Category: XFINITY Series

[media-credit name=”bristolmotorspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”199″][/media-credit]GAFFNEY, S.C. (March 13, 2012) – Mike Wallace and the No. 01 G&K Services Chevrolet of JD Motorsports are looking forward to this Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Sure, there are some drivers who might dread the action that awaits them at the half-mile, high-banked concreted oval. But, that doesn’t apply to team owner Johnny Davis, Wallace and crew chief Newt Moore.

They’ve been around racing long enough to experience Bristol a few times. That, in turn, gives them the right perspective in regards to what it takes to be successful in the concrete arena.

Mike Wallace Fast Facts

·         This will be Wallace’s 420th NASCAR Nationwide Series start, and fourth of the 2012 season.

·         The four-time NNS winner had a best start of third (1996) and finish of fourth (1993) during his previous 27 starts at BMS

·         During that span, the St. Louis native has completed 86.9 percent (5,938 of 6,835) of race laps.

·         His one top-five and five top-10 finishes have aided in a 21.3 average finish at the track.

·         In this race last year, engine woes cut the No. 01 team’s day 24 laps short relegating them to a 32nd-place finish

·         Through the first three starts in 2012, Wallace has completed 90.8 percent (472 of 520) laps scheduled and led one circuit.

·         He and brother Kenny Wallace are currently tied for 16th and 17th in Driver’s Points for the NNS.

Tune in for the Win: There are two practice sessions on Friday. The first is 10:30 to 11:50 a.m. ET, then 2 to 3:30 p.m. which are both on SPEED TV. Qualifying will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning on SPEED. Then, switch over to ESPN for flag-to-flag coverage of al 300 laps beginning at 2 p.m., or tune into PRN and XM Sirius NASCAR Radio Ch. 90 for your hearing pleasure.

Mike Wallace Quotes: “Bristol is one of those tracks where you need to be good early, so you can be good for the end. You have to be fast as soon as they drop the green flag because if you start to get lapped early, then you’re going to be chasing track position right from the start.

“We need to take advantage of our two practice sessions on Friday and get our G&K Services Chevrolet dialed in right away. If we have good practice sessions, then back it with an equal qualifying run, I’m confident this team can be competitive in the race.

“I know its St. Patrick’s Day, so I’m sure the usual Bristol crowd is going to be a little more animated than usual. So, it’s up to myself, Newt, Johnny and the team to give them a good show. If we can stay out of other people’s problems, then we’ll give the fans in the stands what they can me to see.”

[media-credit name=”bristolmotorspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”199″][/media-credit]Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Ford Ecoboost 300 Advance

Team:           No. 6 Cargill/Blackwell Angus Ford Mustang

Crew Chief:  Mike Kelley

Chassis:       RK-708 – primary – new Nationwide chassis

RK–672 – backup – last ran at Dover – finished first.

Stenhouse, Jr – Bristol Motor Speedway:

Race Event St Fin Laps Money Status Led

3/20/2010 Scotts Turf Builder 300 24 25 267/300  $     30,518 running 4

8/20/2010 Food City 250 31 22 250/250  $     28,998 running

0 3/19/2011 Scotts EZ Seed 300 1 14 298/300  $     29,093 running 28

8/26/2011 Food City 250 10 11 250/250  $     24,843 running 0

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

Cumulative        4                 0           0           0                  1             32          $113,452

QUOTES

Stenhouse, Jr. on racing at Bristol Motor Speedway:

“I love racing at Bristol. We sat on the pole there last year so I feel confident that we can have a repeat performance. I think this race is going to be really tough. This race track you never know what is going to happen so I am going into this race ready for anything. We have Cargill/Blackwell Angus on the car this weekend and they have been great supporters of me and my team. It would be great to get them a victory at Bristol.”

Crew chief Mike Kelley on racing at Bristol Motor Speedway:

“We have a lot of momentum coming into Bristol. The racing at Bristol is always exciting because anything can happen. You deal with a lot of elements that are unlike any other track. Pit road has a lot of congestion and is very tight so our No. 6 team has been working all week getting ready for this type of environment. Ricky is an excellent short track racer so I feel confident that we can get the No. 6 Cargill/Blackwell Angus Ford into victory lane.”

FAST FACTS

So far in 2012, Ricky has one win, two top-five, and two top-ten. Stenhouse is currently third in the point standings; 17 points behind leader Elliott Sadler. Stenhouse will be a guest on Saturday’s pre-race show before the Ford Ecoboost 300.

About Roush Fenway Racing

Roush Fenway Racing is the winningest team in NASCAR history, fielding multiple teams in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series with championship drivers Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne. Celebrating 25 winning years in 2012, Roush Fenway is the leader in NASCAR marketing solutions, pioneering its exclusive Roush Fenway OnTrack sponsorship measurement services, motorsport’s first team-focused TV show and its award-winning social marketing channel RickyvsTrevor.com. Visit www.RoushFenway.com, circle on Google+ at +Roush Fenway Racing, become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/roushfenway and follow on Twitter at @roushfenway. For sponsorship inquiries call John Bauersfeld at 704.720.4621

[media-credit name=”bristolmotorspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”199″][/media-credit]Kenny Wallace

No. 09 MAC Tools Toyota Camry

Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date:     Ford EcoBoost 300 – March 17, 2012

Venue:            Bristol Motor Speedway

News & Notes:

This Week’s Toyota… Kenny Wallace will pilot RAB Racing Chassis No. 41 in Saturday’s 300-lap NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Bristol Motor Speedway. This chassis last saw action at Chicagoland Speedway in September, 2011, when Wallace piloted this Toyota Camry to a 17th-place finish.

Short-Track Success … Kenny Wallace is no stranger to success at the short tracks of NASCAR’s Nationwide Series circuit. In fact, seven of his nine wins have come at short tracks. Additionally, Wallace’s resume shows five poles and 40 top-five finishes at tracks less than one mile in length.

Wallace at Bristol… Wallace has 55 combined starts at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series. In 35 Nationwide Series starts, Wallace has accumulated one win, one pole, eight top-five and 18 top-10 finishes.  In the Sprint Cup Series, Wallace has recorded two top-10 finishes and one pole in 20 career starts.

RAB Racing at Bristol … In six Nationwide Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway dating back to 2004, RAB Racing has earned two top-20 finishes with drivers Kenny Wallace and John Wes Townley. The team’s highest finish came in March, 2009 when Townley finished 16th.

Bristol Flashback… RAB Racing and Wallace competed at the half-mile track twice in 2011, finishing 17th and 36th, respectively. Until last week’s Bashas’ Supermarket 200 at Phoenix International Raceway, 2011’s Food City 250 fourth-place qualifying effort was RAB Racing’s highest ever.

Where it all Began… RAB Racing made their NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 27, 2004 with driver Carl Edwards. The 2007 Nationwide Series champion started 14th and finished 19th driving RAB Racing’s Mac Tools sponsored No. 03 machine. Since then, RAB Racing has recorded one win, two top fives, 12 top 10s and has led 17 laps in 103 races throughout their first five seasons on NASCAR’s junior circuit.

New Website … Not only is RAB Racing expanding on the track, but also off the track with the launch of our new website. Our updated site makes it easy for fans and media to follow along throughout the 2012 season. Visit www.TeamRAB.com for news, releases, results, and multimedia.

Catch the Action … Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway will be televised live Saturday, March 17 beginning at 1 p.m. EST on ESPN and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network. NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying will be televised live Saturday, March 17 beginning at 10:30a.m. EST on SPEED.

Kenny Wallace Quotes:

“Bristol Motor Speedway is by far one of, if not my favorite tracks on the NASCAR circuit. It’s been a great track for me, and I think everyone knows that the whole Wallace family, really, has had a lot of success there over the years. I always look forward to Bristol, some of the most exciting racing of the year happens there. I can’t think of racing at Bristol and not have a smile on my face.”

Kyle Busch Finishes 33rd at LVMS with Strong Team Effort

Las Vegas Native will wait Another Year for NNS Win at Home Track

Event: Sam’s Town 300 (Race 3 of 33)

Series: NASCAR Nationwide Series

Location: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)

Start/Finish: 20th/ 33rd (Running, completed 127 of 200 laps)

Winner: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. of Roush Fenway Racing (Ford)

In his ninth career NASCAR Nationwide Series start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch brought a new race team and new car chassis to compete at the 1.5-mile D-shaped oval on Saturday. Under the umbrella of new Nationwide Series team Kyle Busch Motorsports, and from their third race start this season, the No. 54 Monster Energy team qualified in the 20th starting position for the 16th Annual Sam’s Town 300 from Las Vegas, Nev.  Early in the race, however, the young group had to work together to fix a damaged race car and returned car-owner Busch to the speedway, salvaging a 33rd place finish.

“I hate this for my guys,” described Busch.  “We would have been alright — probably an eighth, ninth or 10th-place car.  We’ll go get them in Fontana (Calif.).  I know Bristol is next, but you know, we need to work on our next intermediate track,” the team owner explained.

Despite adversity the team experienced through early weekend practice sessions, to find the right setup for the bumpy track surface, Busch remained hopeful for a strong showing in front of family and friends. The race started well for the Las Vegas native, as he climbed through the field to within the top-ten positions, in initial race laps. Although, from as high as the ninth spot, and upon the first yellow-flag period, the 26-year-old driver described what would be a precursor to the day. “I’m wrecking loose,” Busch exclaimed on lap 12 prior to a pit stop. Crew chief Mike Beam enlisted the crew to make some big car changes, through track bar and wedge adjustments, along with taking fuel during the initial pit stop.

The team knew further changes may be needed to satisfy the driver and his ill-handling race car, but they didn’t get the chance to make those fixes under normal race progress. On lap 26, Busch spun off Turn 2 and backed his No. 54 Toyota into the inside wall along the track backstretch. The team owner drove his car to the garage, where he sat patiently inside the vehicle for almost 40 minutes, while his team made vigorous repairs to the damaged Camry.

This young group still has bonding to do, in order to develop into a Championship caliber team, however they showed their strong motivation to win, by pulling together to make the major repairs and get driver-owner Busch back onto the race track.

Back in the field at the halfway point of the 200-lap event, and with over 70 laps lost during garage-stall repairs, the No. 54 Monster Energy team returned to the race in the 38th position. Over the course of two more team pit stops, and through attrition of other race teams during the later part of the race, the KBM group earned five additional spots by race end, bringing home the machine in the 33rd position.

The Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 54 NNS entry currently sits 15th in the Series Owner’s Points Standings,    60 points out of first place, through three races completed.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won his third career Nationwide Series event and first Series win of 2012 in the Roush Fenway owned Ford EcoBoost machine, with a strong run over second-place finisher Mark Martin. Elliott Sadler, Trevor Bayne and Brendan Gaughan completed the top-five finishers.

There were seven caution periods for 27 laps of the race along with eight lead changes across eight drivers.

The next event on the NNS schedule is the Ford EcoBoost 300 from Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, with the race television broadcast starting at 1:00 p.m. EST on ESPN and the radio broadcast on PRN. Busch will make his fourth start of the season behind the wheel of the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 54 Monster Energy Camry.

About Monster Beverage Corporation:

Based in Corona, California, Monster Energy refuses to acknowledge the traditional and the disingenuous. Monster always supports the scene and the sport. Whether it be motocross, off-road, NASCAR, MotoGP, BMX, surf, snowboard, ski, skateboard, or the rock and roll lifestyle, Monster is a brand that believes in authenticity and the core of what its sports, athletes and musicians symbolize. Much more than a drink, it’s a way of life lived by our athletes, sports, bands, believers and fans. See more about Monster Beverage Corporation – including all of its drinks – at www.monsterenergy.com and Facebook.com/MonsterEnergy.

About Mad Media:

Mad Media (www.madmedia.com) is San Diego based marketing and creative agency offering professional print, web, and film production. They specialize in producing culturally relevant brand messaging using professional athletes, musicians, and artists. Mad Media focuses on sports and cultures that they are passionate about, including skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding, motocross, FMX, BMX, off-road racing, rally racing, Hip-Hop, Punk Rock and Mixed Martial Arts. Mad Media has produced over twenty major commercial and viral film projects this year for clients such as Subaru of America, DC Shoes, Monster Energy Drink, and Harley-Davidson. Mad Media has been executing immersive marketing campaigns since 1996.

[media-credit name=”lvms.com” align=”alignright” width=”160″][/media-credit]CONCORD, N.C. (March 12, 2012) – The NASCAR Nationwide Series teams and drivers continued their western swing this past weekend, competing in the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Determined to make up for a tough start to the 2012 season and demonstrate what RAB Racing’s Toyota Camrys are capable of, Kenny Wallace overcame a late-race pit road penalty to take the checkered flag in the 11th position.

In Friday’s dual practice sessions, Wallace posted the 18th and 21st-fastest times, respectively. The speed carried over into qualifying, where he piloted the No. 09 Toyota Camry to an 18th-place starting position.

From the drop of the green flag, Wallace steadily advanced towards the front of the field. The combination of a strong Toyota Camry and lightning-fast pit stops by the RAB Racing pit crew saw Wallace break inside the top-10 at lap 73, where he would maintain his position until a penalty for speeding entering pit road on Lap 147 dropped him to the tail end of the longest line for the restart. Taking the green flag in the 15th position, Wallace compensated for the feux pas by aggressively working his way through the field. As the laps wound to a close in the 300-mile event, Wallace maintained the 10th position. With the white flag displayed, signifying the final lap of the event, Kasey Kahne was able to pass Wallace for the position, crediting the No. 09 team with an 11th-place finish.

“Kahne and I were just going at it the last couple laps,” Wallace said. “I got by him, and then he got by me on the white flag lap and I just couldn’t hold him off.

“I wanted a Top 10 really bad, but this was a good run for our team,” Wallace continued. “We’ve ran well and RAB Racing has had great equipment the last two weeks, but we just didn’t have the finishes to show for it. This heals some of the wounds. Now we’ll go to Bristol, which is one of my favorite racetracks. I’m looking forward to it.”

The next stop for the NASCAR Nationwide Series will be Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 17th, 2012.

RCR Post Race Report — Las Vegas Motor Speedway

NASCAR Nationwide Series

RACE: Las Vegas 300

TRACK: Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Race Highlights:

Richard Childress Racing teammates finished third (Elliott Sadler), fifth (Brendan Gaughan) and seventh (Austin Dillon). Sadler leads the Nationwide Series driver championship point standings by 15 points over Dillon. The No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet team also leads the owner point standings by 14 over the No. 33 RCR team. Combined, the RCR entries posted 17.4 percent of the fastest laps of the race, with Sadler posting the fastest lap 21 times, Dillon four times and Gaughan three times. Sadler, Gaughan and Dillon ranked second, third and fourth, respectively, in NASCAR’s Loop Data category for Speed in Traffic. Dillon and Sadler were ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in NASCAR’s Loop Data category for Average Running Position with a 6.195 and a 6.810, while Gaughan held an average running position of 8.210, ranking him eighth. Sadler has yet to finish outside of the top-five in the three Nationwide Series races contested this season and no RCR team has finished outside of the top 10. Sadler posted his second top-10 finish in six races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Emporia, Va., driver earned his 12th pole in 167-career Nationwide Series starts. Dillon was one of three drivers who completed the entire race without falling below 15th in the running order. Dillon tied for third in Quality Passes (passing for position while running in the top 15) with 30. Gaughan was ranked the sixth fastest driver late in the run on Saturday afternoon’s main event. Gaughan made 38 green-flag passes during the 200-lap affair ranking him fourth overall. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. earned his third career Nationwide Series victory and was followed to the finish line by Mark Martin, Sadler, Trevor Bayne and Gaughan. The next Nationwide Series race is the Bristol 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 17. The fourth race of the 2012 season is scheduled to be televised live on ESPN2 beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

Elliott Sadler Earns Solid Third-Place Finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Elliott Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet team earned a third-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after Sadler captured their first pole award of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series season. Coming off a victory last week at Phoenix International Raceway, Sadler and the No. 2 crew kicked off the 200-lap event from the front of the field, leading the first 26 laps. Early in the event, Sadler communicated to crew chief Luke Lambert he felt the car hitting the track hard, causing the steering wheel to jerk back in his hands. Lambert and the No. 2 crew quickly developed a game plan to alleviate the concern. At the halfway marker, Lambert called Sadler to come down pit road for an extended stop, changing four tires, fuel and opening the hood of the car to make a chassis adjustment to lift the front end of the Chevrolet Impala off the track. The No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet team restarted in the 20th position on lap 103, the last car on the lead lap. With the splitter problem fixed, Sadler quickly picked off cars, and by lap 170, he worked his way back into the top five. The Emporia, Va., driver continued to work his way around the 2.5-mile track, battling for each position and crossed the finish line in the third position, earning the team’s third top-five finish of the season. Sadler remains the leader of the Nationwide Series driver point standings, 15 points ahead of RCR teammate Austin Dillon.

Start – 1                   Finish – 3                     Laps Led – 26             Points Position – 1

ELLIOTT SADLER QUOTE:

“What a great effort by the No. 2 OneMain Financial team today. It was great having momentum from our win last week, and we unloaded quickly with a really fast car all weekend. We thought that the race track was going to slow down a lot, and we made some adjustments on the front end of the car that made the splitter hit the track way too hard. Luke Lambert made a great call for us to come into the pits for a longer stop to really evaluate how we could get the splitter off the track, which really did make our car fast. We drove from 20th to third. I’m so proud of my guys. This is what championship efforts are made of.”

Austin Dillon Extends Top-10 Streak with Seventh-Place Finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Sporting the green and black colors of American Ethanol for the first time this season, Austin Dillon and Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 team earned their third consecutive top-10 finish in the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series with a seventh-place finish in Saturday’s Las Vegas 300. Dillon started the 200-lap race from the third position and did not fall outside of the top 15, spending a majority of the race running in the top five. He was running in the fifth position when the first of seven caution flags was displayed at lap 11, prompting crew chief Danny Stockman to instruct Dillon down pit road for a fuel-only pit stop. The Clemmons, N.C.-native driver restarted the race in the 12th position and quickly made his way into the top 10. He was running ninth when the caution flag was displayed at lap 25 and Stockman prompted Dillon to pit for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. The 21-year-old driver restarted in the sixth position at lap 30 and made three subsequent four-tire pit stops, all under caution periods. Dillon was in the fourth position for a lap-162 restart following the final yellow flag of the race but quickly dropped to 10th in the running order as he struggled with a tight-handling Chevrolet. As the run progressed, Dillon was able to regain momentum and crossed the finish line in the seventh position to earn his third consecutive top-10 finish. He remains second in the Nationwide Series driver championship point standings.

Start – 3                   Finish – 7                    Laps Led – 0             Points Position – 2

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:  “The No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet got tighter and tighter as the weather cooled down. On the last restart I had to check up to make it to the top of the race track because the car was so tight that I couldn’t drive it on the bottom. When I did that I lost a bunch of momentum and track position. We were able to gain a few spots at the end. We’ll take the top-10 and it’s on to Bristol.”

Brendan Gaughan Finishes Fifth in Front of Hometown Crowd

Brendan Gaughan and the No. 33 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet team earned a solid top-five finish in the NASCAR Nationwide Series 2012 season in the Las Vegas 300 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Las Vegas native took the green flag from the ninth position Saturday afternoon in front of an estimated 70,000 race fans after a one-year hiatus from the sophomore touring division. Early in the race, the black and gold Chevrolet developed a loose condition but over the first few caution periods, crew chief Ernie Cope called for minor chassis adjustments to combat the issue. Gaughan raced his way back into the top 10 by lap 42, but informed the No. 33 team members of a tight machine. Cope called for more chassis adjustments and fresh Goodyear tires on the ensuing pit stops under yellow-flag conditions. Just past the halfway mark of the 200-lap affair, Gaughan had the upper hand on the temperamental Chevrolet and began his trek into the top five. The final caution flag slowed the field on lap 158, but on the restart, Gaughan was shuffled back to the 10th position. In the last 40 laps of the race, Gaughan was able to claw his way through the field to bring home the No. 33 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet, driving to a fifth-place finish his career-best finish at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Start – 9                       Finish – 5                     Laps Led – 0

BRENDAN GAUGHAN QUOTE:

“It feels really good to be back. Last year, I would have been doing back flips for a top-five finish but this year, I’m actually a little disappointed we didn’t finish in the top-three. It’s kind of nice to be disappointed about that. Ernie (Cope, crew chief) and all of the No. 33 South Point Hotel & Casino guys put together a fast race car. I can’t thank them and Richard Childress Racing enough for such a great piece of equipment.”

LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY RACE REPORT

Michael Annett

No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang

Michael Annett started the 200-lap NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway from the 21st position. Annett finished the Sam’s Town 300 as follows:

13th—Michael Annett, No.43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang

·         Saturday marked Annett’s second top-15 finish with Richard Petty Motorsports.

·         Annett made his 108th NASCAR Nationwide Series start this weekend.

·         Fighting a loose condition throughout the majority of the 300-mile event, the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports crew led by Crew Chief Philippe Lopez, made a plethora of adjustments to the Pilot Flying J car.

·         Annett ran in the top-15 for the majority of the 200-lap event and was scored as high as 11th-place in the early laps of the race.

·         Ricky Stenhouse Jr., in a Ford, claimed the victory Saturday afternoon in a race that saw seven caution flags wave for a total of 32 laps.

·         Unofficially, Annett sits in eighth place in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver point standings heading into Bristol next weekend.

Annett’s Thoughts After the Race: “We struggled with the handling of our Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang today, but I think we figured some things out that will help us when we come back out to California in a couple of weeks. My guys never gave up the whole race and we made a lot of adjustments to the car. I can’t thank my team enough for the job they have done the past three weeks. My pit crew did and awesome job in the pits today and we had some lightning fast stops. Each week we continue to grow as a team, and each week I look forward to going to the track to see what we can learn to make out car better and better.”

Next up in NASCAR Nationwide Series action is the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, March 17, at 1 p.m. ET. The event will be broadcast on ESPN.

Be sure to follow Richard Petty Motorsports on Twitter @RPMotorsports for behind the scenes updates, driver appearance information and qualifying and race updates. You can also check us out on Facebook.

[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”276″][/media-credit]Bayne fourth; RFR places two Fords in Top-five

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (March 10, 2012) – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. continued Roush Fenway’s dominance at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, taking the lead with 54 laps to go in Saturday’s Nationwide Series race and never looking back, pulling away from veteran Mark Martin in his No. 6 EcoBoost Ford Mustang to win in dominating fashion at the 1.5-mile tri-oval oval.

The victory is Roush Fenway’s 16th NASCAR win at Vegas and its sixth in the Nationwide Series. Stenhouse became the fourth driver to win for RFR at LVMS (Martin, Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle) in the NNS and the eighth to win a NASCAR event for Roush Fenway in Vegas. Ironically, the future pulled away from the past in the event, as Martin won Roush Fenway’s first Sprint Cup event at LVMS in 1998 and two more times in the Nationwide Series in 1999 and 2005.

“It was really cool,” said Stenhouse in victory lane. “Looking at all the fans in the stands that came out was pretty cool before the race and to win here was great.  Our Ford EcoBoost Mustang was not as good as we wanted at the start of the race.  If you would have listened to our radio, I’m sure (crew chief) Mike (Kelly) over here was tired of listening to me, but he kept taking notes of what I was saying and made it better. The guys on pit road did an awesome job to get us out first and that really helped to win us that race.”

Roush Fenway’s Trevor Bayne might have had the fastest car on the track in the final laps of the race, slashing through the field for a fourth-place finish.

It was the third career Nationwide Series win for Stenhouse and the 125 for RFR. Roush Fenway Racing has now visited victory lane in 12 of the last 16 seasons at LVMS. The win was Roush Fenway’s record-extending 301st NASCAR victory and its second this season.

The team will look for its 17th Las Vegas win in tomorrow’s Sprint Cup race. The event is slated for 3:00 p.m. EDT on FOX.

Roush Fenway Las Vegas Wins

1998    Martin             Cup

1999    Burton            Cup

2000    Burton            Cup

2003    Kenseth          Cup

2004    Kenseth          Cup

2008    Edwards         Cup

2011    Edwards         Cup

1999    Martin             NNS

2000    Burton            NNS

2002    Burton            NNS

2005    Martin             NNS

2009    Biffle               NNS

2011    Stenhouse      NNS

1997    Ruttman         CWTS

1999    Biffle               CWTS

2007    Kvapil             CWTS

About Roush Fenway Racing

Roush Fenway Racing is the winningest team in NASCAR history, fielding multiple teams in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series with championship drivers Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne. Celebrating 25 winning years in 2012, Roush Fenway is the leader in NASCAR marketing solutions, pioneering its exclusive Roush Fenway OnTrack sponsorship measurement services, motorsport’s first team-focused TV show and its award-winning social marketing channel RickyvsTrevor.com. Visit www.RoushFenway.com, become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/roushfenway and follow on Twitter at @roushfenway. For sponsorship inquiries call John Bauersfeld at 704.720.4621.

[media-credit name=”lvms.com” align=”alignright” width=”160″][/media-credit]TOYOTA NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Post-Race Notes & Quotes Las Vegas Motor Speedway – March 10, 2012

Mark Martin (second) was the highest finishing Toyota driver in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Martin led once for 44 laps in his first race driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. Other Toyota drivers in the field included Kenny Wallace (11th), Mike Bliss (15th), Tayler Malsam (16th), Joe Nemechek (20th), Eric McClure (25th), Jason Bowles (27th), Kyle Busch (33rd), Brian Scott (34th) and Jeff Green (40th).

MARK MARTIN, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 2nd How was your first Nationwide Series race with Joe Gibbs Racing? “Thanks to Joe Gibbs and everybody at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Interstate Batteries. This Toyota was awesome and they were awesome. I needed to run a race to see if I could find a few things that maybe we could work on to improve. I got a few ideas, but that was one serious beat down Ricky Stenhouse just put on me there at the end. That was a serious beat down, man. I almost wrecked the car about four or five times — probably five or six times. It was just like I can’t do it — man he (Ricky Stenhouse) was gone.”

How was your race at Las Vegas? “This was so much fun — it was such a great race car. It’s so fun to be a part of Joe Gibbs Racing. I’d like to do some more of these. We have some on the schedule, but no sponsorship so far. Heck, I don’t know, I enjoy watching these things on TV, but that was a good view I had right there — I enjoyed it. That was a serious beat down that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. put on me that last run. I have to admit I almost wrecked the car five times trying to keep up with him and finally just had to surrender. I just about wrecked it I don’t know how many times. He was just gone.”

Did you have fun in today’s race? “I did, I’d just like to start by saying what a special treat it was to be able to join the Joe Gibbs organization, JGR, it’s just something that we’ve wanted to do for a long time and the stars didn’t line up until now to do it. J.D. (Gibbs, president) and I had a little fun with it for sure. It’s a real privilege — I would like to do more of it, but there’s no sponsorship for that right now. I have six more on the schedule if we could stir something up. It sure was fun to work with Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and all those guys.”

What’s your secret to running well at Las Vegas? “I get to drive really fast cars. That’s what it is — really fast race cars. Lucky me.”

How much fun are the NNS cars compared to the NSCS cars? “I’m going to tell you something. My Cup car drives way better than this car. I — whew, I don’t know — you saw me almost wreck I don’t know how many times today. Man I can’t wait to get back in that Cup car. I didn’t think it was so slick yesterday, but today it was a handful. I never was real comfortable out there.”

KENNY WALLACE, No. 09 RAB Racing Toyota Camry, RAB Racing with Brack Maggard Finishing Position: 11th How was your race? “I tell you what, it was a good day for us. The track was really fast and I hate it. Me and Kasey Kahne were just going at it the last couple laps and I got by him and then he got by me on the white flag lap or two laps to go, I just couldn’t hold him off. It was a good run for our team. I wanted top-10 really bad, but we needed to stop the bleeding. We ran good the last two weeks and we don’t have anything to show for it because of the wreck. This heals some of the wounds. Now we’ll go to Bristol which is really good for me and I’m looking forward to it.”

MIKE BLISS, No. 44 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports Finishing Position: 15th

TAYLER MALSAM, No. 19 G-Oil Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports Finishing Position: 16th

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 D.A.B. Constructors Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finishing Position: 20th

ERIC MCCLURE, No. 14 Hefty/Reynolds Wrap Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports Finishing Position: 25th

JASON BOWLES, No. 81 American Majority Toyota Camry Finishing Position: 27th

KYLE BUSCH, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Kyle Busch Motorsports Finishing Position: 33rd How was your race? “I hate this for my guys, we would have been alright — probably an eighth, ninth or 10th-place car. We’ll go get them in Fontana. I know Bristol is next, but you know, we need to work on our next intermediate track.”

BRIAN SCOTT, No. 11 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 34th Are you okay? “Yeah, I’m fine. I hate it for our team. We had such a fast Dollar General Toyota all weekend. I ran up front all day and we were just in lap traffic and I got caught on the bottom and the 60 (Trevor Bayne) came around me and these cars are so dependent on that side-force aerodynamically that he started sucking me around with the big air I made. I should have spun it out to the inside but I tried to save it and it ended up hooking and we went head first into the wall. The most disappointing thing is that we were just so fast and the guys did such a good job and for something like that to happen, I hate it. We showed good strength on these 1.5-miles and we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

Is the track bumpier than in the past? “It’s bumpy and it’s slick. Turn three and four gets the sun baked on it all day and you’re slick both on the front and the rear — you can be tight and loose both over there and that’s what we were. We made an adjustment on the pit stop and unfortunately our car didn’t get any better, we went the wrong way. Then we got sucked around — it was an error — should have just spun it out. There was nothing I could do. When a car passes you that close, it just sucks you around. I should have just spun it out and I tried to save it to be a hero and instead we ended up in the wall.”

How did you end up making contact with the wall? “Unfortunately, I just got trapped working through lapped traffic. I had the 60 (Trevor Bayne) outside me. This track — it heats up in the day — and it felt tight and loose down there, and just slick. The 60 (Trevor Bayne) got around me and it sucked me around. And, you can go from a hero to a zero pretty quick in this sport. I tried to save it when I should have just spun it out, and it ended up hooking and going hard into the outside wall. I just hate it. Everyone on our Dollar General team did such a great job all weekend. We had a really fast car. We had a car capable of winning. I think we kind of went the wrong way on the last pit stop. Now, our day is over.”

JEFF GREEN, No. 10 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports Finishing Position: 40th