Johnson to face Schumacher in RoC

Johnson's American team have been drawn to face off against Germany, and that means Johnson will go head-to-head with Schumacher.

But rather than worry about the challenge, Johnson is relishing the opportunity to pit himself against the seven-time Formula One world champion.

"Everyone recognizes Schumacher as a champion, and after winning my second straight championship in NASCAR I hope I'm perceived in that way," said Johnson.

"Beating him and helping Team USA win The ROC Nations Cup would be a perfect ending to the best year of my career.

"I've raced The ROC before and did OK," said Johnson, who won The ROC Nations Cup in 2002.

"My teammate, Travis Pastrana, was the unexpected success of the event last year, almost winning the whole thing single-handedly after I pulled out with an injury. That's got to give us the edge this year."

The draw for the ROC Nations Cup was made at Wembley yesterday, with the individual contests due to be arranged at a draw during the official pre-event press conference tomorrow.

The ROC Nations Cup draw has resulted in the following first heats:

Sebastien Bourdais (France)    vs     Henning Solberg (Norway)
Yvan Muller (France)           vs     Petter Solberg (Norway)
Heikki Kovalainen (Finland)    vs     Tom Kristensen (Scandinavia)
Marcus Gronholm (Finland)      vs     Mattias Ekstrom (Scandinavia)
David Coulthard (Scotland)     vs     Jenson Button (England)
Alister McRae (Scotland)       vs     Andy Priaulx (England)
Jimmie Johnson (USA)           vs     Michael Schumacher (Germany)
Travis Pastrana (USA)          vs     Sebastian Vettel (Germany)