The San Diego State Aztecs will play the Colorado State Rams in the quarterfinals

Jimmie Johnson Blog by Gary Heinlein IMD jjchevy.com

The San Diego State Aztecs will play against Colorado State Rams in the quarterfinals of the 11th annual Mountain West Conference Tournament today at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. SDSU is the fourth seed in this year’s tournament and they have won the tournament two previous times.

The Aztecs had a successful season with a 22-8 record and an 11-5 mark in league action. Kawhi Leonard and Malcolm Thomas are two key players to watch in today’s game for the Aztecs. Kawhi Leonard was named the top freshman in the Mountain West Conference this season.

The Colorado State Rams are seeded fifth in the tournament and the winner of this contest will play against the winner of the Air Force/New Mexico meeting in the semifinals on Friday.

Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet in San Diego would like to wish the Aztecs good luck in the game today and hopefully they will make to the finals and win the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

Enter the Fantasy Racing League and you could Race Away with $25,000

Jimmie Johnson Blog by Gary Heinlein IMD jjchevy.com

We have teamed up with Fox Ch 5 here in San Diego to bring you the Fantasy Racing League. It is quite simple and all you have to do is submit your weekly predictions of the Top Ten Finishers of the race for that week. Be sure to submit your Tie Breaker prediction, which is the average speed of the 1st place finisher in the race. After that, all you have to do is check the Leader Board on the Fox website for weekly results and season long standings.

Predict the actual Top Ten drivers (1-10) in their exact order that they finish and you will win $25,000.

The player with the best picks every week wins a FREE Oil Change from Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet

The player with the best overall picks at the end of the contest (3/7/10 – 5/30/10) wins an
FREE Oil Change
FREE Tire Rotation
Plus a $500 Voucher towards the purchase of a new or used car here at Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet

At the very end of the contest there will be One player who will be chosen by a random drawing and will win a Deluxe Flyaway Trip for 2 (two) to a select location with Hotel Accommodations (complements of FOX5).

You can check out the following link to Fox5 to sign up and to get the actual rules governing this contest and any restrictions that may apply.

Don’t Blame Jimmie Johnson because He’s so Good!

Jimmie Johnson Blog by Gary Heinlein IMD jjchevy.com

Well maybe with a 12th place finish in Atlanta yesterday the talk of Jimmie Johnson ruining the sport of NASCAR might subside for a couple of weeks. They say that all this is happening because of Jimmie Johnson’s dominance in the sport of NASCAR racing. But I would definitely have to disagree that Jimmie is ruining the sport. I think that his dominance is at a point where it is drawing new people to NASCAR. There are people watching now who never paid any attention to Stock Car racing before. His dominance is drawing publicity that is causing many to now pay attention. I have come across so many people who never followed NASCAR before until they started hearing about Jimmie Johnson.

Look at the facts; he is the first race driver ever to be selected as AP’s male Athlete of the Year. He has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated numerous times because of his dominance (without having to wear a bikini or in his case a speedo). His popularity has spilled over into other areas of the sport’s world and even into our main stream culture causing non-NASCAR fans to take notice. His dominance has drawn attention but it doesn’t hurt either that the man is good looking, (and has a great looking wife) along with a great personality that shows respect to anyone that he comes into contact with. Put all this together and you have a combination that definitely draws attention.

But here is the problem. In other sports the team that dominates usually only plays against your home town favorites a couple of times in the season. You don’t have to watch your favorite team get dominated week in and week out by the same team. In NASCAR racing the same drivers are facing each other every week and the fans of other drivers are tired of seeing their favorite drivers get beat, usually by Jimmie Johnson. They have the attitude of a kid on the play ground that says, if I can’t win then I’m going to take my ball and go home.

Jimmie Johnson and the Lowe’s 48 team have dedicated themselves to winning in their sport. They are backed by an organization, Hendrick Motorsports that has the same philosophy. Put it all together and you have a team that has dominated in its sport for the last four years and are pushing to make it five in a row. In any sport if someone is better than you then your only choice is to quit and give up or strive to get better to beat your competition. The drivers that I have met through the years are not quitters and are not giving up. They are striving to do everything possible to dethrone Jimmie’s Johnson. As a matter of fact it is not the drivers that are complaining about Jimmie’s dominance, it is the fans. They figure Jimmie Johnson should just quit being so dominant and let someone else win. Hey people that is not going to happen. Jimmie Johnson and the crew of the Lowe’s 48 have the heart of a champion and they won’t just lie down and die to please a few disgruntled fans. It’s time that the fans stay behind their favorite drivers giving them moral support. It is times like these that all the other drivers need the support of their fans.

Like Jimmie says the season is young and anything can happen. All he knows is that he will go out there and give it his all. At the end of the season if he didn’t win the crown then he knows that he and his team gave it everything they had and he will be satisfied at least for that season.

Jimmie Johnson, Cruising the Streets of San Diego

Jimmie Johnson Blog by Gary Heinlein IMD jjchevy.com

If you think that you just saw Jimmie Johnson and a big number 48 cruising by you on the streets of San Diego, you probably did. It is one of the new Part Department trucks from here at Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet in San Diego. Our Parts Department delivers wholesale and retail parts throughout the San Diego County and this new truck is part of the fleet that makes that happen.

We hear from many of our customers how they have seen our trucks out on the city streets or even the open highway. If you see one of our trucks give them a honk of your horn and a friendly wave along with a big smile. Our drivers always appreciate that. If you need parts be sure to check our parts section on our website where you can order what you need at the following link http://www.jimmiejohnsonchevrolet.com/parts/order-parts.jsp

Padres Stealing Their Way to Success on the Baseball Field

Jimmie Johnson Blog by Gary Heinlein IMD jjchevy.com

Just like Jimmie Johnson sets his strategy for the race season, the San Diego Padres are setting their strategy for this upcoming season. It’s a new season and the Padres’ strategy seems to be changing from previous years. The Padres seem to be leaning towards what is called “Small Ball”. The term basically applies to a team that counts on using bunts; base stealing, hit and run etc. In other words they count on their speed more than the power bats that will produce home runs. They will still count on the home run to win some games (hopefully with Adrian Gonzalez) but with all the speed of some of the young players, Bud Black and the rest of the coaching staff, are developing this new strategy for the 2010 season.

To help the situation along they have recruited the services of one of the best on the base paths from years past. That person is Dave Roberts “Doc” who will regularly go around to the entire Padres’ minor league clubs and work with the young players such as first-round draft pick Donavan Tate, second-round pick Everett Williams and Drew Cumberland. Roberts, who played for the Padres was brought back to fulfill a number of different roles as a special assistant.

Dave Roberts thoughts on his new role, “It’s a process, you can look on paper and see a guy with his speed and his unlimited ceiling, a Cabrera or a Durango, but it’s a process. We’re trying to get these guys to understand that. At the highest level, to steal bases at an efficient rate, the mechanics need to be there. But I can already tell that these guys are hungry. They want to get better and realize they don’t have it all figured out.”

“What’s nice for me is looking at this organization and seeing athleticism. I’ve played in Petco. They’re catering to their ballpark, putting together athletes who can back that up. The timing is right as far as the game, too, the way it’s evolved and gone back to guys not hitting the ball out of the park the way they used to.

Dave Roberts doesn’t’ like to call it “Small Ball” but instead just likes to refer to it as just “Baseball”. Whatever you call it, here at Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet we hope for the best for the San Diego Padres in this new season.

Forget the horseshoe! What is the secret to Jimmie Johnson's success?

Jimmie Johnson Blog by Gary Heinlein IMD jjchevy.com

No use in writing a blog for today when the NASCAR section of FoxNew.com said it all. Here is the article and the link for some other interesting things they had to say about what’s going on in NASCAR

Forget the horseshoe -- Want to know the secret to Jimmie Johnson's success? Look no further than the top of the pit box. Last week in Fontana, a timely pit stop was the lucky break J.J. needed to drive to Victory Lane. This week in Vegas, it was the decision to go with four tires late instead of two that was the difference. The common denominator? Chad Knaus was calling the strategy.

Rivals can moan and groan about all the timely breaks Team 48 seems to get -- particularly over the last two weeks -- but the strategy that led this group to four consecutive championships entering this season is the same one that resulted in its parking Johnson's car inside Victory Lane in Fontana and Las Vegas: Combine a great driver with a great crew chief, let them do their thing and watch as they put themselves in position to take advantage of all the racing luck available.

"If people are trying to find a way not to accept the quality of race team we have, that's cool," Johnson said. "We'll just come back this week and take the trophy again (laughter)."

Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet in San Diego would have to agree that a great driver and a great crew chief is definitely a formula for success.

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Mark Loretta, Welcome Back to the San Diego Padres

Jimmie Johnson Blog by Gary Heinlein IMD jjchevy.com

A few seasons back, Mark Loretta was a solid second baseman for the San Diego Padres. He moved on from the Padres on to various team and ended up with the LA Dodgers last season where he helped them make it into the playoffs. Mark was a fan favorite here in San Diego and many were sad to see him go. But Mark Loretta is back except this time he is not on the playing field.

Mark is now 38 years old, in very good shape, and could still be playing for the Padres or many other teams. But Mark has chosen to retire as a player and focus on the game of baseball from the front office. Loretta is now a special assistant to San Diego Padres general manager, Jed Hoyer, and will spend this season learning the inside working of a baseball executive.

"My decision to join the Padres in the front office came down to the right job opportunity at the right time, and I'm excited about learning a new role and staying in the game. My ultimate goal is simply to contribute to the Padres. Jed has said this year will just be part of a learning process and that's fine with me. That's what I want to do; to learn as much as I can.”

Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet here in San Diego would like to welcome Mark Loretta back in his new role with the San Diego Padres. We all trust that this season will be a good one and that the Padres will do well with the young players they have on the roster.