Johnson

It's the highlight of my career to come to Darlington and be this competitive. Rookies aren't supposed to run well here, and I hope we made D.W. (Darrell Waltrip) look bad. I spoke with him Friday night and he kept mentioning how Darlington Raceway is a track that favors veterans and, "come Sunday," experience at this track would make a big difference.

Well, a veteran driver did end up winning the race, but it's safe to say that youth was served during Sunday's race with two rookie drivers in the top-six.

There was a time early in the morning that I wasn't sure we'd be able to race. You could feel the humidity in the air and there was nothing but rain clouds in the sky. The NASCAR hauler, which contains a radar screen, was the busiest place in the garage Sunday morning with crew members wondering if or when the rain would come. Luckily for us, the rain hit prior to 10 a.m. and held off the rest of the afternoon.

Entering the race, I wasn't sure what to expect. We tested well at Darlington in early March. We had a good qualifying run Friday, qualifying fifth. And the No. 48 Lowe's Chevy was consistently in the top-10 in lap times for the three practice sessions last weekend. However, during 'happy hour' on Saturday, we tried a new setup to pick up our lap times, and it didn't work the way we had hoped. So, we entered Sunday's race having to revert back to our previous setup.

As always, my crew chief, Chad Knaus, and the entire Lowe's team worked their tails off during the weekend to ensure the No. 48 Chevy was prepared to race Sunday. And as always, we put on a good show for the Lowe's fans and had a lot of fun while doing it.

Right from the start, the No. 48 Lowe's car was strong. Typically it takes around 10 laps for me to settle into a rhythm and hit my marks. Well, the action at the beginning of the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 was fast and furious and I wasn't able to get into my rhythm until around lap 40, following our first pit stop as a result of the wreck involving Steve Park, Ricky Craven and Stacy Compton.

Throughout the entire race, the Lowe's car was tight throughout the corners. By midway through the race, the Lowe's crew loosened the car up in Turn 4, but we never were able to figure out how to loosen up the Lowe's Chevy in Turn 2 and that made it difficult for us to pass throughout the race.

On lap 195, the Lowe's car was nearly out of fuel and I had lost virtually all the grip on my tires. Chad called for a green flag pit stop. As soon as the jackman lifted the Lowe's Chevy to change left side tires, a caution came out as a result of a crash and we couldn't beat the race leader back to the start/finish line, so we went a lap down. This is the third time this season that a caution has been thrown while we were on pit road. We just can't catch a break on green light pit stops this season.

Over the course of the next 30 laps, I was able to remain in front of the leaders in an attempt to get out lap back. The Lowe's Chevy consistently turned fast laps, which helped us stay in front of the leaders on the restart following the caution on lap 195.

On lap 225, Team Lowe's received the break it needed, unfortunately at the expense of 10 cars in the field. Race leader Tony Stewart collided with Buckshot Jones sending Stewart head first into the wall. The collision collected the next eight cars, including my teammate, Jeff Gordon, but it opened the door for the Lowe's team. The caution flag allowed us to regain our lap and let me challenge the cars at the front of the field in hopes of another top-five finish.

The next 45 laps, fellow rookie Ryan Newman and I battled for the fifth position in the field. I was a little frustrated by not being able to pass Ryan because I knew I was turning faster lap times than him, but I just couldn't sustain the speed to get past him. My best opportunity to pass him came in Turn 1. I could have taken it two-wide there, but I haven't had much success at Darlington from my Busch Series days taking it two-wide into Turn 1. Both times I tried, I wrecked. I knew if I could just keep my cool and wait for my opportunity I would get him. Unfortunately, I ran out of laps. I'm sure we'll meet again this season and I hope I get the better of him then.

Overall, I'm very happy with our sixth-place finish. Like I wrote last week, who would have thought the No. 48 Lowe's team would be fifth in Winston Cup points. I'm extremely proud of the way the No. 48 crew has pulled together and shown that hard work and good chemistry will equal great results. We know there will be good weeks and bad weeks throughout the season, but if we stay together as a team and continue to work hard, the Lowe's Chevy will be compete each week and be near the top of the standings all season long.

Jimmie Johnson is the driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet.