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  • Stenhouse wins the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

    Stenhouse wins the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”276″][/media-credit]Ricky Stenhouse Jr. held off veteran driver Mark Martin by 4.785 seconds to win Saturday’s Nationwide Series Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    Stenhouse Jr. led the final 54 laps in route to his first victory of the season.

    “It was really cool. Looking at all the fans in the stands that came out was pretty cool before the race and to win here was fun. I got here Sunday, so I’ve been here a while and it paid off.” Stenhouse Jr. said.

    Martin, making his first Nationwide Series race for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 18 Toyota led 44 laps and finished second.

    “That was one serious beatdown he put on me that last run. I mean just a beatdown. I kept up with for a while and about wrecked five times, and that’s it. I’m not ashamed to say, it wasn’t even close.” Martin said.  “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.”

    Polesitter and series points leader Elliott Sadler finished third after pitting for a vibration problem.

    “We showed a lot of guts and effort today. We had a good race car and anytime you can go through what we did today and get a third-place finish, we’ve very happy with that.” Sadler said.

    Sadler has a 15 point lead in the series standings over Austin Dillon.

    Trevor Bayne finished fourth and Brendan Gaughan finished fifth.

    “It’s good when you can say a top five is disappointing. We want to be in Victory Lane every week and there for a while I thought we had a shot at it. We just got too tight at the end when the sun went down, so it’s a decent run.” Bayne said.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Sam’s Town 300, Las Vegas Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=3
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 – 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 48
    2 – 18 Mark Martin Toyota 0
    3 – 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 42
    4 – 60 Trevor Bayne Ford 40
    5 – 33 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 0
    6 – 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet 38
    7 – 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet 37
    8 – 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 36
    9 – 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 35
    10 – 38 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0
    11 – 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 33
    12 – 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 32
    13 – 43 Michael Annett Ford 31
    14 – 30 James Buescher Chevrolet 0
    15 – 44 Mike Bliss Toyota 29
    16 – 19 Tayler Malsam Toyota 28
    17 – 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 28
    18 – 41 Blake Koch Ford 26
    19 – 70 Johanna Long * Chevrolet 25
    20 – 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 24
    21 – 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 23
    22 – 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 22
    23 – 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0
    24 – 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 20
    25 – 14 Eric McClure Toyota 19
    26 – 4 Daryl Harr Chevrolet 18
    27 – 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota 17
    28 – 108 Kyle Fowler Ford 16
    29 – 52 Tim Schendel Chevrolet 15
    30 – 124 Benny Gordon Chevrolet 14
    31 – 50 T.J. Bell Ford 13
    32 – 28 Derrike Cope Dodge 12
    33 – 54 Kyle Busch Toyota 0
    34 – 11 Brian Scott Toyota 11
    35 – 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet 9
    36 – 113 Jennifer Jo Cobb Dodge 0
    37 – 39 Joey Gase * Ford 7
    38 – 27 J.J. Yeley Ford 0
    39 – 46 Chase Miller Chevrolet 5
    40 – 10 Jeff Green Toyota 4
    41 – 42 Josh Wise Chevrolet 0
    42 – 47 Scott Speed Chevrolet 0
    43 – 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 1
  • Stenhouse Jr. Wins Las Vegas Nationwide Race

    Stenhouse Jr. Wins Las Vegas Nationwide Race

    [media-credit name=”lvms.com” align=”alignright” width=”160″][/media-credit]FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES

    Sam’s Town 300

    March 10, 2012

    Las Vegas Motor Speedway

    STENHOUSE JR. GIVES FORD FIRST NATIONWIDE WIN OF 2012

    •       Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won his third career NASCAR Nationwide Series race and became the fourth different Roush Fenway driver to win a series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, joining Mark Martin, Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle.

    •       The win was the 13th at LVMS for Roush Fenway and Ford in 30 combined NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide races at the facility.

    •       Ford has now won a NASCAR Sprint Cup or Nationwide race 11 out of 16 years at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    TREVOR BAYNE – No. 60 Roush Fenway Ford Mustang (Finished 4th) – “It’s good when you can say a top five is disappointing.  We want to be in Victory Lane every week and there for a while I thought we had a shot at it.  We just got too tight at the end when the sun went down, so it’s a decent run.  I’m proud of the team for having two cars in the top five with very limited guys and budget and everything else, so they’re doing a great job this year.  I just hope we can keep it going.  I really want to contend for this championship this season. We’ve got an 11th and a seventh and a fourth, so we’re getting better every week and that’s all you can hope for.  We’ll see what happens here in the future.”

    WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT FINAL RESTART WHEN YOU FELL BACK?  “I got trapped in the middle.  I was pushing Mark Martin and thought he was going to get the lead and I just got trapped right there in the center of them and when you get in the middle you just drop back.  I was doing all I could do, but it just took us too long to get back by everybody.”

    MICHAEL ANNETT – No. 43 Pilot/Flying J Ford Mustang (Finished 13th) – “It was just a long day.  Obviously, we had a bunch of pit stops to try and make it better, but we struggled for speed all weekend.  Our trouble spot through practice was turns one and two, and then in the race it was three and four so it kind of flip-flopped on us.  We definitely got a lot of notes.  We found some things that helped us and definitely didn’t, so we’ll put that in our notebook and try to make ourselves better for California.”

    RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – No. 6 Ford EcoBoost Mustang – WINNER’S PRESS CONFERENCE: “It was really cool.  Looking at all the fans in the stands that came out was pretty cool before the race and to win here was fun.  I got here Sunday, so I’ve been here a while and it paid off.  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 Mike over here was tired of listening to me, but he kept taking notes of what I was saying and made it better.  It was weird.  The track went loose for a while and the last couple runs it started tightening back up and Mike made a good pit call there at the end and got us freed up.  The guys on pit road did an awesome job to get us out first and that really helped to win us that race.”

    MIKE KELLEY, Crew Chief – No. 6 Ford EcoBoost Mustang – “This race today was a lot about what we knew about notes about these cars and these tracks, and not coming here on Thursday and Friday and making a lot of changes to our car based on what we saw when we got on the track.  We just kept the course of what the whole plan was for the day.  Ricky is really good about giving feedback.  He talks and explains to us everything the car is doing, what the track is going through, what temperature is doing to the track, and we’re scanning other drivers and we kind of knew where we started that if the track did what we thought it would towards the middle of the race, our car would start to find its way to the front and it did.  A few more changes later it showed some speed and the guys did a great job on pit road and got him out front when we needed to, and, from that point on, it was Ricky setting sail.  The car was fast.  Doug and those guys gave us a really good motor and Jack and Ford allow us to build great race cars and I can’t say enough about my team.  They’ve been working a lot of hours here and it’s really hard at the shop.  We’ve downsized some and running less teams and we’re trying to build cars for us and Trevor and bringing really good pieces to the track.  I felt like we had a shot at winning Daytona coming off turn four and I felt like we had a really good car at Phoenix and just missed on getting him out front when we needed to, but I’m just so proud of my guys and proud of Ricky for coming out of the box strong.  We didn’t get the finish we wanted at Daytona, but, obviously we showed today that we’re here to win.”

    RICKY STENHOUSE JR. CONTINUED – DID YOUR CAR LIKE CLEAN AIR THAT MUCH WHEN YOU GOT OUT FRONT AND IS THIS INTERMEDIATE TRACK WIN A BENCHMARK WIN FOR YOUR CAREER?  “It definitely was good out front.  I think that’s gonna be the case at a short track or anywhere.  We stretched the lead out there to four or five seconds and then I just kind of rode around and saved the tires in case we had a late restart.  To win on a mile-and-a-half is big for me.  I feel like our cars are better than I am at some mile-and-a-halves, and I feel like I drive really hard at the short tracks.  I think we’ve got a really good package going right now and to get that win on a mile-and-a-half feels good.”

    WOULD YOU HAVE WON IF YOU CAME OUT OF THE PITS SECOND OR THIRD?  “I definitely think we had the car to beat.  I feel like we could have started sixth and still won that race at the end.  I found a line that I liked to run and the car was coming around to it.  Mike Kelley made some awesome pit calls there and I think we just had the car to beat. We were running Mark down the run before.  We were catching Brad and he had his troubles, so I feel like we could have won if we started second or third row, but it was definitely a lot easier starting on the front.”

    WAS THERE ANY CALL DURING THE RACE THAT HELPED GET YOU TO THE FRONT?  “We were at the front all day.  I don’t think we really ran out of the top five at all and the guys getting me off pit road first, we came in second and got off first, so that was huge.  That meant I could start the race where I wanted to on the outside, where I had been running, so that was nice.  We tightened the car up when we needed to tighten it up and we freed it up when we needed to be a little bit looser, and Mike did the adjustments on how far to go and I think we all worked as a team this weekend and worked really hard.”

  • SRT Motorsports — Dodge NNS Final Race Quotes – Las Vegas

    SRT Motorsports — Dodge NNS Final Race Quotes – Las Vegas

    [media-credit name=”lvms.com” align=”alignright” width=”160″][/media-credit]Saturday, March 10, 2012

    Dodge PR

    Las Vegas Motor Speedway

    NASCAR Nationwide Series

    Post-Race Quotes

    Sam Hornish Jr. (No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challenger R/T) Finished 9th “On the short run we were able to make up some spots.  Our guys did a good job of sticking with it in the pits.  Our long run we’d just continue to get freer and freer most of the time, not the way we wanted to head for sure.  We got through here with the Challenger in one piece and we’ll move on from it.”

    WHEN YOU CHANGED FOUR TIRES OR TWO, YOU SEEMED TO END UP ABOUT NINTH IN LINE.  “We were just not good enough.  We got lucky to end up where we did.  Man, we couldn’t go.  We didn’t have enough grip in the car. The first couple of laps when everybody was in traffic we could make up spots and then when everything got shuffled out and you just had to have that max amount of speed, we didn’t have it.  And then after that we’d start to settle in a little bit but it was like from lap five to lap ten, we just got ran over.”

    WHAT DO YOU NEED TO WORK ON TO BE BETTER AT THESE MILE-AND-A-HALF TRACKS?  “For sure we’ve got to be better.  Brad (Keselowski) is pretty good and we’re not right now on that part of the run.  We just have to look at it and get some good changes made and we’ll figure out a way to be better.”

    Brad Keselowski (No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger R/T) Finished 23rd “We just had a problem there.  I had a car I felt could win the race and it just wasn’t meant to be.  It’s kind of been the tale of the tape for me here at Vegas.  I’m so excited to have a fast car.  That’s where it all starts, just got to execute from there.  It wasn’t meant to be.”

    BEFORE YOU RAN OUT OF FUEL, DID YOU SENSE THERE WAS A PROBLEM IN THAT AREA?  “Jeremy (Bullins), the crew chief, and the engineers, they all knew something was wrong but there’s nothing you can do about it.”

  • Kvapil’s future is still in doubt

    Kvapil’s future is still in doubt

    Getting a job in the Sprint Cup Series is tough as it is. The economy doesn’t help either.

    Travis Kvapil is a former Camping World Truck Series champion. One would believe teams would be throwing themselves at him after his departure from Penske Racing several years back at the completion of the 2005 season.

    For the past few seasons, Kvapil drove for the underfunded Front Row Motorsports team. FRM is owned by Bob Jenkins, who owns a series of restaurants such as Taco Bell, Long John Silver, and other multi-million dollar businesses.

    At the end of 2011, rumors swirled around the garage about David Ragan signing with FRM once he was released from his former team Roush Racing. Eventually, Ragan signed with FRM. The team also resigned David Gilliland and Josh Wise in the team’s second and third cars, leaving Kvapil without a job heading into 2012.

    “That was tough, last year we didn’t have the results we hoped and by the end of the season we put some good runs together. But speaking for them, they were looking at different sponsorship opportunities and eventually landed with David Ragan and they had more sponsorship for things like that and it was a decision they made and they had to look at all opportunities and they’re definitely looking better,” said Kvapil on what made him leave FRM.

    Lucky for Kvapil, a new team was forming out of the defunct Red Bull Racing shop.

    Kvapil reached out to one of the new owners, sparking talks across the board as both sides were interested in working with one another.

    “It all happened pretty quick, but it was a bit of a process for them,” said Kvapil. “It took longer than they expected to get everything together and we didn’t get everything going and the green light until February first, but we have great equipment and some really good people with guys that work really hard.”

    It was announced that Kvapil will drive the car after the Daytona 500 where David Reutimann drove the No. 93 Toyota Camry to a 26th place finish in the team’s debut. But, it remains unclear if he will step behind the wheel for every race, or he will be replaced by Reutimann in the select races where he does not drive for Tommy Baldwin Racing.

    “It’s not a done deal from what I’ve been told. They’ve talked to me about David Reutimann running for the team, but I think that’s still to be determined as time gets closer to those races. Hopefully, I can go out there and run competitively and have a chance of staying in the car,” said Kvapil.

    But, if Kvapil is replaced by Reutimann, it could mean the partnership may last only one year, if that.

    “They’ve been straight up with me from day one. They might do something with David in those races, they might not, they didn’t promise me anything that they can’t do. I knew the deal going into it so either its 26 races or the rest of the races,” Kvapil said. I’m thankful for the opportunity. They didn’t promise me more than 26 races, but there’s a possibility of running 35.”

    The last time Kvapil qualified for all 36 races was back in 2008, the year he drove for Yates Racing, finishing 23rd in the standings. After the first six races in 2009, Kvapil was released from Yates as the team eventually shut down, due to sponsorship woes.

    This time around, Kvapil’s situation is different, much different.

    With a possibility of being replaced in several races, Kvapil has to focus on himself more than ever.

    “I think it’s harder for the team to work with multiple drivers as the relationship between the driver and the team takes some time to build and you’re changing drivers then you kind of mess up the chemistry,” said Kvapil on whether or not it’s a good idea for BK Racing to split the No. 93 Burger King Toyota throughout the 2012 season.

    Expectations for the new team are rather high, well at least according to Kvapil. He believes the team is capable on finishing in the top 25 on a weekly basis and eventually, making it to the top 20.

    Fortunately enough, Kvapil took a car which qualified 41st and turned a bad run into an exceptional one as he drove up to 19th place by the time the checkered flag flew this past Sunday at the Phoenix International Raceway. The team proved they’re at the track to run competitive and not just ‘start and park’ like many expected.

    Kvapil will head into the Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend with a renewed outlook on what it takes to run upfront. He and teammate Landon Cassill are ‘dark horses,’ but the two have much to prove.

    For the entire BK Racing organization, the plan is to run the entire season with Cassill in the No. 83 with Kvapil and possibly Reutimann in the No. 93 with cars from the former Red Bull Racing team. How will they fare remains to be seen. They are off to a strong start, continuing this will easily look themselves in the top 35 in owner points by Bristol.

    As a pure racer, Kvapil is determined to revamp his career once again. He is off to a strong start in 2012. His season may progress in a positive or negative way. But, it’s the chance he needed to prove he didn’t forget how to drive considering he outran both FRM drivers, Ragan and Gilliland on Sunday at Phoenix.

  • RCR Brings Force to Reckon With in Nationwide Series

    RCR Brings Force to Reckon With in Nationwide Series

    [media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]The headlines were going crazy last season when Kevin Harvick Incorporated (KHI) announced that it was closing its doors at the conclusion of 2011. The result of that closure saw KHI’s Nationwide Series program be put under Richard Childress Racing.

    The merger was met with some questions, however, they have been quickly answered this far into the season. After the second race of the season, Elliott Sadler leads the point standings, 10 points over rookie teammate Austin Dillon. Sadler won the last race at Phoenix International Speedway while Dillon and Kevin Harvick finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

    The win marked a special win for Sadler as he hadn’t been to victory lane in one of NASCAR’s top three divisions since 2010 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The win also marked a bit of revenge for last year as despite finishing second in points, the season was considered disappointing due to no victories.

    One of the first moves that was made when Sadler made the shift from KHI to RCR was a change in his crew chief. Richard Childress partnered Sadler with Luke Lambert, who was the crew chief for Clint Bowyer last year in the Sprint Cup Series. Childress felt the partnership was perfect based on what he saw Sadler needed in a crew chief and how Lambert could benefit from a couple seasons spent in Nationwide.

    Sadler now hopes to carry the momentum from the win into Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    “Momentum is huge in this sport,” he said. “Our team is so strong and so focused that I know the win last week at Phoenix will just add to our drive. We have one goal, and that is to win the championship, and I think this week we will continue to go along with our game plan. It was such a great feeling to be in Victory Lane, and I am so proud of our team and excited to home a win for OneMain Financial and Richard Childress Richard Childress.”

    The win marked some reassurance for Sadler as he was at first concerned when Harvick told him of the switch.

    “When Kevin first came to me and said, ‘Look, I’m going to sell my team to Richard. We’re going to run the team out of his shop’. I said, ‘Where is that going to leave me?’,” Sadler explained. “He said, ‘Elliott, the last time I ran for RCR, we won 13 races. You’re going to be okay.’

    “When you’re affiliated with the Cup teams and the simulation programs that they have and when you’re on the same campus, you feed off of it. We race against the Cup affiliated teams all the time – Roush and Gibbs – so it just puts us on an even playing field.”

    In the past couple of years, the Nationwide Series has been dominated by Roush Racing, Penske Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing – all three teams having a cup affiliation.

    “I think Kevin and Delana did a great job with the Nationwide,” Childress commented after Phoenix. “But running against what Jack, Gibbs, Penske have, they weren’t quite there and that was the difference. I think Kevin once he saw that, wanted to come back. I think the difference is having a cup affiliation. I had the Cup crew chiefs scanning the three radios telling me what was going on. Now that we’re back in Nationwide, I think it helps back to the Cup due to the cars being so similar except for the motor.”

    The success now puts pressure on the team to keep it going, as stated by Brendan Gaughan, who will run his first Nationwide race of the season.

    “I’m really excited to race for such a great organization,” he said in the team preview. “The only downside, if there is one, is that now it’s my turn to keep the hot streak going that RCR has started off the season with.”

    As the season continues, there’s no question there will be a continued battle between Joe Gibbs Racing, Jack Roush, Roger Penske and Richard Childress for the championships. It’ll all be about who can put the best package together, and right now, Childress looks to have the upper hand. It’s also known that this isn’t his first rodeo as he has won five championships in the Nationwide Series.

  • A Special Reward for the RFR Crew from Ford’s Jamie Allison

    CONCORD, N.C. (March 8, 2012) –  When an NHL team wins the Stanley Cup each player gets a chance to take the coveted trophy home for pictures with their family and friends.  When Ricky Stenhouse Jr., won the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship Ford’s Jamie Allison had a similar idea.  The difference being his trophy can be driven.

    Allison, director of Ford North America Motorsports, said he was going to do something special for the crew at Roush Fenway Racing to celebrate the Ford/RFR championship.  He decided to loan out his personal, special-edition Boss 302 Mustang to the entire shop as a thank you for all of the hard work they put in last season.

    The car was delivered February 1 and any full-time employee can sign up to drive the car for a night or weekend, and then document their travels.  The photos and videos are being posted on Twitter @roushfenway #wherestheboss, on the Roush Fenway Racing Facebook page and on RFR’s Google+ page. Follow along for the ride!

    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.

  • Richard Petty Motorsports Nationwide Race Preview — Las Vegas

    Richard Petty Motorsports Nationwide Race Preview — Las Vegas

    [media-credit name=”lvms.com” align=”alignright” width=”160″][/media-credit]Michael Annett• No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang

    Annett will make his fourth career start in the Nationwide Series at Las Vegas Annett enters Vegas in eighth-place in the Nationwide Series driver point standings Annett’s best finish (13th) came in 2011 at the 1.5-mile speedway

    Michael Annett on racing in Las Vegas: “I enjoy going to Las Vegas, it’s a fun 1.5-mile track that carries a lot of speed. I’m really looking forward to getting behind the wheel of my Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang to see what kind of power it’s got this weekend. I feel like we have been improving each week as a team, we are still learning each other, but each week I feel more and more comfortable. Las Vegas is not only a fun race track to go to, but it’s a fun city to visit as well. The fans there are incredible and always full of energy. I’m just excited about the whole weekend.”

    Annett on his Top-10 Finish in Phoenix: “Phoenix was a great race for us. My  Richard Petty Motorsports team did an awesome job of making adjustments throughout the race to improve my car, and we ended up with our first top-10 in just two races with a brand new team. If we can improve on last week’s finish we will be in good shape this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.”

    Crew Chief Philippe Lopez’s Thoughts on Racing in Las Vegas: “I’m really proud of Michael and the whole Pilot Flying J race team. Everyone is so dedicated to making this program work, and they have done a great job improving each week. Michael drove the wheels off of the No. 43 last weekend in Phoenix and we came home with a 10th-place finish. If he can use some of the momentum from last weekend’s good run we will be poised for another top-10 finish or better this weekend at the fast 1.5-mile track in Las Vegas.“

    Chassis History: The No. 43 RPM NASCAR Nationwide Series team has prepared chassis No. 613 for the 300-mile race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang is brand new to Richard Petty Motorsports this season.

    Notes: Annett has three NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His best finish (13th) and best start (12th) at the 1.5-mile track came in 2011. Annett heads to Las Vegas in the eighth position in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver point standings.

    Looking for a Pilot or Flying J store near Phoenix? There are 3 Pilot or Flying J stores within 100 miles of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. One store is only 10 miles away from the race track. (Pilot Travel Center (I-15 Exit 48) 3812 East Craig Road, North Las Vegas, NV, 89031) There are 19 stores within 250 miles of the track. Go tohttp://www.pilotflyingj.com/locationsfind the nearest locations.

    Michael Annett scored his first top-10 finish driving the No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang for Richard Petty Motorsports last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway.

    Race Information

    Track: Las Vegas Motor Speedway

    Laps: 200 Laps/300 Miles

    Track Size: 1.5-mile

    TV Information: 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2

    Radio Information: 5 p.m. ET on PRN

    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 our Facebook page at Richard Petty Motorsports

  • RAB Racing and Kenny Wallace Continue to Push Forward

    RAB Racing and Kenny Wallace Continue to Push Forward

    CONCORD, N.C. (March 7, 2012) – In response to the recent news concerning the welfare of RAB Racing with Brack Maggard, team owner Robby Benton is looking ahead, and reaffirming the team’s commitment to fielding entries in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series.

    “As a NASCAR race team, we are faced with the obstacle of procuring the proper sponsorship to be able to field a strong, competitive, marketable team,” said Benton. “We are committed to our current driver, Kenny Wallace, for as many events that we can find sponsorship for. Although we are facing an immediate lack of sponsorship over the next few races, we are fortunate to have events sponsored later in the season with Kenny as the driver.

    “We, as a team, have committed to keep Kenny in our No. 09 Toyota for the next few races, regardless of sponsorship. We will get to a point, should substantial progress in our sponsorship hunt not be made, that we may take the opportunity to pair up with someone who has aligned themselves with a sponsor that could benefit from becoming a part of the RAB Racing team, and becoming a teammate to Kenny Wallace. We’ve had an interest in expanding to a multi-car team, and if we get to a point where we put another driver in our car and find additional marketing partners interested in Kenny, this could lead us in that direction.”

    Wallace has recorded 11 top-10 finishes since he joined RAB Racing as the driver of the team’s Nationwide Series efforts at the beginning of the 2011 season. A nine-time race winner, Wallace has been named the series’ most popular driver three times, most recently in 2006.

    “We are searching every hour of every day for sponsorship for RAB Racing,” said Wallace. “If I can’t drive Toyota Camrys for this team, then I want this team to stay strong, because I’ve got races scheduled for later in the year.

    “I’m extremely passionate about my NASCAR career. I think we’ve shown that both in leading laps at Daytona, and qualifying third at Phoenix. So, it’s hard on me to just get out of the seat. I’m not ready to hang it up yet. After running as well as we have, it’s very hard on me to just get out of the seat and hand it over to someone else.”

    “Kenny is very passionate about our sport and we look forward to keeping him in the driver’s seat as much as possible until he decides to retire on his own terms,” Benton continued. “While the finishing results show that we’re off to a rough start, our on-track performance is at an all time high. We led laps and ran in the top-10 all day at Daytona and qualified third at Phoenix, but fell victim to a tire failure midway through the race.

    “We believe that it’s only a matter of time and tactics that some future partners will see the exceptional value of partnering with RAB Racing and Kenny Wallace.

    “Kenny has a very broad following through his social network mediums, boasting over 91,000 followers on Twitter alone. That, paired with his SPEED Channel presence as a host on “RACEDAY”, fan popularity and solid on-track performance should prove to be a worthy list of ingredients.

    “We will continue making sound business decisions as we work toward our continued growth in NASCAR.”

    About RAB Racing with Brack Maggard

    Founded in 2005, RAB Racing with Brack Maggard is a Concord, North Carolina-based auto racing team that fields entries in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series. Its 2012 lineup includes Kenny Wallace in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series (No. 09 Toyota Camry). Its Camping World Truck Series program includes John Townley (No. 09 Toyota Tundra). For more information on RAB Racing with Brack Maggard, please call 704-788-7811, or visit www.teamrab.com. Stay up-to-date with the latest happenings by liking the team on Facebook (RAB Racing) and by following the team on Twitter (@RAB_Racing).

  • Toyota NASCAR Notes & Quotes Las Vegas March 2012

    Toyota NASCAR Notes & Quotes Las Vegas March 2012

    [media-credit name=”lvms.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES

    March 5 – 11, 2012

    TOYOTA TIDBITS DENNY DELIVERS IN DESERT: Camry driver Denny Hamlin captured his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) victory of the 2012 season after leading the final 59 (of 312) laps on Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway. The triumph in the second race of the year was his 15th NSCS win in a Toyota — his 18th overall in the series — and marked his first victory with new crew chief Darian Grubb. The Phoenix win is the earliest victory to start a season in Hamlin’s career, and is also the soonest in a season by a Toyota driver in the NSCS since Kyle Busch won the third race of the 2009 season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hamlin now leads the series standings with 89 points — six points ahead of Greg Biffle.

    RECORD TYING WIN: The Phoenix triumph by Hamlin enabled the No. 11 to tie the No. 43 for most race wins (198) in NSCS history by a car number. Hamlin has driven his Camry to 15 wins and accounts for 18 total trophies in the No. 11 entry. A combined 13 drivers have visited victory lane in the No. 11, includ ing Cale Yarborough (55), Ned Jarrett (49), Darrell Waltrip (43), Junior Johnson (11), Bill Elliott (six), Geoffrey Bodine (four), Terry Labonte (four), Bobby Allison (three), Buddy Baker (two), Mario Andretti (one), A.J. Foyt (one) and Parnelli Jones (one).

    BUSCH IS BACK: Las Vegas-native Busch returns home this weekend when the NSCS visits Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In eight NSCS races at the 1.5-mile oval, the 25-year-old driver has one win (2009), two poles (2008 and 2009), three top-five finishes and four top-10 results at his hometown race track. His 2009 victory at Las Vegas in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry was the first NSCS victory by a Las Vegas-native at the track.

    MAKE YOUR MARK: Camry driver Mark Martin has proven to be a driver to beat in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) at Las Vegas. In six NNS Las Vegas starts, Martin has four victories (1999, 2005, 2008 and 2011), two pole positions (1998 and 1999), a runner-up result (2000) and a sixth-place finish. The Batesville, Ark., native has also led 333 (of 1,202) laps at the 1.5-mile oval in the NNS. This Saturday, Martin will pilot the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry — his first-ever start with JGR.

    BROTHERS IN ARMS: This season, Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) is fielding a full-time entry in the NNS with Las Vegas natives and brothers Kyle and Kurt Busch sharing seat time in the No. 54 Monster Energy Camry. Team owner and younger brother Kyle is competing in the first five races, before splitting the balance of the season with Kurt, the 2004 NSCS champion. Older brother Kurt will make his first KBM start at Texas Motor Speedway in April where he visited victory lane in his very first series start (2006). Mike Beam, who was a part of the 2011 NNS owner’s championship, serves as crew chief. In 224 NNS starts, Kyle is the series all-time wins leader with 51 career victories, 120 top-five results and 149 top-10 finishes. Kurt has recorded three wins and three poles in 13 career NNS starts.

    NOTES, QUOTES & NUMBERS NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS): In the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) season, Toyota drivers have combined for one victory (Phoenix), two top-five results, eight top-10 finishes, 211 laps led and one pole position … Mark Martin won the inaugural NSCS race at Las Vegas in 1998 … Martin has the most NSCS starts (14), most top-five finishes (six) and top-10 results (10) at Las Vegas … Bobby Labonte has two poles (1999 and 2003) at Las Vegas … Joey Logano will trade orange for yellow when he drives the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry at Las Vegas.

    KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Brown Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Is there more pressure racing at your hometown track? “Yeah, Vegas is always a little bit more pressure — more pressure on myself just because it’s the hometown and you want to win there. Thankfully, I have won there and I’ve knocked that one off the list, but certainly you want to win there every year. It seems like either Carl (Edwards) and Jimmie (Johnson) are better than most, but I love Vegas — the atmosphere and everything going on around that place. It’s been sold out for a lot of years — I think ever since it started. They’ve added more grandstands, which is cool. It’s a big race.”

    MARK MARTIN, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing What do you like about Las Vegas Motor Speedway? “I love the size and shape of it — mile-and-a-halfs are my favorite race tracks and Las Vegas has been good to me. I can’t wait to get there with our Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota with Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and this team. It’s a race track I like to drive on even more than Phoenix, and I like Phoenix, but I like Vegas even more. I’m excited.”

    DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Is Las Vegas a similar racing surface to Phoenix? “It’s different. I think it’s really kind of a big Phoenix in the sense that the asphalt is kind of getting a little aged now so the racing should be pretty good. It’s a fast track — a lot of load and G’s (G-forces) on the drivers themselves because of the banking there. We haven’t had a ton of success there, but we’ve run okay. I’m excited to get there with Darian (Grubb, crew chief) because I know that he and Tony (Stewart) ran extremely well there last year during this race. Interested to put that setup in my car and see how it goes.”

    JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Do you enjoy racing at Las Vegas? “I love Vegas. That might be my best race track. I’ve ran really well there in the past. Ever since we unloaded there for the first time in ’09, we’ve been pretty good there. I’ve never ran a Nationwide race at Las Vegas, but I’ve always had good Cup cars there and we did the tire test at Las Vegas, so that’s going to help us a little bit. Even though we have a new crew chief (Jason Ratcliff) since then, I still think the tire test is going to help us at Las Vegas. With our Phoenix finish we have some good momentum and hope to carry it through Las Vegas where we’ll have Dollar General on our Cup car for the first time.”

    NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS): In the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series season, Toyota drivers earned three top-10 finishes, led 74 laps and one pole position … Camry drivers have two NNS poles at LVMS (2008 and 2009) … Toyota drivers have earned 11 top-10 finishes at Las Vegas … Las Vegas is one of six tracks on the 2012 schedule where the Camry has yet to visit victory lane … Camry driver Brian Scott visited his hometown of Boise, Idaho during NASCAR’s early season west coast swing where he enjoys outdoor activities like helicopter skiing … Tayler Malsam is scheduled to ‘workout’ with UFC fighter Amir Sadollah on Thursday in Las Vegas.

    MARK MARTIN, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Are you looking forward to your first start with Joe Gibbs Racing? “This is exciting. No organization has been better in the Nationwide Series over the past three or four seasons and to have the chance to get behind the wheel of a Joe Gibbs Racing Nationwide car will be a thrill. Maybe I can pick up a few more races and try to catch Kyle (Busch) to get my record back again.”

    BRIAN SCOTT, No. 11 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Do you enjoy racing at Las Vegas? “I’m looking forward to Vegas because I really think our mile-and-a-half program was a strong suit last year. We have a good set-up for this weekend and we’re coming off a better finish than we had in Daytona, so hopefully Vegas will be a turnaround for our Dollar General team. Our 14th-place finish in Phoenix wasn’t exactly what we were looking for, but at least we brought the car home in one piece. We’re going to keep building from that and do our best in these next few races to dig ourselves out of the hole we got into in Daytona. Vegas is one of the biggest weekend’s of the year for our sponsor Dollar General, so we’re really striving for a strong performance on Saturday.”

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS): Tundra drivers registered one win, three top-five results and five top- 10 finishes at Daytona to start the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) season … Kyle Busch Motorsports’ Jason Leffler will participate in a tire test at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway on March 6 and 7 in preparation for the NCWTS’ first appearance at the track on April 15 … The NCWTS will take three more weeks off before returning to action at Virginia’s Martinsville Speedway on March 31.

    JASON LEFFLER, No. 18 Dollar General Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports How will the tire test at Rockingham benefit you and your team? “This Goodyear tire test is a great opportunity to not only provide Goodyear with feedback on the tire selection for the upcoming race, but to get some laps in behind the wheel of the Dollar General Tundra and continue to get adjusted to working with a new team. Working with these guys at the NASA (Kennedy Space Center, Fla.) test and down in Daytona, you can see why they’ve been successful — they’re really organized and make quick changes. It all starts at the top with the experience of Eric Phillips (crew chief) and Rick Ren (general manager). At Daytona, you don’t go through a lot of adjustments, so this test will give us the chance to get a better feel for each other and build a stronger driver-crew relationship.” -more-

    TOYOTA NASCAR NOTES & QUOTES – March 5 – 11, 2012 — Page 3

    TOYOTA 2012 NASCAR STATISTICS

    Series Races Starts Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Times Led Laps Led (Drivers) NSCS 2 23 (13) 1 2 8 1 15 211 NNS 2 22 (12) 0 0 3 1 14 74 NCWTS 1 10 (10) 1 3 5 0 2 10

    TOYOTA DRIVER ROSTER – Las Vegas Motor Speedway NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Freight Camry J.J. Yeley, No. 49 America Israel Racing Camry Clint Bowyer, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Camry Mark Martin, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Camry Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M’s Brown Camry Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Camry Joey Logano, No. 20 Dollar General Camry Landon Cassill, No. 83 Burger King Camry David Stremme, No. 30 Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Stoves Camry Bobby Labonte, No. 47 Kingsford Camry Travis Kvapil, No. 93 Burger King Camry

    NASCAR Nationwide Series Kenny Wallace, No. 09 RAB Racing Camry Tayler Malsam, No. 19 G-Oil Camry Jeff Green, No. 10 TriStar Motorsports Camry Mike Bliss, No. 44 TriStar Motorsports Camry Brian Scott, No. 11 Dollar General Camry Kyle Busch, No. 54 Monster Energy Camry Eric McClure, No. 14 Hefty Black Out Camry Joe Nemechek, No. 87 AM/FM Energy Stoves Camry Mark Martin, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Camry

    WEEKEND RACE SCHEDULE Sat., March 10 — NNS @ Las Vegas Motor Speedway — 2:00 PM (PT), ESPN2 — Race 3 of 33 Sun., March 11 — NSCS @ Las Vegas Motor Speedway – 12:00 PM (PT), FOX — Race 3 of 36

  • Kenny Wallace, No. 09 Toyota Camry, Sam’s Town 300 Preview

    Kenny Wallace, No. 09 Toyota Camry, Sam’s Town 300 Preview

    [media-credit name=”lvms.com” align=”alignright” width=”160″][/media-credit]Kenny Wallace

    No. 09 Toyota Camry

    Event Preview Fact Sheet

    Event/Date:     Sam’s Town 300 – March 10, 2012

    Venue:            Las Vegas Motor Speedway

    News & Notes:

    This Week’s Toyota … Kenny Wallace will pilot RAB Racing Chassis No. 42 in the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This chassis last saw action at the Nationwide Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November, 2011.

    Ride Along … The No. 09 Toyota Camry will have an in-car camera for this weekend’s race coverage on ESPN2, courtesy of Nationwide Insurance. With cameras mounted on the roof, interior roll bars and rear bumper of Wallace’s Camry, viewers will get an interesting perspective of this D-shaped oval.

    Wallace at Las Vegas … In nine NNS starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Wallace boasts two top-10 finishes.  His best showing at the 1.5-mile oval is an eighth-place finish, which he achieved in March, 2002. The nine-time Nationwide Series race winner has an average starting position of 23.4, an average finish of 20.3 and has completed 93.7 percent of the laps contested (1,703 of 1,817). Additionally, Wallace has competed in eight Sprint Cup Series races at Las Vegas.

    Zipadelli at Las Vegas … Crew chief Scott Zipadelli has sat atop the pit box at Las Vegas Motor Speedway five times and has finished no worse than 15th. He has scored one top-five and two top-10 finishes in Nationwide Series competition at The Diamond in the Desert with drivers Jason Leffler and Kenny Wallace, and his best showing, a fourth-place finish, came in February, 2009 with Leffler.

    RAB Racing at Las Vegas … In four Nationwide Series starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway dating back to 2009, RAB Racing has earned one top-10 finish.

    RAB Racing will make its fourth NNS start at LVMS this Saturday.

    Las Vegas Flashback … In the 2011 running of the Sam’s Town 300, RAB Racing and Wallace posted a 10th-place finish. Fuel-mileage strategy by crew chief Scott Zipadelli paid dividends for the No. 09 team, as Wallace earned his second consecutive top-10 finish of the season.

    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.

    Happy Birthday, Duke … Dan “Duke” Zink, fabricator on the No. 09 Toyota Camry, celebrated his 43rd birthday on Saturday, March 3rd.

    Catch the Action … The Sam’s Town 300 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be televised live Saturday, Mar. 10 beginning at 5 p.m. EST on ESPN 2 and broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network. NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying will be televised live Saturday, Mar. 9 beginning at 1:30 p.m. EST on SPEED.

    Kenny Wallace Quotes:

    Why do you call Las Vegas Motor Speedway ‘groovy’? “I call it groovy because you can run on the top, the middle, and the bottom. Turns 3 and 4 tend to get really slippery and Turns 1 and 2 tend to have a lot of grip because they are always in the shade. I really enjoy Las Vegas Motor Speedway; it’s one of my favorite racetracks. We finished 10th there last year and had a fun, strong week.”

    Are you going to gamble in Sin City? “No, I’ve had enough of gambling. I’m really focused this weekend. We’ve had finishes recently that weren’t reflective of the quality of equipment we had and I’m ready to prove what we’re made of.”