Category: NASCAR Cup PR

JUSTIN HALEY | KAZ GRALA
COTA Advance
Event Overview

● Event: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (Round 6 of 36)

● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 24

● Location: Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas

● Layout: 3.426-mile, 20-turn road course

● Laps/Miles: 68 laps/231.88 miles

● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 15 laps / Stage 2: 15 laps / Final Stage: 38 laps

● TV/Radio: FOX / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Justin Haley, Driver of the No. 51 Fraternal Order of Eagles Ford Mustang Dark Horse

● The Fraternal Order of Eagles returns to the No. 51 Ford Mustang Dark Horse as Justin Haley is set to make his fourth start at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. Haley’s best finish at the 3.426-mile, 20-turn road course came in 2022, when he started ninth and finished 15th.

● The 24-year-old from Winimac, Indiana, has made 18 road-course starts in the Cup Series with two top-five finishes and three top-10s. He led 23 laps en route to a runner-up finish at last year’s inaugural Chicago Street Race.

● Haley also competed in the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at COTA, the first NASCAR race run on at the track, and earned a ninth-place result. In total, he owns four top-fives and 10 top-10s in 16 Xfinity Series road-course starts, including two runner-up finishes – 2020 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and 2021 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington.

● Prior to racing on road courses in NASCAR, Haley competed in the Trans Am Series TA2 class. In 2015, the then 16-year-old driver set the track record at COTA in qualifying.

● Last Sunday at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Haley and teammate Kaz Grala had the best showing of the year for RWR. Both drivers ran as high as sixth, but severe tire wear affected teams all day, ultimately forcing the Rick Ware Racing (RWR) duo outside of the top-15 in the closing laps. Despite the extreme tire fall-off, it was the first time both RWR cars finished within the top-20 at Bristol. The drivers also improved on the previous best average running positions by RWR cars in a Cup Series race with a 14.7 average running position for Haley and 18.8 for Grala.

Kaz Grala, Driver of the No. 15 N29 Capital Partners Ford Mustang Dark Horse

● Grala, driver of the No. 15 N29 Capital Partners Ford Mustang Dark Horse, will make his second Cup Series start at COTA on Sunday. He completed all 69 laps in the 2022 race to earn a 25th-place finish.

● In 2020, Grala made his first career Cup Series start in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing entry on the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway road course. He started 10th in the field of 39 cars and led three laps en route to a seventh-place finish. In 18 Xfinity Series starts on road courses, Grala has earned four top-fives and six top-10s.

● Grala also owns one Xfinity Series start at COTA, resulting in an 18th-place finish in 2023. He will return to the Xfinity Series on Saturday, competing for RSS Racing in the No. 28 Ford.

● The Boston native is no stranger to making left and right turns. In 2014, at the age of 15, Grala entered the Michelin Pilot Challenge to become the youngest driver ever to compete in an IMSA event. Two years later, he made his debut in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, where he was the youngest driver in the field, piloting a car for RWR president Robby Benton.

Rick Ware Racing Notes

● NHRA Top Fuel driver Clay Millican and the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series are back on track this weekend at the Lucas Oil Winternationals in Pomona, California. Two weeks ago, Millican competed in the season-opening Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida, where the Parts Plus driver qualified 10th but was bested by Doug Kalitta in the first round of eliminations. A three-time winner for RWR, Millican started the year setting fast time in the first round of qualifying at the PRO Superstart Shootout exhibition event in Bradenton, Florida, Feb. 8-10. He stayed atop the leaderboard to secure the No. 1 qualifying position, then advanced to the final round of eliminations.

● In Senoia, Georgia, Progressive American Flat Track (AFT) drivers Briar Bauman, Kody Kopp and Shayna Texter-Bauman will be back on track for the second event of 2024. In the season kickoff at Daytona two weeks ago, 19-year-old Kody Kopp took home a win in the Thursday-night AFT Singles feature by a margin of 1.502 seconds. The two-time champion followed up with a second-place finish in the Friday feature.

● Rick Ware has been a motorsports mainstay for more than 40 years. It began at age six when the third-generation racer began his driving career and has since spanned four wheels and two wheels on both asphalt and dirt. Competing in the SCCA Trans Am Series and other road-racing divisions led Ware to NASCAR in the early 1980s, where he finished third in his NASCAR debut – the 1983 Warner W. Hodgdon 300 NASCAR Grand American race at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. More than a decade later, injuries would force Ware out of the driver seat and into fulltime team ownership. In 1995, Rick Ware Racing was formed, and with wife Lisa by his side, Ware has since built his eponymous organization into an entity that fields two fulltime entries in the NASCAR Cup Series while simultaneously campaigning successful teams in the Top Fuel class of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, the LMP3 class of the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup, Progressive American Flat Track and FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX), where RWR won the 2022 SX2 championship with rider Shane McElrath.

Justin Haley, Driver Q&A

How do you envision Sunday’s race at COTA will play out for you?

“These races are long, and they play out in all kinds of different ways. So, I feel like I’ve been fast at COTA before and I feel like I’ve struggled at COTA before. We just have to try to do the best we can. There’s some confidence, I feel like as a driver you can make a bigger difference at a road course, you’re just trying to do your best.”

You and the RWR team showed marked improvement at Bristol last weekend. Should everyone expect to see that continue?

“I think so. This is a building season. Everyone considers RWR to be a lower-level team, so I’m excited for this to continue. Personally, I find a lot of enjoyment in this process and I feel like we can have some great finishes. I do think it’ll take some time just to kind of get everyone meshing together, but we’re seeing that already take place. It’s hard to put a new quarterback onto a team and then just expect him to play. He doesn’t know his guys and that’s kind of what we’re working through. We’re going to have some good finishes and and, most importantly, we’re going to have a lot of fun with it.”

Kaz Grala, Driver Q&A

You have a lot of experience on road courses, whether it be in sportscar or in stock cars. How are you feeling ahead of the first road-course event of the year?

“I’ve been looking forward to the road courses. With extra time on track in practice, we’ll be able to get ourselves in a good place with the handling and I feel like I know what I need for these types of races. I’ve won some sportscar races at COTA and run well in NASCAR, so I think we have potential to get a decent finish.”

You’re running Saturday’s Xfinity Series race this weekend, as well. What kind of benefit does that provide?

“It’s a huge help to get additional track time for the road-course events. Not so much to help the car itself, because they drive completely differently, but to have the extra laps to get familiar with the track and find those spots where you can push a little harder for a big payoff come Sunday.”

What has been the impact of the Bristol run?

“We’ve known from the beginning that we’re capable of running well. Coming in to a new team, you know it’s going to take time, but it was nice to have that moment early in the season to show other people that we can do it. The morale in the shop has been great since Justin’s run at the Clash, but it’s definitely improved after Bristol and I think we can keep it going.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix Media Availability | Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Austin Cindric, driver of the No.2 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse, will be making his fourth NASCAR Cup Series start at Circuit of the Americas and will be trying to extend a streak that has seen him qualify in the top 10 every season. He has registered back-to-back top 10 finishes as well with his best effort coming last season when he ran sixth. Cindric spoke to members of the media earlier today about this weekend’s event.

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW DO YOU FEEL GOING INTO COTA? “I think it’s a great opportunity for us to kind of get back on track and hit the reset button. The last couple of weeks have been pretty funky with getting knocked out the first couple of laps at Phoenix and then obviously last week’s craziness and all the tire failures that we experienced, so I’m kind of excited to just get back going and hopefully a lot of green flag running. It’s been a place that we’ve had some good pace. We obviously have to adapt to the new package, but I’m excited to go hit the reset button and get after it.”

THE RESTART ZONE HAS BEEN PUSHED BACK CLOSE TO TURN 20. WHAT KIND OF IMPACT WILL THAT HAVE AND WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE SUCCESSFUL THERE? “I think the restart zone, I would say the initial impressions are that it should hopefully separate the top 10 in the field from the back half to where you don’t have that immediate stack up where you’re trying to fit 40 cars slowing down and have that massive check up that causes guys to make it three, four, five, six, seven, eight, however high you can count, wide into turn one. Upon reviewing it today with where the restart zone is and how many cars there are, I still think turn one certainly has a great opportunity to be messy depending on how the first couple rows play the start, and I think how early the leader goes. I still think there is plenty of opportunity for chaos there on the restarts, but I think it’s a much higher percent chance of cutting some of that down.”

ARE YOU AT A PLACE WHERE YOU HAVE TO GET STAGE POINTS OR IF YOU HAVE A GOOD CAR JUST RACE FOR THE WIN AND GIVE UP THE STAGE POINTS? “I think it all depends on how competitive you feel like you are, whether that’s on Saturday or Sunday. If you feel like you have a chance to win the race or not, I think there’s gonna be some pretty clear-cut guys that are gonna flip the stages. We’re obviously back to playing that game to where you might even win the race and not have a max points day, or have a good finish and not have a very good points day, so you certainly have to weigh that out. I think the points are very tight. I think I was 11th or 10th or third in points two or three weeks ago, so things happen pretty fast this early in the year. I’m not necessarily in a points panic, but points are definitely just as important as getting a good finish if not more.”

YOU TRIED TO WAVE OVER TO RICKY TO TALK TO HIM BUT HE KEPT WALKING AFTER THE RACE. I ASSUME YOUR TIRES WERE JUST ICE AND YOU COULDN’T STOP ONCE YOU MADE THAT MOVE? “Yeah. I certainly was trying to stay on the lead lap and tires were old, but I put us in a bad spot. I drove through marbles, put us three-wide with the 38 and I put complete responsibility on me for that accident. I don’t know what his race was looking like at that point, but I’m sure it wasn’t appreciated. He was fairly frustrated after the race and I think has every right to be, so that was just making a bad situation worse on my end, so I certainly have to do less of that. It’s definitely not fun and I hate to find myself in that situation. It’s totally on me.”

YOU HAVE QUITE A FEW GOOD RUNS AT RICHMOND IN XFINITY BUT CUP HAS BEEN A STRUGGLE. CAN YOU FIGURE OUT WHY THAT IS? WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? “I’m not sure I’ve ever started Richmond in the Cup Series inside the top 30 and I can give you a number of reasons of why, and the one time I did I lost a cylinder about six laps into the race. It’s a very difficult racetrack. It’s a challenging race from a strategy standpoint with long green flag runs. It’s a tough track, but I really do enjoy Richmond, so I am looking forward to going there. I feel like we can kind of get our heads wrapped around the short track package a little bit. I’m certainly not discouraged, but it’s a racetrack where you can’t hide if you have a weakness or an issue throughout the race. It’s a racetrack where veterans really perform well, not to say that I can’t with my experience level, but it is a track that I actually feel somewhat confident about what I need to do with the car and how I need to take care of the race and how the track moves and so on, just kind of putting it together has still yet to happen for me in a Cup car.”

IS A HOT DOG A SANDWICH AND WHEN YOU HAVE ONE WHAT ARE YOUR TOPPINGS? “A hot dog is not a sandwich. The hot dog is the actual weiner itself, like the bun is the vessel that makes it. It’s not a sandwich. It’s like saying a taco is a sandwich. As far as what my toppings are on my hot dog, I’m pretty basic. I could maybe put some cheese on it or something like that, but I just go straight dog.”

WHAT DID YOU FEEL DURING PRACTICE WITH THE NEW SHORT TRACK PACKAGE AND DO YOU FEEL THERE WILL BE ANY SIMILARITIES? “I think the similarities are just what our information tells us as far as from aerodynamically how is it different. I think you’re kind of splitting hairs to really feel like the aero package is going to be a ton different. I look at it more as a simplification to have a similar product from a car pieces and parts standpoint versus how the car actually drives. That’s kind of how I’ve approached it. I know everyone’s hoped to have closer racing and greater fall off and sliding cars more and all that. I don’t think this change was big enough to really make me believe that any of that was going to be a whole lot different than what we had last year from my expectations, and as far as how that relates to COTA, I think a lot of the same. I’m not expecting a massive shift from last year to this year. I think the things we don’t know about, more straight line braking events, then it’s more lateral, grip limitations at Phoenix, so I think you’ll see the car maybe perform in different ways at that track so we should have a pretty good picture of the total limitations or changes from last year’s short track package.”

IS THERE A LITTLE MORE EMPHASIS ON THIS WEEK KNOWING THERE ARE TWO ROAD COURSES IN THE PLAYOFFS? “Yeah, for me it’s make it to the playoffs and then focus on that, but certainly it’s important now having Watkins, which I would say Watkins is kind of a different ball game compared to more of a traditional road course like Circuit of the Americas or even Sonoma, so some of the relations between all the road courses on the schedule are quite different I feel like. This has been a difficult one for us because I feel like we’ve been OK with our road course package, but COTA has kind of been our outlier. That’s been one of our best events since we started the Next Gen car, our meaning specifically for me and the 2 car, so it’s kind of hard to convince yourself to do something a ton different and especially after the last couple weeks you almost want to just have a base hit and do something you know that works, so it should be an interesting weekend for us. Hopefully, we have some repeatability and have the same speed that we’ve shown the last couple of events there.”

WHEN DO YOU START LOOKING AT COTA AS KIND OF A RELIEF TYPE OF RACE THAT YOU WILL PROBABLY RUN WELL? “It’s funny because two weeks ago I would have gotten the same questions from a lot of folks saying how great the start of your season has gone. Two weeks later it’s all you’re in a rut. It’s so to react to that kind of stuff. It’s a pretty long game here, so I feel like I have to defend that in a moment that it’s a long season. Yeah, the last two weeks have been wildly out of the control of what I feel like our race team is capable of in a few different ways, but as far as COTA stacks up for me, yeah, no matter how you cut it, it’s been a racetrack that I’ve been able to be competitive at and lead laps every time I’ve been there in a Cup car. Personally, it’s not necessarily my favorite racetrack, to be honest, but it’s somewhere that we’ve performed well. We seem to have a package that works well there and after the last couple of weeks I’m very hungry to just execute and everyone get to do our jobs – that comes down to my pit crew as well and everybody just kind of getting in a rhythm again because we haven’t been able to and as much as we race, it feels awkward to not have anything to really think about from a normal standpoint of like, ‘Oh, maybe we need to do this to improve the car or that,’ and not have these massive issues, whether if it’s getting wrecked out early or having this tire and track debacle or any of that. Let’s just reset and I think it’s a great weekend to do it.”

HOW WOULD YOU RATE YOU AND TEAM PENSKE SO FAR THIS SEASON? “Plate events have been really great for us across the board as a team. Daytona and Atlanta, two absolute stand out events. I think all three of our cars were probably the best in the field, the class of the field, and obviously frustrating not to have any of us win those races, but I think it was an A+ for those events. I think the last three weeks have just been learning, whether that’s offset with the Dark Horse Ford Mustang, to figure out where we’ve made gains or where we’re different as well as just kind of getting started off into the season. Obviously, like I’ve said before in here, the last two weeks have just been kind of a mess regardless of anything that we’ve really done outside of our preparation, so it’s a bit difficult to get a read, but it’s certainly been interesting. Obviously, the Toyotas and specifically the Gibbs cars have been pretty strong on the short tracks so far this year, so I think that’s a pretty easy stand out to make, but otherwise, it’s early days.”

WHAT STANDS OUT ABOUT COTA COMPARED TO OTHER ROAD COURSES NASCAR RUNS? “I think it has everything – every type of corner imaginable. High speed, low speed, lefts and rights, braking zones, medium speed corners. You go through the whole gearbox. There is some tire wear. We’ve got some patches in some places, but if anything that will make the tire wear maybe a little bit less, and I also don’t’ feel like this tire necessarily wears anymore than any of the rest, but it’s somewhat of an abrasive racetrack, so past that it’s just got everything in it and you just have to have the complete picture to be competitive there.”

DOES YOUR TEAM CONSULT WITH RFK TO IMPROVE FORD’S PERFORMANCE AND HOW HAS THE DYNAMIC GONE WITH YOU AND BRIAN WILSON? “There’s obviously a lot of collaboration between Ford teams as far as some information shared on race weekends and then obviously the work that all of the teams did as well as Ford Performance to get aerodynamically ready for the season and make the improvements that we know we’ve made with the Ford Mustang Dark Horse, but past that, obviously, we’re still competitors. Brian and I, we obviously got the last 10 races of the year to get the wheels back on the bike. We know each other extremely well. We’ve been in the same building since the start of both of our Cup careers and it’s been great. I think we’re just trying to find our footing right now as far as things that are important to us car setup-wise and communication throughout the race weekends. We’ve been put in some different situations than what we might have been in the Xfinity Series as far as practice and qualifying, so we’re just kind of playing a little bit of catch-up in comparison to Ryan and Joey, who have kind of had their same groups for the last couple of years. I think things are progressing well and the mentality is all in the right way. Brian and I are a good fit because I think we think a lot alike and I think process information the same way, and I think we also put in a very similar level of effort and that’s about all you can ask for in that pairing.”

The Motorcraft/Quick Lane team – and their peers on NASCAR’s Cup circuit – had to perform a West Coast-style turn-around this week in preparing the No. 21 Mustang Dark Horse for this weekend’s race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

The No. 21 hauler left North Carolina early Wednesday to make the 1,200-mile trek to the 20-turn, 3.426-mile track that will host Sunday’s fourth-annual EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.

That early departure meant lots of work had to be done in two days once the NASCAR caravan returned home following last Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Jeremy Bullins, crew chief of the No. 21 Mustang Dark Horse driven by Harrison Burton, said he’s hoping his team can build on Burton’s prior runs at COTA.

In 2022, Burton scored points in both Stages and finished 17th. Last year he started 16th and ran well before experiencing mechanical issues and finishing 22nd. Both of those races were run before Bullins took over as Burton’s crew chief.

Bullins scored top-10 finishes at COTA in the past two seasons with Austin Cindric as his driver.

“If you look back at last season, Harrison seemed to get around COTA pretty well before having transaxle trouble and losing first gear,” Bullins said. “It’s a track that we have run well at in the past and have a good set-up to work from.

“Hopefully we can adapt it to Harrison’s liking and have a good weekend in our Motorcraft Ford.”

Practice for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix is set for Saturday at 9 a.m. Central Daylight Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time) to be followed by qualifying at 11:30 a.m. (Eastern Time).

Sunday’s 68-lap, 231.88-mile race is scheduled to get the green flag just after 2:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. Eastern) with Stage breaks at Laps 15 and 30.

FOX Sports 1 will carry the TV coverage of practice and qualifying, with FOX taking over the broadcast on Sunday.

About Motorcraft®
Motorcraft offers a complete line of replacement parts that are recommended by Ford Motor Company. From routine maintenance to under hood repairs, Motorcraft parts offer value with high quality and the right fit at competitive prices. Motorcraft parts are available nationwide at Ford Dealers and Lincoln Retailers, independent distributors and automotive-parts retailers, and are backed by the Service Parts Limited Warranty* of Ford Motor Company. For more information, visit www.motorcraft.com.
*See your dealer for limited-warranty details.

About Quick Lane® Tire & Auto Center
Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center offers extraordinary service for routine maintenance, serving all vehicle makes and models. Quick Lane provides a full menu of automotive services, including tires, oil change and maintenance, brakes, batteries, alternator and electrical system, air conditioning system, cooling system, transmission service, suspension and steering, wheel alignment, belts and hoses, lamps and bulbs and wiper blades plus a thorough vehicle checkup report. Service is performed by expert technicians while you wait at any of nearly 800 locations in the U.S., with evening and weekend hours available and no appointment necessary. For more information about Quick Lane, please visit www.quicklane.com.
*See your dealer for limited-warranty details.”

About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan, committed to helping build a better world, where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams. The company’s Ford+ plan for growth and value creation combines existing strengths, new capabilities and always-on relationships with customers to enrich experiences for customers and deepen their loyalty. Ford develops and delivers innovative, must-have Ford trucks, sport utility vehicles, commercial vans and cars and Lincoln luxury vehicles, along with connected services. The company does that through three customer-centered business segments: Ford Blue, engineering iconic gas-powered and hybrid vehicles; Ford Model e, inventing breakthrough EVs along with embedded software that defines exceptional digital experiences for all customers; and Ford Pro, helping commercial customers transform and expand their businesses with vehicles and services tailored to their needs. Additionally, Ford is pursuing mobility solutions through Ford Next, and provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. Ford employs about 177,000 people worldwide. More information about the company and its products and services is available at corporate.ford.com.

About Ford Performance
Ford Performance is based in Dearborn, Mich. It is responsible for Ford’s performance vehicle development and major racing operations globally, including NASCAR, IMSA, SRO British GT, FIA World Rally Championship, Supercars Championship, World of Outlaws, Ultra4, SCORE-International, FIA Rally-Raid, Formula Drift, NHRA, Rebelle Rally, Thailand Super Series and our latest commitment in Formula 1 with RedBull Ford Powertrains. Ford Performance also maintains a constantly evolving fleet of electric performance demonstrators to showcase the limits of electrification technology. In addition, the organization also oversees the development of Ford’s racing engines, as well as the outreach programs with all Ford Clubs and Ford enthusiasts. For more information regarding Ford racing’s activities, please visit Performance.Ford.com or follow @FordPerformance on Facebook, Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube.

Wood Brothers Racing
Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glenn Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glenn’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Harrison Burton in the famous No. 21 racer.

Circuit of the Americas Competition Notes

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 20, 2024) – Todd Gilliland and the No. 38 team heads to Austin, Texas for the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) Grand Prix. Gilliland and the team are coming off a 26th place finish at the Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and sit 29th in points.

Gilliland’s most recent success at the 3.4-mile long track came last year after he earned Front Row Motorsports (FRM) their first top-10 finish of the season with a 10th place result. Gilliland also saw success in the inaugural CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race, winning the event in 2021.

Gilliland will run the fan-favorite Ruedebusch Development & Construction blue and white scheme; the same scheme he ran in last year’s event.

Track activity will begin with practice and qualifying on Saturday, March 23rd at 10:00 a.m. ET. The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas will take place Sunday, March 24th at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be televised live on FOX. Fans can also listen in on the action live from Sirius XM and the Performance Racing Network.

No. 38 Ruedebusch Development & Construction Ford Mustang Dark Horse:

DRIVER TODD GILLILAND:

“COTA is a race I’ve had circled on my calendar. I’ve won there in the trucks and it’s where I got my first top-10 of 2023. I know Ryan (Bergenty) and the team will bring me the same speed we had last year, but it will come down to me executing and being technical around every turn.”

CREW CHIEF RYAN BERGENTY:

“This is a very technical track, but we have the driver that can get it done. Our results the past couple weeks haven’t been what we wanted, but our luck is about to change. Todd (Gilliland) is able to compete upfront, we saw it last year and when he won in the trucks, so I’m confident he can get the job done this weekend.”

ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS

Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The team is the 2021 Daytona 500 and 2022 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 34 and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 38 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series team from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @team_frm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.

Circuit of the Americas Competition Notes

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 20, 2024) – Michael McDowell and the No. 34 Ford Mustang Dark Horse prepare to turn left and right at the Circuit of the Americas this weekend in Austin, TX. This will be the first road course of the season for the NASCAR Cup Series.

Known for being a road course specialist, McDowell has seen success in recent years, including winning last year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and three top-10s in his last five road course starts. McDowell also has a top-10 in three starts at the 3.426-mile track. This will be the first road course utilizing the new NASCAR Cup Series short track / road course package.

McDowell and the No. 34 team will once again have Love’s Travel Stops and their truck care partner, Chevron Delo, racing with them this weekend. Chevron Delo is the maker of top performing heavy duty engine oils, coolants, antifreezes, transmission fluids, gear oils, greases and hydraulic oils.

Track activity will begin with practice and qualifying on Saturday, March 23rd at 10:00 a.m. ET. The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas will take place Sunday, March 24th at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be televised live on FOX. Fans can also listen in on the action live from Sirius XM and the Performance Racing Network.

No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops / Delo Ford Mustang Dark Horse:

DRIVER MICHAEL MCDOWELL:

“Really looking forward to this weekend, COTA is a proper road course. The racing is fun and with moving the Restart Zone back, that will certainly cut back on the Turn 1 chaos. I’m looking forward to getting back there with a lot of the things that we learned last season of making our road course program better. We should have a shot at winning the race and hopefully we can.”

CREW CHIEF TRAVIS PETERSON:

“Really excited for this weekend at COTA, and I know Michael is ready! We always look forward to the road courses and right now we have good momentum, it’s going to be a great opportunity for us to perform at a high level, we should be in contention on Sunday.”

ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS

Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The team is the 2021 Daytona 500 and 2022 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 34 and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 38 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series team from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @team_frm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.

CLUB ENTRY LIST

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
POINT STANDINGS: 15TH

ERIK JONES
POINT STANDINGS: 20TH

CLUB NOTES

Best finish yet: John Hunter Nemechek posted his career-best NASCAR Cup Series finish last weekend at Bristol. In a race where tire management became front and center, Nemechek and crew chief Ben Beshore persevered throughout the race and were able to post a sixth-place finish when the checkered flag flew. Additionally, the driver of the No. 42 received stage points in each stage throughout the race as he finished fifth and fourth respectively. Nemechek also jumped from 21st to 15th in the point standings after Bristol. Before last weekend, he had two top-10 finishes in his first five Cup Series starts this season while had previously notched three top-10 finishes during his first full-time NASCAR Cup Series season in 2020.

Hollywood meets the road: This weekend, Erik Jones will have the unique opportunity to take actors Giancarlo Esposito and Skeet Ulrich on pace car rides Sunday morning. Esposito and Ulrich will be at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) to promote the show “Parish” on AMC and AMC+. Esposito will serve as the Grand Marshal for the race weekend, while Ulrich will be behind the wheel as the Honorary Pace Car Driver for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Race in Austin.

Truck luck: Nemechek has two great runs at COTA under his belt while driving in the NASCAR Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He started in the top-11 for both events finishing in 12th and second place at the 3.410-mile road course in Texas.

Jones at COTA: Jones has three starts at COTA in the NASAR Cup Series. In 2022 he finished ninth after starting deep in the field in 30th. Last season he qualified eighth ending the event in 23rd.

One and only: Jones was the only driver during the 2022 race at COTA to qualify outside of the top 30 and finish inside of the top 10. Jones stalled on the backstretch 42 laps into the race falling off the lead lap and having to earn the free pass four laps later. Once the No. 43 was back in contention, Jones slowly chipped away, he sat 37th with 22 laps remaining, and as a caution flag was waived with 15 laps to go the team elected to stay out. Jones restarted 22nd and was seen just outside of the top 10 with eight to go thanks to another lucky caution. Jones finished the race ninth, earning the highest differential of all drivers, moving up 21 spots from his qualifying effort.

New paint: Texas-based ROMCO Equipment Company, has supported Nemechek since 2015 and has served the region’s heavy equipment needs for over 60 years. Their dealers specialize in products used in construction, paving, aggregate, and power equipment.

CLUB QUOTES

John Hunter Nemechek, Driver of the No. 42 ROMCO Toyota Camry XSE:

“I have liked racing at COTA the past few years. I think the versatility of it from the esses, to slow really tight corners, to long sweeping corners, to high-speed corners is really interesting from behind the wheel The track has a little bit of everything. It kind of makes it challenging as a driver to get your car to work in all of those sections and be able to adapt with different driving styles to each section. You will see some guys that are really good in one section and not so good in another so being able to change up your footwork and understand the racetrack is a pretty big key to COTA.”

Ben Beshore, Crew chief of the No. 42 ROMCO Toyota Camry XSE:

“COTA is unique in the sense that is has some areas that are brand new pavement and some areas seem like they have 15-year-old pavement. So the grip level changes throughout the track. You have a hairpin turn with one set of grip and the esses are brand new pavement, so it’s challenging from that aspect of trying to come up with the best compromise setup-wise for the different levels of on track.”

Erik Jones, Driver of the No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE:

On goals for first road course of the year.

“COTA has been good, it is a unique road course, and it is super long with a lot of corners, but hopefully we can go and put together a solid run out there. A top-10 would be great, we struggled quite a bit there last year, but we have worked hard to get our road course program better so hopefully it is going to pay off moving forward.”

Talk about how the race will change with the addition of stage breaks and the moving of the restart zones.

“It changes a lot, having the stage breaks back makes you have to pick either finish or stage points which was always the big dilemma on road courses, so we will be back battling that again. With the restart zone, it will change a lot. Last year it was pretty chaotic and probably a little over the top with how everything was going because of the restarts. I think it will be nice to have it broken up, we will have a little more space to move. If you are up in the top three or four rows you will have the opportunity to really race rather than worry about being charged from the inside. So, I think it will be better for sure, we have seen it a little bit, I know at Chicago we did it and the ROVAL as well to kind of break those restarts up.”

Dave Elenz, Crew chief of the No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE:

How different will the race look with the addition of stage breaks and the changing of the restart zone?

“The addition of stage breaks is like going back to normal, I think that will be good for us and it will break up the race in a way that our strategy should work better, both to get us stage points and track position. I like calling the race with stage breaks much better than what we had, so I am looking forward to that. The new restart zone will be a little less exciting compared to what we had last year. There were some pretty impressive restarts, six or even eight cars wide into turn one. Moving the restart zone is going to make it single file, maybe a couple of passes through there, but taking a lot of the excitement away that we had last year at COTA and making it a little more straightforward racing. There will be less opportunity to gain spots if you lose your track position, I am a little disappointed in that, but everyone else will be battling that as well, so I am looking forward to seeing how the race plays out.”

Talk about the team’s focus on developing a stronger road course department.

“The road courses have been a struggle for us over the last few years, we have been working really hard to get a feel that Erik is looking for, COTA was one of our stronger road courses last year. We are looking forward to the new rules package and seeing how they work on the road course. I think that will be an advantage for us and Erik, to have a little more speed than we had last year and improve our road course department.”

PETTY 75TH ANNIVERSARY

ABOUT PETTY 75th: The 2024 season marks a significant milestone in the history of the Petty family as they have helped define stock car racing for 75 years. Their commitment to the sport and the people who make it possible – behind the wheel, under the hood, in the back office and beyond – has shaped the growth and success of NASCAR. Their LEGACY lives on with the countless fans, drivers, technicians and team members they touched. Throughout 2024, LEGACY M.C. will celebrate the Petty family and share countless memories with friends and fans at race tracks across the country.

Not COTA but still Texas: Although the Petty family never raced at COTA, they have a rich history in the state of Texas. Petty earned three wins (’71,’72, and ’73) in just eight starts at the Texas World Speedway in College Station leading a dominating 471 laps throughout his career. In a 1972 event, Petty led 186 laps en route to victory starting from the pole position. Petty has only finished outside of the top 10 at College Station once time in eight starts. Kyle Petty has one attempt at the same track starting 17th and finishing 29th as the No. 42 was forced to retire just 34 laps into the race due to engine failure.

BROADCAST INFO

CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS (COTA)

SUNDAY, MARCH 24TH @ 3:30 PM ET

ABOUT OUR PARTNERS

ABOUT DOLLAR TREE, INC.: Dollar Tree, a Fortune 200 Company, operated 16,622 stores across 48 states and five Canadian provinces as of October 28, 2023. Stores operate under the brands of Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and Dollar Tree Canada. To learn more about the Company, visit www.DollarTree.com.

ABOUT ROMCO EQUIPMENT CO.: Founded in 1961, ROMCO, a Texas-based company and member of the SMT Group of companies since its acquisition in 2022, adopts a segmented industry approach to cater to the diverse needs of the equipment market. Through four specialized divisions, we focus on delivering top-notch solutions for construction, paving, aggregate and power equipment requirements.

ROMCO operates through a network of 17 locations in Texas and Southern New Mexico maintaining our proud history of service and commitment to growth. As a comprehensive full-service distributor, we represent prestigious brands such as Volvo Construction Equipment, Cementech, Atlas Copco, K-Tec Earthmovers, FRD Kent, Genesis, Yanmar, ASV, CK Power, Terramac, HKD Blue, Rockland, Gomaco, Atlas, Mantsinen, Shuttlewagon, Leeboy, Bearcat, Roadwidener, Finn, Sandvik, McLanahan, Phoenix, Keestrack, Noble and Kafka.

Explore our extensive offerings and discover more about our unwavering commitment to excellence at www.romco.com.

ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB™ is a professional auto racing club owned by businessman and entrepreneur Maurice “Maury” J. Gallagher and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. The CLUB competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series fielding the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE of John Hunter Nemechek, the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE of Erik Jones, and the No. 84 limited schedule entry for Johnson. LEGACY M.C. also competes in the Extreme-E Series. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty “The King” serves as Club Ambassador. With a unique title signifying a nod to car clubs of past eras, LEGACY M.C. is an inclusive club for all motorsport enthusiasts to celebrate the past and future legacies of its members, while competing for wins and championships at NASCAR’s elite level. To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow LEGACY MOTOR CLUB™ on Facebook, X, Instagram and at www.LEGACYMOTORCLUB.com.

This Week in Motorsports: March 18 – 24, 2024

· NCS/NXS/NCTS: Circuit of the Americas – March 22-24
· ARCA EAST: Five Flags Speedway – March 23
· NHRA: In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip – March 22-24

PLANO, Texas (March 20, 2024) – NASCAR heads to its first road course of the season as the Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series take on the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is onto its second race of the season for its first stop at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona, California. The ARCA Menards Series East begins its 2024 season at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida.

NASCAR National Series – NCS | NXS | NCTS

Toyota drivers continue strong opening to 2024 … Through five races of the NASCAR Cup Series season, multiple Toyota drivers find themselves towards the top of the series points standings. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs lead the Toyota contingent, with Truex tied atop the standings and Gibbs in third just seven points behind after claiming his series-leading fourth top-10 finish of the season at Bristol. Denny Hamlin catapulted to sixth in the standings after his Bristol victory, followed by Christopher Bell (eighth) and Tyler Reddick (ninth), along with John Hunter Nemechek (15th) coming off his best career finish of sixth.

Hamlin closes in on 50 Toyota wins … Following his first win of 2024 and fourth at the famed Bristol Motor Speedway, Hamlin is now one away from 50 with Toyota in the NASCAR Cup Series. His first win with Toyota came at Martinsville in 2008 in just his sixth start in a Toyota Camry. At 52 total career wins, Hamlin sits just two back of tying Lee Petty for 12th on the NASCAR Cup Series all time wins list.

Kobayashi makes 2024 debut … Team principal and driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), Kamui Kobayashi, returns to the NASCAR Cup Series for his second career start this weekend. Kobayashi debuted in the series last year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The two-time WEC champion will pilot the No. 50 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing in honor of Mobil 1’s 50th anniversary this year.

Reddick seeks COTA repeat … In only his sixth start in a Toyota Camry, Reddick claimed victory at COTA last year for the first of his two wins in 2023. The Californian led 41 of the race’s 75 laps in a dominating performance. He comes back to the Texas road course eager for another victory, which would be the sixth win of his career and the fifth for 23XI Racing.

Xfinity Series back on track … After a weekend off, the NASCAR Xfinity Series is back in action this weekend at COTA. Coming into the weekend, Chandler Smith of Joe Gibbs Racing is the current points leader after powering his Toyota GR Supra to victory at Phoenix two weekends ago. His teammate, Sheldon Creed, currently sits sixth after three top-five finishes to begin the year.

Jones makes Xfinity debut … Emirati-British racing driver, Ed Jones, makes his season and Xfinity Series debut this weekend for Sam Hunt Racing in the No. 24 Toyota GR Supra. Jones, the 2016 Indy Lights Series champion and former IndyCar driver, made one start last season in the NASCAR CRAFTMSAN Truck Series at COTA as well. This will be the first of three starts for Jones with Sam Hunt Racing this season, also running at Portland and Sonoma this June.

Ty Gibbs returns to Xfinity Series … While having a stellar start to his sophomore campaign in the NASCAR Cup Series, Gibbs makes his first Xfinity Series start of 2024, piloting the No. 19 GR Supra this weekend for Joe Gibbs Racing. The 2022 Xfinity Series champion made eight starts in a GR Supra last season, which included a victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course last August. Another triumph for the 21-year-old would mark his 13th career Xfinity Series win.

Heim and Gray lead Team Toyota … Following their top-10 finishes last weekend at Bristol, Corey Heim and Taylor Gray continue to be the lead Toyota Tundras in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. Heim has finished in the top-10 in all four Truck races so far and sits second in the series points standings, while Gray has captured three top-10 finishes and is currently seventh.

Hawksworth makes Truck debut … IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship veteran and Lexus Racing factory driver, Jack Hawksworth, makes his first career Trucks Series start this weekend at COTA, piloting the No. 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for TRICON Garage. The 33-year-old British racing driver and 2023 IMSA GTD PRO champion has one previous NASCAR start in the Xfinity Series at Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course in 2019 for Joe Gibbs Racing, where he qualified second, earned a stage win and went on to finish 15th. Hawksworth comes to COTA with momentum after capturing victory with Lexus Racing in IMSA’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring last weekend.

NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA East

Sawalich looks for repeat … In the ARCA Menards Series East opener, defending series champion, William Sawalich, is looking for two sets of repeat wins. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver will go for his second straight win at Five Flags Speedway, as he was victorious in the season opener a year ago – the first of his four wins in 2023. He’s also coming off a win in the ARCA Menards Series race at Phoenix two weeks ago, where he started from pole and led 66 laps on the way to victory.

NHRA – Top Fuel | Funny Car

Toyota racers lead the way … After the strong start to the 2024 season at Gainesville, which included the Toyota and Kalitta Motorsports sweep by Shawn Langdon and J.R. Todd, Toyota’s NHRA drivers head to Pomona eager to continue the momentum. Toyota owns the top four, and six of the top seven positions, in the Top Fuel points standings with Langdon leading Steve (second) and Billy Torrence (third), followed by Antron Brown (fourth), Doug Kalitta (sixth) and Justin Ashley (seventh). In Funny Car, Todd leads the points standings after his victory with Ron Capps in fifth and Alexis DeJoria in eighth.

Toyota seeks Pomona three-peat … Should it claim another victory at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip from any of its nine NHRA racers, Toyota will have three victories in-a-row at the California race track after a sweep in 2023. Kalitta won the fall race last November in claiming his first Top Fuel championship and Ashley was victorious in the Winternationals last April. Ashley is also seeking his own three-peat at the Winternationals after winning the event in February 2022 as well.

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 45 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 26 electrified options.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Denny Hamlin
Circuit of Americas Advance
No. 11 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing

Event Overview

● Event: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (Round 6 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 24
● Location: Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas
● Layout: 3.426-mile, 20-turn road course
● Laps/Miles: 68 laps/231.88 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 15 laps / Stage 2: 15 laps / Final Stage: 38 laps
● TV/Radio: FOX / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● It’s Actually Quite Easy Being Green. Interstate Batteries is the founding partner for Joe Gibbs Racing with Interstate Batteries serving as the primary sponsor for at least one race on each of the four Toyotas fielded by JGR. This weekend is the first of two races the iconic Interstate Batteries brand will appear in the primary role for the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE for Hamlin, with the other being the June 16 inaugural Cup Series event at Iowa Speedway in Newton.

● 52 and Counting. Hamlin enters the race at COTA as the most recent winner in NASCAR’s top series. He brought home the win in Sunday’s race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, the 52nd of his career, which puts him alone in 13th on the all-time Cup Series win list. Hamlin now sits two wins behind 12th-place Lee Petty, who has 54 all-time wins.

● Team Interstate Dominance at Bristol: Led by Denny Hamlin’s first win of the season, all four JGR drivers had impressive outings at Bristol Sunday afternoon. In fact, the Team Interstate drivers for Joe Gibbs Racing led 383 of the 500 laps Sunday, with Hamlin pacing the field for 163 laps, Ty Gibbs leading 137 laps, Truex at the point for 54 laps, and Christopher Bell leading 29 laps. Hamlin and Truex finished first and second with the other two JGR drivers joining them in the top-10 – Gibbs ninth and Bell 10th.

● Up Front: JGR Toyota Camry XSE’s have dominated the competition in each of the last two Cup Series races with back-to-back victories. Bell won at Phoenix Raceway two weekends ago in lead-up to Hamlin’s victory Sunday at Bristol. Like Bristol, Team Interstate drivers dominated the laps-led category at Phoenix, as well – a combined 230 of the 312 laps led. Combined with their 383 of the 500 laps led at Bristol, JGR drivers have led a whopping 613 of the 812 laps available at the last two events.

● On Point: With his aforementioned win on Sunday, Hamlin climbed to fifth in the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings with 173 points, just 12 out of first place. Through the first five races of 2024, he has one win and three top-10 finishes.

● On the Road Again. This weekend’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix is the first of five road-course races that make up the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule. Hamlin has participated in all three Cup Series races that have taken place at the 3.426-mile circuit since the series started racing there in 2021. Hamlin won a stage during the 2022 race. His best result is the 14th-place finish he scored during the inaugural race in 2021.

●Road Racing History. Racing in Austin only tells part of Hamlin’s road-racing history. Since he started competing in the NASCAR Cup Series fulltime in 2006, he’s made a total of 50 starts on road courses. In those starts, Hamlin has one win – 2016 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International – 14 top-five finishes and 21 top-10s. He’s led a total of 241 laps.

Denny Hamlin, Driver of the No. 11 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE

What are your thoughts headed to Austin this weekend based on your past races there?

“First of all, I love the city of Austin, and the track is one of the best road courses we have on the circuit. It’s unfortunate that I haven’t run better than I have there. But what I enjoy about COTA is the challenge of it. Even though I’ve struggled, I feel optimistic every time I go there that I’ve learned something new and that it will equal speed and results when I get back there. I’m looking forward to it, I feel like we got better on the road courses last year. COTA was the first one last year and I took a step forward after that race and I feel like we made some gains, so I’m excited to see if we can put that all together with our Interstate Batteries Camry XSE this weekend. When you think of the beginning of Joe Gibbs Racing, you think of Interstate Batteries, so to have them on our car this weekend and in Iowa this summer, it’s always special. Would like nothing more than to get us back-to-back wins and doing it with Interstate Batteries on our car.”

How is racing at COTA and spending time in Austin received among your peers?

“The drivers love the venue. We’ve seen the fans come out in great numbers, and so anytime we see that, it shows the support of the fans and the drivers and we want to put on a great show for them. Love going there and it’s probably the same sentiment you will hear from most drivers. We are all looking forward to heading there this weekend and kind of kicking off the road-course season.”

NASCAR is moving the restart zone at COTA way back to the final turn coming onto the frontstretch. How do you feel about the change in location for the restart zone?

“I think they made a good adjustment there. Obviously last year was kind of a mess and the year before that as well where we were all piling into turn 1 and it just wasn’t a good look for anyone to be honest with you. All the drivers feel like if you do spread us out slightly more it will let us at least get the finish we deserve on that particular day as opposed to someone in 20th bowling ball their way up and taking out the fifth place guy and that was kind of what was happening on these late race restarts. That will break it up slightly for sure. We will still be in a pack into turn 1 but not to the extent it was last year. We made this adjustment at Indy last year and we thought it was a great adjustment there. I’m very optimistic with the changes that we are going to have a cleaner race.”

What will be the key to improving on your results from the past at COTA?

“I think just learning a lot from Tyler Reddick, honestly. He dominated the race there last year and he has a knack for how to race at that track. Just playing off of Tyler and seeing what he does and seeing what they have setup-wise and see if I can’t outrun them with our Interstate Batteries Camry this weekend.”

Can you speak to your evolution on the road courses?

“I think there have been a lot of factors. I think this is kind of the benefit of having one of the strongest road-course drivers in the Toyota family. I think there are many other Toyota drivers that are up-and-coming that are going to be challengers, as well, and I use any information that I can to try to get better. I know that I’m one of the lower talent guys on the road courses, so I just try to do everything I can to learn from them and try to use the resources that I have.”

Are we to the point of the season that we are starting to see trends?

“I think so. I think starting after last weekend at Bristol you can draw some sort of comparison on who is good to start the season, because we’ve gone to these tracks that are different, but if you have cars that are consistently running up front, no matter what the track, then clearly their team has some sort of process that is really, really good and bringing fast cars to the race track. I think you will be able to write some of those headlines on who is looking good the first part of the season, and then we will go through the summer and we will see some teams start to pick up their performance from there and start to peak right at the right time for the playoffs. You will definitely see some conclusions, but it doesn’t mean anything till the very end of the season.”

No. 11 Interstate Batteries Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Denny Hamlin

Hometown: Chesterfield, Virginia

Crew Chief: Chris Gabehart

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky

Car Chief: Brandon Griffeth

Hometown: Pittsfield, Illinois

Engineer: Ryan Bowers

Hometown: Mission Viejo, California

Race Engineer: Chris Minogue

Hometown: Midland Park, New Jersey

Spotter: Chris Lambert

Hometown: Kannapolis, North Carolina

Road Crew Members

Mechanic: Keith Holbrook

Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Mechanic: Matt Philpott

Hometown: Tracy, California

Mechanic: Cole Timm

Hometown: Mooresville, NC

Tuner: James Dudley

Hometown: Porterville, California

Truck Driver: Ken Gober

Hometown: Derry, New Hampshire

Transporter Driver: Frank Hodel

Hometown: Blythe, California

Over-The-Wall Crew Members

Gas Man: Kenneth Purcell

Hometown: Savannah, Georgia

Jackman: Joel Bouagnon

Hometown: Pomona, California

Tire Carrier: Dylan Dowell

Hometown: Fowler, Kansas

Front Tire Changer: AJ Rosini

Hometown: Dallas, Texas

Rear Tire Changer: Deven Youker

Hometown: Salisbury, New York