Category: NASCAR Cup Series

Carl Edwards – NSCS CHARLOTTE ADVANCE

Team: No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion

Crew Chief: Bob Osborne

Chassis: RK-709 – New chassis

Edwards, NSCS at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

Date Event S F Laps Led Status Money

5-30-10 Coca-Cola 600 31 16 400/400 0 Running $136,098

10-17-09 Bank of America 500 28 39 299/334 0 Engine $114,131

5-25-09 Coca-Cola 600 19 4 227/227 0 Running $207,531

10-11-08 Bank of America 500 2 33 317/334 0 Running $112,625

5-25-08 Coca-Cola 600 30 9 400/400 0 Running $160,425

10-13-07 Bank of America 500 18 5 337/337 0 Running $127,800

5-27-07 Coca-Cola 600 39 15 399/400 1 Running $109,950

10-14-06 Bank of America 500 28 8 334/334 12 Running $103,475

5-28-06 Coca-Cola 600 22 3 400/400 11 Running $201,050

10-15-05 UAW-GM 500 8 10 336/336 0 Running $100,275

5-29-05 Coca-Cola 600 12 3 400/400 10 Running $193,300

Races Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Led Money

Cumulative 11 0 4 7 0 34 $1,566,660

Carl Edwards on racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

“We went into California thinking that would be the race that could put us near the points lead, but we had trouble with a part in the distributor. Now we’ve got six races left to run the way we know we can run. If we can get a couple wins and a couple solid top fives, and maybe if Jimmie (Johnson) can have a bit of trouble then it can be anybody’s race. We need to rally this weekend at Charlotte.”

Crew chief Bob Osborne on racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

“We’re taking a new car to Charlotte that should be very competitive. We need a good run to keep our Chase hopes alive. We had a little setback in California last weekend, but this team is strong enough to overcome one bad race. We can’t control what happens to Jimmie Johnson in these final six races, but we can focus on making sure we don’t make mistakes and we give Carl the best cars we can so he has what he needs to run up front.”

Fast Facts

• Carl Edwards enters the Bank of America 500 seventh in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase point standings, 162 markers behind leader Jimmie Johnson. In 30 starts this season, Edwards has accumulated seven top-five and 16 top-10 finishes, and two poles.

• FOR THE RECORD…Edwards will make his 12th Cup start at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend. In his previous starts, Edwards has four top-five and seven top-10 finishes. His average start is 21.5, and his average finish is 13.2. Edwards has completed 3849 of 3902 (98.6%) of laps attempted at CMS. Of the 3849 laps Edwards has completed, he has led 34 of them.

• Edwards’ best finish at CMS is third place, captured twice – once in May of 2005 and again in May of 2006.

• IN THE LOOP… According to NASCAR’s Loop Statistics compiled over the last 11 races at CMS, Edwards has turned 64 of the track’s fastest laps, spent 1845 laps in the top 15 and led a total of 34 laps. Edwards’ driver rating is 13th best among active drivers.

• ON THE TRACK…The Aflac team will be bringing chassis RK-709 to CMS. This will be the first outing for this car as it is a brand new chassis.

• REWIND, CHARLOTTE, OCTOBER 2009… Edwards had several issues all in one race which resulted in a 39th-place finish. Edwards struggled with the handling of the No. 99 Aflac Ford all night and the crew made drastic adjustments on each stop. After falling three laps down throughout the race, the engine finally expired with 35 laps to go ending Edwards’ night.

Matt Kenseth – NSCS ADVANCE

Team: No. 17 Crown Royal Black Ford Fusion

Crew Chief: Jimmy Fennig

Chassis: Primary: RK-694 (last run at Atlanta)

Kenseth NSCS record at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

Date Event S F Laps Status Earnings

05/30/10 Coca-Cola 600 16 10 400/400 Running $153,451

10/17/09 NASCAR Banking 500 4 2 334/334 Running $240,915

05/25/09 Coca-Cola 600 30 10 227/227 Running $160,965

10/11/08 Bank of America 500 9 41 194/334 Crash $110,796

05/25/08 Coca-Cola 600 12 7 400/400 Running $163,341

10/13/07 Bank of America 500 7 34 282/337 Accident $115,516

05/27/07 Coca-Cola 600 5 12 400/400 Running $156,241

10/14/06 Bank of America 500 11 14 332/334 Running $115,466

05/28/06 Coca-Cola 600 6 5 400/400 Running $180,366

10/15/05 UAW-GM Quality 500 18 26 326/336 Running $113,561

05/29/05 Coca-Cola 600 3 37 254/400 Accident $131,456

10/16/04 UAW-GM Quality 500 36 11 334/334 Running $113,803

05/30/04 Coca-Cola 600 37 3 400/400 Running $222,478

10/11/03 UAW-GM Quality 500 29 8 334/334 Running $82,425

05/25/03 Coca-Cola 600 18 2 276/276 Running $206,500

10/13/02 UAW-GM Quality 500 7 34 254/334 Engine $62,680

05/26/02 Coca-Cola 600 21 2 400/400 Running $170,600

10/07/01 UAW-Quality GM 500 32 12 334/334 Running $52,440

05/27/01 Coca-Cola 600 40 18 334/334 Running $65,630

10/08/00 UAW-Quality GM 500 26 9 334/334 Running $50,100

05/28/00 Coca-Cola 600 21 1 400/400 Running $200,950

10/11/99 UAW-Quality GM 500 27 40 231/334 Accident $19,680

Races Wins Top 5s Top 10s Poles Earnings

Cumulative 22 1 6 11 0 $2,889,360

Kenseth on racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

“Track position has been really important at Charlotte since the introduction of this car with the spoiler. The pavement has a lot of grip and even though the track gets pretty wide, it’s a real fast track and kind of hard to pass so track position is really important. You’ve got to be in position the last couple of stops in order to have a successful finish. I really don’t feel like there’s a big difference between the spring race and this race, but our Crown Royal Black team really just needs to have a solid race for all 500 miles Saturday night.”

Crew chief Jimmy Fennig on racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

“It may not show in our results lately, but recently we’ve been running a lot better at intermediate tracks, so I’m hopeful that we can continue along those lines and win Charlotte. Matt really likes racing at Charlotte and he’s had a lot of good races there. Even though there are two different grooves at Charlotte, track position is still very important, so we’ll look to qualify well and have fast pit stops Saturday night as well.”

FAST FACTS:

• Kenseth earned his first career Sprint Cup series win at Charlotte on May 28, 2000

• Kenseth has an average starting position of 18.9 and an average finishing position of 15.4 at Charlotte

• Kenseth has achieved one win, six top-five’s, and eleven top-10’s at Charlotte in the Cup series

• Kenseth has completed 7,236 of 7,782 (93.0 percent) laps at Charlotte and led for a total of 305 laps

• This weekend at Charlotte, Kenseth will pilot the No. 17 Crown Royal Black Ford Fusion

• Entering this weekend, Kenseth is currently eleventh in the NSCS driver point standings

CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 56 NAPA Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. returns to Charlotte Motor Speedway for Saturday night’s Bank of America 500-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup race. In May, the New Jersey native won the Sprint Showdown and finished second in the All-Star Race on the 1.5-mile oval. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver hopes for similar results this weekend. Truex is 22nd in the standings with a pole, one top-five, six top-10 and 20 top-20 finishes in 2010.

Truex will also compete in Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race driving the No. 00 Toyota for Diamond-Waltrip Racing. It marks only the second time he’ll race against his younger brother Ryan who drives the No.99 Diamond-Waltrip Toyota.

QUOTES

Truex on Returning to Charlotte: “I’m hoping the home cooking and being at Charlotte Motor Speedway this week will help us change our luck. We won the Showdown and finished second in the All-Star Race. We had a good car in the Coca-Cola 600, but then had some bad luck. I am looking forward to going back and turning things around for us.

“I’m not sure what this team has to do to get a little bit of luck on our side. It seems as if something always goes wrong. We had another fast car last weekend in California and ran up in the top 10 before getting wrecked on pit road. To finish 18th with a wrecked car says a lot about how good this team is and the kind of cars we build at Michael Waltrip Racing. This years it seems like if we have a really good car, something strange happens and we finish 20th. If we have a bad handling car, we still finish 20th. It’s disappointing, but it’s racing. What’s important is we have good cars. We’re going to keep going back and it will all work out. It’s going to turn around. There is no way it can keep going like this.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

• Join over 30,000 fans who’ve registered at www.nascar.com/napatruexscanner or www.NAPAonline.com to listen to the No. 56 team’s in-car audio. The free offer is good through the remainder of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

• Saturday marks Truex’s 184th Sprint Cup race and 11th at Charlotte Motor Speedway. His best start is 12th (Oct. 17, 2009) and best finish is seventh (May 29, 2005). He’s earned two top-10 and eight top-25 finishes. His average start is 23rd and average finish is 20th. He has run 3,441 of 3,566 laps (96.5%) and led nine laps.

• In six Nationwide starts at Charlotte, Truex owns a top-five and three top-10 finishes.

• Truex will sign autographs 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday at Walker Auto Stores, 705 E. Six Forks Road in Raleigh, N.C.

• Pick up NAPA’s All Out for the Cure™ limited edition hat this month at a participating NAPA AUTO PARTS Store, AutoCare Center or Michael Waltrip Racing for just $3.99. Proceeds benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Biffle on Charlotte: “Well, we’re going to just go out and do our best the rest of the season pretty much like we have all year. We will still go out there every week and try to get the No. 16 3M Ford into victory lane and gain as many positions in the points as we can. This is our last night race of the season and it would obviously be awesome to win in Charlotte. We had a good run during the Coke 600 before I got loose and hit the wall. I feel pretty confident that we should have a good run this weekend with the way we’ve been running at the mile-and-a-half tracks.”

Erwin on Charlotte: “We’re taking a brand new car to the track this weekend and we feel pretty good about the latest cars we’ve been building here at Roush Fenway. We’ve had some decent runs at Charlotte over the last few years and I know this team is as determined as ever to get to victory lane a few more times before the end of this season. If we can get the car to handle well throughout the race as the track changes, I think we’ve got a good chance of running up front and contending for another win.”

Charlotte Notes

• Biffle and the 3M team dropped to 10th in the standings following their 41st-place finish in California; they are 215 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson but only 108 points out of fifth.

• Biffle’s average finish at Charlotte is 19.1 from an average starting position of 21.3.

• During the Coke 600 at Charlotte earlier this year, Biffle started 40th but drove his way into the top-10 before getting loose and making contact with the wall on lap 310. Biffle was credited with a 32nd-place finish.

• This weekend the No. 16 Ford will have a Scotch Blue Painter’s Tape paint scheme for the second time this season. Visit www.ScotchBlue.com for more information about Scotch Blue Painter’s Tape.

David Ragan – NSCS ADVANCE

Team: No. 6 UPS/United Way Ford Fusion

Crew Chief: Drew Blickensderfer

Chassis: Primary: RK-617 Last ran Atlanta – finished 19th

Backup: RK-620 Last ran Vegas – finished 23rd

Ragan, NSCS at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

Date Event S F Laps Led Status Money

5-30-10 Coca-Cola 600 35 24 400/400 1 Running $99,350

10-17-09 Bank of America 500 29 20 334/334 0 Running $82,925

5-25-09 Coca-Cola 600 34 24 227/227 0 Running $102,325

10-11-08 Bank of America 500 13 10 334/334 1 Running $94,875

5-25-08 Coca-Cola 600 5 12 400/400 2 Running $115,100

10-13-07 Bank of America 500 31 40 231/337 0 Running $97,275

5-27-07 Coca-Cola 600 13 37 219/400 0 Accident $120,025

Races Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Led Money

Spring 4 0 0 0 0 3 $436,800

Fall 3 0 0 1 0 1 $275,075

Cumulative 7 0 0 1 0 4 $711,875

Ragan on racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

“I’m looking forward to running the United Way paint scheme this weekend in the only night race in the Chase. It’s amazing how much money UPS has been able to raise for such a good cause; I’m honored to have United Way on our car. Drew and I are getting better every week, so another week together will be good. If we continue the way we’ve been working together we should earn a good finish for UPS and the United Way.”

Crew chief Drew Blickensderfer on racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

“Five-hundred miles at Charlotte is a long race, so we’ll need to take care of our car during practice to survive the race. It’s a long race and as the temperatures cool down during the night you need to build adjustability into your setup. Charlotte is a hometown track so we all want to get a good finish in front of our friends and family. We’ve had good speed lately and it would be great to get a good finish at Charlotte with our special United Way paint scheme on our UPS Ford.”

FAST FACTS

• UPS will feature the United Way logo in a special design this weekend in Charlotte. The tribute to the charitable organization follows a United Way announcement earlier this summer that UPS had become the first corporate donor ever to surpass $1 billion in contributions to United Way. David Ragan’s fire suit and helmet from the weekend will be available for auction beginning Friday, October 15 at www.liveunited.org/thanksUPS.

• Ragan has seven prior Sprint Cup Series starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway. His best finish came in the fall of 2008 when he finished 10th.

• Ragan has competed six times in the Nationwide Series at Charlotte in which he has three top-10 finishes.

• Ragan made one Camping World Truck Series start at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2006. He qualified 12th and finished 25th.

• UPS Maximum Center Recognition—Charlotte Motor Speedway

The Lancaster Center (SLIC – 2971) in the South Atlantic District has been selected as the UPS Maximum Center for this weekend’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Lancaster Center, was selected for its exceptional safety, cost and service performance, which includes range of dispatch, exception scan and delivery scan frequency.

DAVID REUTIMANN QUICK FACTS

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Dollar General 300

October 15, 2010

• Rexall ™ colors on the hood and David Reutimann behind the wheel of the No. 11… The No. 11 will sport a new primary sponsor this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The orange and blue Rexall car makes its debut in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) as the nearly 100 year-old line of health care products makes their debut exclusively at Dollar General stores around the country. Reutimann will also be behind the wheel of the No.11 Rexall Toyota at Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.

• Reutimann back in the Nationwide Series… The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) driver is a familiar face at Braun Racing, making a total of 15 NNS starts for the team since 2009, including three starts in the Beringer Vineyards Camry in 2010. He has racked up two top-five and eight top-10 finishes for the team. Overall, he has 118 NNS starts and is credited with one win, three pole awards, 17 top-five and 43 top-10 finishes.

• Charlotte Motor Speedway: By the numbers… Reutimann has six NNS starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway with an average start of 17.3 and an average finish of 21.6. He has one NSCS win in seven starts at the 1.5-mile quad-oval.

• Final 2010 appearance of the ‘new car’… This weekend’s Dollar General 300 will mark the final appearance of the NNS ‘new car’ in 2010 before the car goes full-time in 2011. The other ‘new car’ races this season included Daytona International Speedway in July, Michigan International Speedway in August and Richmond International Raceway in September.

• Dollar General Serving as title sponsor at Charlotte… Longtime Braun Racing marketing partner, Dollar General, will serve as title sponsor for this weekend’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

• Braun Racing acquired by Turner Motorsports… Last week, it was announced that Turner Motorsports acquired select assets of Braun Racing. The team will continue to operate as Braun Racing for the remainder of the 2010 season. Plans for Turner Motorsports in 2011 include fielding three entries in both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) and the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS). The NNS driver lineup will be announced in October.

Reutimann on the ‘new car’

“This will be my first race in the Nationwide Series’ ‘new car’. I’m excited to try my hand in one of these cars and I think my experience in the COT will really work in my favor. I won at Charlotte in the COT in 2009, so hopefully that experience will help me bring home a good finish in the Rexall Toyota. I want to thank everyone at Braun Racing, Turner Motorsports and Dollar General for giving me the chance to race the Rexall Camry this season and hopefully we can bring home a win for Rexall and Dollar General in the Dollar General 300!”

Follow the No. 11 Rexall Team on Twitter! http://twitter.com/No11BraunRacing

Follow David Reutimann on Twitter! http://twitter.com/DavidReutimann

Become a Braun Racing fan on Facebook! http://facebook.com/BraunRacingFans

Equipment Information

The No. 11 Rexall team will hit the track with chassis #BR107 this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This chassis last saw track time in Michigan (August, 2010) and in Richmond (September, 2010).

Career NASCAR Nationwide Series NNS at Charlotte Motor Speedway

No. Starts: 118

Wins: 1

Top-5 Finishes: 17

Top-10 Finishes: 38

Poles: 3

Average Start: 17.1

Average Finish: 15.6

Laps Led: 503 No. Starts: 6

Wins: 0

Top-10 Finishes: 0

Top-15 Finishes: 0

Average Start: 17.3

Average Finish: 21.7

Laps Led: 0

CONCORD, N.C. (October 12, 2010) – Team DuPont has seen success at the intermediate tracks throughout the 2010 season, but Charlotte Motor Speedway, where they finished sixth in the spring, has been one track pegged by the team for improvement as they head into this weekend’s Bank of America 500 in the thick of the ‘Chase.’ Jeff Gordon, who sits fourth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with six races remaining in the season, has posted five top-10 finishes in the last six races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Three of those past six races have resulted in strong top-five finishes, dating back to his victory here in October 2007. Despite these positive results, getting back to Victory Lane is top on the priority list as Team DuPont knows it is the points that accompany a win that are so essential to beating out the competition in the championship race. “Those wins are so vital right now,” said Gordon.

“We leave the track each weekend knowing that we did everything we possibly could, but we’re not going to be satisfied until we win. “We need those extra points so we don’t keep losing ground to those guys ahead of us who have wins either earlier in the season or now in the Chase.”

570 starts, 82 wins and four NASCAR Cup Series championships ago, Gordon drove the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet to Victory Lane for the first time. That win occurred in May 1994 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, 18 months after his first NASCAR Cup Series start. This Saturday night, Gordon will make his 36th start at Charlotte Motor

Speedway, 18 months after his most recent victory at Texas Motor Speedway. “I remember being speechless after that first victory,” said Gordon who has 611 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series.

“It was the highlight of my racing career to that point. “The car just came alive in the cooler night conditions and Ray (Evernham) made a two-tire call at the end of the race that put us in the perfect position for the win. “We’ve been strong on the intermediate tracks this year, but Charlotte is one where I felt we needed to improve to make a run at the title. Hopefully, we can run up near the front and have a shot at the win. Who knowsBmaybe Steve (Letarte) will have an opportunity for another gutsy call like that this weekend and we’ll make it back to Victory Lane at Charlotte, right where it all started.”

Team DuPont has collected four more wins at the 1.5-mile oval in the years since that spring night in 1994 and strong recent finishes at Charlotte could prove to be the building blocks needed for Gordon to capture his 83rd career victory and continue to stay in contention for his fifth NASCAR Cup Series championship.

“I love Charlotte and I love coming here,” said Gordon who has five wins, seven poles, 16 top-fives and 20 top-10’s at the North Carolina track. “We weren’t very good here in May so we’ve been really looking hard at our notes and setups and cars and trying to do some things to be better when we go back.

“I think we’ve learned some things since May and track position is important everywhere we go, but having a really well-balanced race car here is equally or more important.”

Charlotte Motor Speedway, the track that welcomed Gordon into Victory Lane for the first time 16 years ago, could be just the place where Team DuPont finds itself back there again.

DODGE AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

• Dodge has 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

• Dodge has started from the pole 12 times at CMS. The most recent came at the fall event in 2007 (Ryan Newman).

• Dodge swept both races at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2006 (Kasey Kahne).

THE DODGE BOYS

• Dodge has 207 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories.

• Dodge’s most recent win came at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. Kurt Busch led 252 of 400 laps en route to victory in the Coca-Cola 600. It was his second win of the 2010 season.

• Dodge has claimed two Sprint Cup victories in 2010.

• Dodge teams have posted 47 wins since the manufacturer’s return to NASCAR’s premier series in 2001 after being out of the sport since 1977.

• First Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win at Charlotte Motor Speedway: LeeRoy Yarborough, National 500, 10/16/66, 130.576 mph average speed.

DODGE IN THE CHASE: CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY • 2004: Ryan Newman and Jeremy Mayfield represented Dodge in the Chase. Newman earned the pole and finished 14th at CMS and Mayfield finished 30th.

• 2005: Three Dodge drivers including Newman, Mayfield and Rusty Wallace made the elite 10. Newman qualified on the outside pole at CMS and finished seventh. Mayfield finished 11th and Wallace 24th.

• 2006: Kasey Kahne was the only Dodge driver to make the Chase. He started second and led 334 laps en route to his win.

• 2007: Kurt Busch was the lone Dodge representative in the Chase. Busch qualified eighth, led 13 laps and finished 26th.

2008: There were no Dodges in the 2008 Chase field.

• 2009: Kurt Busch, the lone Dodge entry in the Chase, qualified 15th and finished 10th in fifth event of the Chase.

DID YOU KNOW?

Dodge’s Kurt Busch won his first Charlotte race in May, the Coca-Cola 600. He also won the Sprint All-Star Race. Busch seeks to become the first driver to sweep the All-Star Race, Coca-Cola 600 and Bank of America 500 in the same season.

ENGINEERING TALK

“With six races left in the Chase it’s worth noting that three of them are on high banked one and a half mile tracks like this week at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Saturday’s race will be an important test for the teams to make sure they’ve got an intermediate track setup strategy that will maximize their chances at all three of these tracks. If you can run well at Charlotte you should be confident going into Texas and season ending Miami. Kurt Busch, crew chief Steve Addington, and the No. 2 Penske Dodge team will hopefully be able to start where they left off after sweeping both the All Star and Coca Cola 600 races here in the spring.”

Howard Comstock, Dodge Motorsports Engineering

DODGE MOTORSPORTS QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“It’s certainly flattering to hear all the names of the racing legends who swept the May races and now be among that group. It’s quite amazing. To hear the names and to be able to try to do the Charlotte sweep, I would have assumed that Jimmie Johnson had two or three sweeps at the Charlotte track over the years, Dale Sr., of course, Waltrip, Petty. It’s really a neat fraternity of guys to be part of.”

Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger

DODGE DRIVER QUOTES

“To win the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600 was incredible. To be the first person in NASCAR history to win all three in the same season would be historic. There have been seven drivers to win both the All-Star and the 600, but of the seven, nobody has won the fall race. There’s a little bit of pressure. I know that my guys are pumped up for it. We’re the only one in 2010 eligible for it and we’re gonna get after it. To win three races at one track that everybody calls home would definitely give me some bragging right.”

Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge

“Charlotte Motor Speedway has a lot of grip. The track doesn’t change much from day to night; it just gets a little tighter. It’s a place that suited me from the beginning. The first time I went there I didn’t really like it, but now I feel like I know what the car needs and I always look forward to racing there. Charlotte races different than a lot of other places because the track surface is not abrasive and the tires last. The way Charlotte is paved, it handles a lot different than the other 1.5-mile tracks.”

Sam Hornish Jr. No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge

“Racing in the Southeast, in general, is special because that is where a large crop of our fan base is from. That makes it entertaining in itself. You want to race in markets where people get excited about the sport. Charlotte is the hub of our sport. We all live here. It’s just an enjoyable weekend. Racing at night just enhances that. Charlotte is very fast under the lights. It has a lot of grip and I think we’ll put on a very good show for all of those enthusiastic fans that will show up.”

Brad Keselowski, No 12 Penske Dodge

“The Mobil 1 Dodge team is excited to get back to Charlotte Motor Speedway and run under the lights in front of the hometown crowd. Charlotte is such a fast track and the cooler temperatures should make for plenty of grip on Saturday night. The tire that Goodyear brings to Charlotte does not lose a lot of grip during each fuel run, so the drivers can push the car pretty hard without paying a penalty at the end of the run.”

Travis Geisler, crew chief, No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge

“This No. 12 Penske Dodge team is really looking forward to racing under the lights at CMS this weekend. Penske Racing, as a whole, had a strong run there in May. We feel like we have developed our Charlotte package even more and should have an even better race on Saturday. We know that our cars can win at CMS and everyone here is expecting great things this weekend. We’ve made some great strides, aerodynamically, and our cars are as good as they have ever been for this package.”

Jay Guy, crew chief, No. 12 Penske Dodge

SAM HORNISH JR.

No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger

Charlotte Motor Speedway – Bank of America 500

October 16, 2010

Sam Hornish Jr. Charlotte Motor Speedway Racing History

DATE SERIES RACE START FINISH LAPS STATUS

5/30/2010 NSCS Coca-Cola 600 14 17 400/400 Running

10/17/2009 NSCS NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America 22 40 298/334 Running

5/25/2009 NSCS Coca-Cola 600 26 16 227/227 Running

10/11/2008 NSCS Bank of America 500 36 22 332/334 Running

5/25/2008 NSCS Coca-Cola 600 20 13 400/400 Running

5/24/2008 NNS Car Quest Auto Parts 300 13 39 66/202 Accident

Mobil 1 Team News and Notes

• Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the Penske Racing No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger, has performed well at intermediate venues like Charlotte Motor Speedway since transitioning to Cup Series racing in 2008. Hornish has a total of 48 starts at tracks over one mile but less than two miles in length, with an average starting position of 21.3 and an average finish of 26.9, while he has secured three top-10, five top-15 and 24 top-20 finishes.

• In a total of five Cup Series career starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Hornish has one top-15 and three top-20 results with an average finish of 21.6 and best effort of 13th (2008) at the 1.5-mile oval. In addition, Hornish won the Sprint Showdown qualifying event for the All-Star Race at Charlotte in 2009.

• Last weekend at Auto Club Speedway, Hornish rallied to score a 15th-place finish in the Cup Series event at the Southern California venue after battling a tight-handling race car for much of the afternoon. The result marked the sixth top-15 finish for the Mobil 1 team this season.

• Mobil 1 crew chief Travis Geisler offers fans a glimpse into car setup for each racetrack on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit at washingtonpost.com. Geisler reports that at Charlotte, things are a little loose and drivers tend to get “nosey” heading into the turns. Learn more at http://wapo.st/d1rrKN.

• Hornish will be on hand to sign autographs at the Penske Racing souvenir trailer on Saturday, October 16 from 3:50 – 4:20 p.m. EDT at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Sam Hornish Jr. Quote

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a track that really seems to suit you. Why do you enjoy racing there so much?

“Charlotte Motor Speedway has a lot of grip. The track doesn’t change much from day to night; it just gets a little tighter. It’s a place that suited me from the beginning. The first time I went there I didn’t really like it, but now I feel like I know what the car needs and I always look forward to racing there. Charlotte races different than a lot of other places because the track surface is not abrasive and the tires last. The way Charlotte is paved, it handles a lot different than the other 1.5-mile tracks.”

Do you feel that tire consistency has helped your performance at Charlotte Motor Speedway?

“Goodyear has been really consistent with the tire they have taken to Charlotte. They haven’t had any tire failure issues so they keep bringing the same tire back. It seems like at most tracks, they bring a different tire back for the next race because someone has had problems there. Charlotte has been pretty consistent with the tire and I think that’s one of the reasons why we have run the way we have there.”

Crew Chief Travis Geisler Quote

What are your thoughts on this weekend’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway?

“The Mobil 1 Dodge team is excited to get back to Charlotte Motor Speedway and run under the lights in front of the hometown crowd. Charlotte is such a fast track and the cooler temperatures should make for plenty of grip on Saturday night. The tire that Goodyear brings to Charlotte does not lose a lot of grip during each fuel run, so the drivers can push the car pretty hard without paying a penalty at the end of the run.”