front, then pulled away on a restart with nine laps left to seal his first Nextel Cup victory in 14 previous starts at Daytona.

The most recent checkered flag went to Jeff Gordon, who cruised to his ninth career road-course victory and first win of the season Sunday in the Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway. With the win, Gordon moved into the top 10 in the Nextel Cup standings.

Keep an eye on Gordon. He has 11 restrictor-plate victories, only one less than the record 12 rung up by Dale Earnhardt. Gordon's victory on Sunday was the 74th of his Cup career. That is the seventh-best total all-time and only two behind Earnhardt's 76.

Busch Series: Winn-Dixie 250

Track: Daytona International Speedway
• 2.5-mile oval
• 31-degree banking in turns
• 18-degree banking in tri-oval
• 3-degree banking on straights
• Length of frontstretch: 3,800 feet
• Length of backstretch: 3,400 feet

Race length: 100 laps/250 miles

TV schedule: (All times ET)

• Practice: 5 p.m. Thurs., SPEED
• Race: 7:30 p.m. Sat., FX

2005 FlashbackSee Truex Jr. take the checkers at Daytona Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

One year ago, Martin Truex Jr. passed Kevin Harvick with four laps remaining and held on after a late restart to win.

The most recent checkered flag went to Paul Menard, held off a physical charge from Kevin Harvick and survived a green-white-checkered finish to capture his first career Busch Series victory Saturday in the AT&T 250 at The Milwaukee Mile.

Keep an eye on Truex, who will fill in for the injured Mark McFarland in Friday night's race. Truex won the most recent Busch Series restrictor-plate race earlier this year at Talladega.

Craftsman Truck Series: O'Reilly Auto Parts 250

Track: Kansas Speedway
• 1.5-mile oval
• 15-degree banking in turns
• 10.4 degree banking on frontstretch
• 5-degree banking of backstretch
• Length of frontstretch: 2,685 feet
• Length of backstretch: 2,207 feet

Race length: 200 laps/200 miles

TV schedule (All times ET)

• Race: 3 p.m. Sat., SPEED

2005 FlashbackWatch Bodine take another victory at Kansas Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

One year ago, Todd Bodine withstood a series of late restarts, then pulled away from the pack in a three-lap shootout to win

The most recent checkered flag went to Johnny Benson, who took the lead late and pulled away from a dominant Ron Hornaday on the final restart to win the Toyota Tundra 200 on Friday at the Milwaukee Mile. It was his second Craftsman Truck Series victory in a row.

Keep an eye on Mike Bliss. Bliss won at Kansas in 2002, the same year he won the series title. This year, Bliss climbed to sixth place in series standings at Milwaukee last weekend with his eighth top-10 finish of the year.