Johnson's car to be 'Powered by Dads' for Prelude

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 4, 2010) -- Lowe's and Jimmie Johnson announced that the dirt Late Model stock car driven by Johnson in the Prelude to the Dream on June 9 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, will serve as a tribute to dads in the weeks leading up to Father's Day. Johnson will drive the No. 48 Lowe's/Powered By Dads Chevrolet in the all-star dirt Late Model race, and it will feature the names of 480 lucky dads, including Johnson's father, Gary. "Tony (Stewart) has really done a great job with this race and it's for a good cause so how could you not want to be a part of it," said Johnson, four-time, reigning Sprint Cup champion. "I really like what we did with the car in honor of Father's Day. I know there were a lot of neat stories that went with most of the nominations. I've really enjoyed being a part of the event the last few years and am hoping we can improve on our top-10 finish last year. I don't know if the fact that we're 'powered by dad' will help, but I sure know it can't hurt." A complete list of the 480 dads' names featured on the car will be available for viewing on Friday, June 4 by visiting Lowe's page on Facebook and Lowesracing.com. In addition, an interactive photo of the car with search capabilities will allow people to find their dad's name on Johnson's car at lowesracing.com. This will mark the third consecutive year that Johnson has participated in the race and in a car fielded by fellow Sprint Cup driver Clint Bowyer. In 2009 Johnson won his heat race and went on to finish 10th in the event. He finished eighth in 2008. Net proceeds from this year's HBO Pay-Per-View® event will benefit four children's hospitals: •Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis •Cincinnati Children’s •Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, N.C. •St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. The sixth annual event will be headlined by four-time Sprint Cup champions Johnson and Jeff Gordon, as well as Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano. All will join Tony Stewart, the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and owner of Eldora Speedway, and many others. All will pilot 2,300-pound dirt Late Model stock cars capable of putting out over 800 horsepower. The live, commercial-free broadcast will begin at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT) with an immediate replay. HBO Pay-Per-View’s racing telecast has a suggested retail price of $24.95 and is available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming in the pay-per-view industry. Ordering information and up-to-the minute racing information is available at either www.PreludeToTheDream.org or www.HBO.com. And beyond the new charity element, this year’s Prelude to the Dream will be a team event. There still will be an individual race winner, but there now will be a race within the race, with the field broken up into four teams, each representing a children’s hospital: •Team Riley: Bowyer (captain), Ryan Newman, J. Gordon, Brian Vickers, A.J. Allmendinger, Kenny Wallace and Ron Capps. •Team Cincinnati: Kahne (captain), Logano, Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Bill Elliott and Cruz Pedregon. •Team Levine: Busch (captain), Johnson, Kenseth, David Reutimann, Dave Blaney and Marcos Ambrose. •Team St. Jude: Hamlin (captain), Edwards, Robby Gordon, Ken Schrader, Aric Almirola, Ricky Carmichael and Ray Evernham. Each hospital will receive a donation, with the payout breakdown as follows: •Winning team receives 45 percent of net money raised. •Second-place team receives 25 percent of net money raised. •Third- and fourth-place teams each receive 15 percent of net money raised. The lowest team score wins, and only the top-five drivers from each team will be scored. For example, if Team Riley has finishes of first, fourth, seventh, 11th and 18th, respectively, from its top-five drivers, its score will be 41. In the event of a tie, the sixth driver will be scored. The four charities – Riley Hospital for Children, Cincinnati Children’s, Levine Children’s Hospital and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – all cater to the medical needs of children.