Category: XFINITY Series

[media-credit name=”JeffreyEarnhardt.com” align=”alignright” width=”160″][/media-credit]Thomasville, NC (March 6, 2012) – Bristol Motor Speedway has been the site of many firsts but for 4th generation NASCAR driver Jeffrey Earnhardt, March 17th 2012 will be significant. Earnhardt will be making his Bristol debut in the Sam’s Club #15 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing at the location of his grandfathers first Cup victory back in 1979. It will also be the first time an Earnhardt drives a Ford since 1983 when Dale Earnhardt drove the #15 Ford for Bud Moore.

Looking forward to his first Nationwide race of the year Earnhardt said, “I’m excited to race Bristol. My family has quite a few wins there and I hope to continue that success. I look forward to driving hard for all the Sam’s Club members out there and will see them at the new Hendersonville club on the 21st.” Jeffrey will be attending the grand opening of the newest Sam’s Club in Hendersonville, TN on March 21st, 2012 to meet members and sign autographs.

“Racing is a sport that so many of our Members in Hendersonville follow closely, and we are honored to welcome a local favorite like Jeffrey Earnhardt to our club in celebration of the grand opening,” said Jeff Godbey, Sam’s Club manager. “We wish him the best of luck in Bristol and hope that the community will come by the club to meet him on March 21.”

Earnhardt is competing full time in the Rolex Grand Am series and he’s been securing sponsorship for multiple NASCAR Nationwide races in 2012. In addition to Sam’s Club, Jeffrey’s Mustang will be sponsored by a brand he’s been using for years. “It’s awesome to have MET-Rx on board. They’re the #1 name in sports nutrition and we look forward to promoting their products to NASCAR fans” commented Jeffrey.

Team owner Rick Ware said, “Our sponsors have been great partners and having Sam’s Club and MET-Rx on the #15 Ford Mustang for Jeffrey’s Bristol debut is a great way to start 2012.” The race will be televised on March 17, 2012 on ESPN at 1pm EST.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeffreyearnhardt Twitter: @jearnhardt1 Web: www.jeffreyearnhardt.com Team: www.wareracing.net Inquiries: paul@jeffreyearnhardt.com

[media-credit name=”lvms.com” align=”alignright” width=”160″][/media-credit]“MacDonald Motorsports team will enter a Toyota Camry for the first time this weekend.”

(MOORESVILLE, NC) March 6, 2012 – Jason Bowles and his American Majority Racing No. 81 team head into race #3 of the season with their heads held high. A strong run with a fast race car in Phoenix has the team’s confidence level much higher than it was just one week ago. The team will also be running a Toyota chassis with a Toyota motor for the first time. Jason and the team are really excited about the new car and motor for Vegas weekend and are looking for a top-15 finish.

Jason on Las Vegas…..“Vegas is one of the bigger tracks I’ve raced on before, so that will be a bonus this weekend going somewhere with a comfort level. I ran in the truck series there in 2010, actually that was my first-ever truck race and we ran decently for what we had. The big part for me though was getting the experience and getting the laps. It’s a fast track and it’ll be faster in a Nationwide car for sure. This week we’re bringing a new American Majority machine to the track, we’ll be racing a Toyota Camry, so we’re all looking forward to that.”

“Right now for us it’s about building each week and racing smart. I’m always going to be aggressive, but we really need to learn as a team right now and run every lap of every race. Last week was a good example, we needed a good finish and points and through that entire race we made changes and I think started understand more about what we need to do to get better. Loading a wadded up car on the trailer doesn’t do anyone any good in that respect.”

Phoenix Wrap-Up…..An excellent qualifying effort put Jason and his American Majority Racing No. 81 18th on the starting grid for the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200. Jason was shot out of a cannon during the early stages of the race, picking up seven spots to be running as high as 11th. The car just got tighter and tighter for Bowles as the laps wore on and he slowly fell backwards through the field. After many adjustments from crew chief John Monsam, the American Majority Racing No. 81 Dodge began to claw its way back towards a top-20 finish. After a strong final stint, Jason brought the car home with a solid 19th place run, moving himself up six spots in the points standings to 22nd.

Jason’s thoughts on Phoenix race….. “I felt like I had a good start and we got in there with the really fast guys early, but just as I was starting to think we could hang around there, the car started to tighten up. It’s one of things where all of a sudden you just can’t roll through the center of the corner and get back to the gas like the other guys – and when it starts to get tight, it doesn’t generally fix itself. That’s where we had to make some adjustments and we definitely got better through the race with those adjustments, which is a good thing. I think we were pretty fast at the end, so that helps with everyone’s confidence too.”

Indoor Skydiving?…. “Being from Southern California I’ve spent a lot of time in Vegas, explained Bowles. “From back in my karting days, to just coming out to have fun. I think this week we are going to try the indoor skydiving, so looking forward to that. Classic Las Vegas, right? Indoor skydiving. There is just about anything you can think of there! In this case it’s a good thing, because I’m pretty sure I will never go skydiving for real and jump out of an airplane. I’m a risk-taker and I drive racecars, but I’m not really into that!”

Meet Jason at Monte Carlo Hotel/Casino….Fans will have the chance to meet the driver of the American Majority No. 81 Toyota Friday night at The Pub at Monte Carlo Resort and Casino at 7:00pm. The Pub is your go-to spot at Monte Carlo for great food, beer, sports, and an all-around good time.

Follow Jason Bowles on Social Media…..Keep up with everything that Jason is doing by following him on twitter @bowlesjason.

JASON BOWLES – NASCAR DRIVER AND OAKLEY SALES REPRESENTATIVE, ALL IN ONE

Foothill Ranch, CA (March 6, 2012) Here’s the question.. How does NASCAR Nationwide series driver Jason Bowles spend Monday and Tuesday after a tough race in Phoenix? Pretty simple, really. He spends it working at the Oakley world headquarters in Foothill Ranch, CA. Bowles, as many in the industry know already, is the lead motorsports sales representative for Oakley’s NASCAR division, a job he says has helped him continue to pursue his career as a NASCAR driver. “I’ve been with Oakley for five or six years now and they’ve been very supportive of my ambition to race in NASCAR. It’s definitely not the norm at Oakley, but it’s kind of like a pre-existing condition as it relates to them because I first got hooked up with them while I was racing go-karts. They sponsored me back then and I’ve just always been an Oakley guy since.” said Bowles, a rookie-of-the-year contender driving the No.81 American Majority Toyota for MacDonald Motorsports.

“Like most kids, I didn’t have a lot of money, but I wanted to keep racing and chasing the dream, so Oakley offered to make me a rep and sell their safety equipment. The job kept me in the racing loop. It wasn’t team accounts like it is now for me, just retail accounts – mom and pop stores and that kind of thing.”

Bowles continued to race and peddle Oakley goods as he moved into the stock car racing circle where he began competing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series.

“When I got into the K&N Pro Series, I instantly knew NASCAR was what I wanted to do, I was completely committed and driven at that point, so the Oakley piece was great. As I raced, I met more and more teams and drivers in the series and they would come to me and ask for gloves, suits or crew shirts, and always sunglasses. Really the whole thing just started to take a life of its own and it put money in my pocket while I raced. It wasn’t easy necessarily, there’s a lot to manage in sales so I was pretty much always working, even at the track.”

As Bowles continued his K&N Pro Series journey, which ultimately culminated with the 2009 Championship, Oakley began to really target NASCAR and the upper levels of the sport with their team gear. Suits, crew shirts, team sportswear, backpacks and travel bags. The response was so good that in 2010, Bowles packed his bags, moved from sunny Southern California to Charlotte, North Carolina and the rest is history.

“After I won the championship in ’09, I pretty much told Oakley I was moving to Charlotte and that I was going to be a Nationwide or Truck Series driver and that I would handle the team side for them on site in North Carolina. My boss is awesome, he was all for it and so I moved. The Oakley piece was pretty seamless, the first two years we sold a lot of gear and we’ve done really well. The racing side was a little different! Just not so easy to get a ride these days in Nationwide or Trucks if you don’t have a sponsor in hand.

“But I kept after it and with the job was able to meet a lot of great people in the industry, travel to the tracks, get to know my way around and get people to know me I guess. In a roundabout way, that’s how I ended up at MacDonald Motorsports and got this opportunity.”

Aside from introductions and learning to navigate the sport, Bowles also credits Oakley and his sales job for being a key contributor to his ability to deal with people and situations.

“They say if you can be a salesman of any kind, you can deal with just about any situation. I don’t know how true that is, but I know this job has taught me a ton about how to deal with people, interact with people and understand people. In this business, things don’t always go right so you’re forced to deal with clients that are glad, sad, mad – you name it. There are days when you’re a hero because a firesuit came in two days early and then the bad guy because there was a shipping issue and the suit is a day late. I just try and be honest with people and so far that’s been a pretty good strategy! It’s also really helped me with media and speaking and just generally feeling comfortable no matter what the situtation.”

Jason Bowles and the No.81 American Majority team begin practice this week at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday at 10:30am local time. Catch all the action on ESPN2 as the green flag drops for Saturday’s Sam’s Town 300 NASCAR Nationwide race at 2pm.

Follow Jason and the American Majority Racing team on the following outlets:

Twitter @bowlesjason @am_national @majorityracing

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JasonBowlesMotorsports http://www.facebook.com/AmericanMajorityRacing

Web: http://www.mms81.com/ http://americanmajority.org/ About American Majority Racing

American Majority Racing is a national program of American Majority, the nation’s leading conservative grassroots training organization. The program is designed to target millions of NASCAR fans from all political backgrounds in an unprecedented effort to engage them in the electoral process. Having teamed up with NASCAR driver Jason Bowles and car #81 MacDonald Motorsports for the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series racing season, the American Majority Racing program is designed to educate Americans about how smaller government and less spending will “Keep America Free.” Through www.PledgetoVote.com, American Majority Racing encourages all Americans to register and vote in the 2012 elections.

About American Majority

American Majority is the leading developer of the nation’s new 21st century conservative grassroots political infrastructure. The organization uses its cutting edge curriculum to empower individuals and organizations with the most effective tools to promote liberty through limited government. American Majority trains thousands of activists and candidates each year in communities across the country to be catalysts for authentic change in government. The non-profit, non-partisan organization is dedicated to developing a new generation of American elected and opinion leadership that will reject the self-destructive policies associated with government expansion and promote those that will lead to growth and success.

About MacDonald Motorsports

MacDonald Motorsports Owner Randy MacDonald has been around the NASCAR circles since 1985, when he began his own racing career with the loving support of his father “Doc” and his mother Pat MacDonald. As a NASCAR driver, Randy was successful in making it all the way to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The MacDonald family became NASCAR team owners in 1986 and have fielded cars in all three of NASCAR’s elite series following faith based principles. MacDonald Motorsports focuses on assisting our sponsors with strategically increasing the overall awareness of corporate messaging or brand recognition by consistently articulating the message to be delivered through motorsports. MacDonald Motorsports offers drivers opportunities to gain experience from grass roots all the way through the elite series of NASCAR.

-MacDonald Motorsports Press Release

[media-credit name=”lvms.com” align=”alignright” width=”160″][/media-credit]SAM HORNISH JR. – No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challenger Crew Chief: Chad Walter

Career Stats: Starts: 35 Wins: 1 Top Fives: 2 Top 10s: 7 Poles: 0 Laps Led: 122

2012 Season Stats: Starts: 2 Wins: 0 Top Fives: 0 Top 10s: 1 Poles: 0 Laps Led: 7

• Sixth in NNS championship standings, 26 behind leader Elliott Sadler and nine behind third-place Trevor Bayne.

• Will be making his first NNS start at Las Vegas since 2008. • Participated in EFI and tire tests at LVMS last fall.

BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger Crew Chief: Jeremy Bullins

Career Stats: Starts: 170 Wins: 17 Top Fives: 75 Top 10s: 105 Poles: 12 Laps Led: 2,761

2012 Season Stats: Starts: 2 Wins: 0 Top Fives: 2 Top 10s: 2 Poles: 0 Laps Led: 7

• Two top-five finishes in five previous starts at LVMS and has led a lap in three of those events.

• Won pole for 2010 LVMS event.

• Has qualified 10th or better in 15 consecutive NNS races.

• Has completed all but one lap in his last 18 NNS races (3,104 of 3,105) – 99.96 percent.

DODGE QUOTES: “Las Vegas is one of the places I’ve always liked going to. It’s a pretty high-speed track with a lot of grip and lot of bumps that move the car around, so you definitely have to find the perfect line to get through there.” — Sam Hornish, Jr.

“On the Nationwide side, I’ve been so close to winning races there. I just want to close the deal. I’ve had a lot of success there. On the Cup side, not so much (success) which just means that’s a chance to change that around.” — Brad Keselowski

THE LAS VEGAS NUMBERS

• Dodge has one Nationwide Series win at Las Vegas: Kasey Kahne in 2006. Kahne edged Matt Kenseth by .316 seconds to score the win. He led 56 laps.

• Dodge has eight top-five and 15 top-10 finishes at LVMS.

• At least one Dodge driver has scored a top-10 finish in eight consecutive Nationwide races at LVMS.

• The most Dodge drivers to finish inside the top 10 in a NNS race at LVMS were three in 2006.

DODGE IN THE NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES

• The Dodge Charger Pursuit pace car made its debut last week at Phoenix and will serve as the pace car for both races this weekend at LVMS.

• Dodge is fielding two full-time entries in the series this year. Sam Hornish Jr. will compete for the series championship while Brad Keselowski and Parker Kligerman will share driving duties in the second Penske Racing entry.

• Dodge claimed its first NASCAR championship in 2010 when Penske Racing’s Brad Keselowski captured the driver’s title.

• Dodge has 41 wins in the series including seven in each of the last two seasons. A Dodge has started from the pole 48 times.

FROM THE CREW CHIEF “I think that the expectations may be a little bit higher this season. I think we have our eyes set on winning a championship, more so than we ever have. I think that with the limited schedule that we ran last year and the chance we had to kind of take a step back and really, just took it to heart that we needed to fix a few things and turn Sam into a better racer and us into a better race team.” -Chad Walter, Crew Chief, No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challenger

[media-credit name=”lvms.com” align=”alignright” width=”160″][/media-credit]TREVOR BAYNE Race: Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile tri-oval)

Team: No. 60 RFR 25 Winning Years Ford Mustang

Crew Chief: Chad Norris

Chassis: RK-626-Last ran at Texas, November 2011, Finished 1st

Broadcast Information: Saturday, March 10, 2012- 4:00 p.m. (ET) ESPN2 and 4:00 p.m. on PRN radio affiliates and Sirius channel 90

FAST FACTS

TREVOR BAYNE will make his third start in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway TREVOR BAYNE at Las Vegas Motor Speedway …In two starts Bayne has one top-five and two top-10 finishes Highest average finish (5.5) with at least two starts ON THE TRACK…The No. 60 team will carry the Roush Fenway Racing 25 Winning Years special paint scheme this weekend

QUOTES

Trevor Bayne on racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: “Chad and I really figured out our mile and a half program by the end of last year, resulting in our first win together at Texas. We are bringing that same car to Las Vegas this weekend. I am excited about the opportunity to run well and let it all hang out. We have absolutely nothing to lose this weekend, so I can assure you we will be doing everything it takes to get a win and hopefully keep racing for a Nationwide Series championship.”

Crew chief Chad Norris on racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: “I am confident going into this weekend at Las Vegas. Trevor has shown he can get around a mile and a half track pretty well. It is my job to provide him with a sound race strategy, a good handling car, and let him do the rest. We are going to put ourselves in position to compete for a championship. I don’t know what the future holds for this No. 60 team, but we will be ready to compete week in and week out when given the opportunity.”

STATS

BAYNE NNS RESULTS AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY:

Race

Start

Finish

Laps

Status

2010- Sam’s Town 300

18

6

200/200

Running

2011- Sam’s Town 300

7

5

200/200

Running

Starts

Laps

2

400 of 400 (100.0%)

Average Start

Laps Led

12.5

0

Average Finish

5.5

[media-credit name=”lvms.com” align=”alignright” width=”160″][/media-credit]GAFFNEY, S.C. (March 6, 2012) – The No. 01 Chevrolet team of JD Motorsports is in search of marketing partners, Lady Luck and a solid run to celebrate their driver’s birthday for the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this Saturday.

Mike Wallace will be celebrating his birthday by taking the green flag for 200 laps of action around the 1.5-mile oval of LVMS this weekend. While a windfall at a local gaming establishment might be a nice birthday gift, he’d rather have some corporate names on the side of his car to help out his owner, Johnny Davis, with the racing expenses.

Racing unsponsored is something Wallace and Davis don’t want to do, especially for a race being held on the other side of the country from their headquarters. But, if you’re not on the asphalt; you can’t be in the action and available.

The team hopes their bad luck is done after getting crashed out of a great Daytona run and a faulty wheel bearing ended their day early in Phoenix. So, aside from some cake, candles and corporate backing to celebrate Wallace’s birthday; the team is also looking for Lady Luck to ride along for a good finish.

Mike Wallace Race Info

· This will be his 419th NNS start and third of the 2012 season

· The native of St. Louis currently sits 22nd in the Driver’s Points standings

· To date, he’s completed 274, of 320, laps in the first two races this year

· This will be the ninth NNS start at LVMS for the four-time NNS winner

· Through the first eight LVMA starts, Wallace has completed 1,512, of 1,602, laps for a 94.4 percent completion rate

· His best start was 18th (’08 and ’11) and finish of seventh (’08)

· In this race last year, Wallace and team finished 21st

*Tune in for the Win*

Speed TV will carry the two practice sessions on Friday with the first starting at 1:30 p.m. ET and second at 5 p.m. Saturday’s coverage will include qualifying at 1:30 p.m. before the race telecast switches over to ESPN2 for a 5 p.m. start of the 200-lap event. Radio coverage can be found on PRN Radio and XM Sirius NASCAR Radio Ch. 90.

*Mike Wallace Quotes*

“What more can a driver ask for than to race on his birthday in Las Vegas? Well, a lot of things if I have to think about it all. How about a good finish, no bad luck and a sponsor to jump on our car for this race – and a lot more races, too? Hey, it’s my birthday and my wish list, right? (Laughs)

“This team has been working so hard to get our No. 01 Chevrolets ready for this first part of the season because we all know how important it is to get all the points you can early on. So far, we’ve had enough bad luck to last us for awhile and we’re ready to get some good finishes now.

“Las Vegas has become a much better race since they redid the track and made all the changes. The banking, the moving of pit road closer to the grandstand and the Neon Garage where fans can hang out in the garage area have all been great moves on their part.

“Now, we just need to make our great moves during the race, maintain some good track position and be there at the end to make our points. I know Johnny Davis (owner), Newt Moore (crew chief) and this entire team is capable of doing a great job to make that happen.”

March 3, 2012 (Avondale, AZ) Jason Bowles capped a positive weekend of racing in Phoenix with a 19th-place finish in the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200. In a must-have points weekend for the MacDonald Motorsports team following a tough luck finish in Daytona the weekend prior, Bowles delivered with a solid race by keeping his cool and running his fastest laps in the final stages of the race.

“We knew this weekend was crucial to have a result,” said Bowles, driver of the No.81 American Majority Dodge.  “Our goal was top-15, but we didn’t want to settle for anything outside of the top-20, so in that respect I’m happy. Your mindset is always to lead laps and win, but after Daytona we needed to put points in the bank and we did that today.”

Bowles lined up for Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide event on the outside of row 9 and quickly charged forward at the drop of the green flag.  By lap 6, his pledgetovote.com machine was shown in 11th-place.  He would settle into the 13th spot over the next 10 laps until radioing in, “the car is getting a little tight.”

Ten laps later, communication from the car had gone from “a little tight” to, “this car is soooo tight.”   On the scoring pylon Bowles slipped down to the 19th position, with lap times really beginning to show his struggles.

With the race running an uncharacteristic caution-free, race leader Denny Hamlin passed Bowles on lap 40, putting him one lap down.  Quickly, crew chief Jon Monsam offered his driver words of encouragement, “don’t worry, we’ll fix it, it’s a long race.”

Moments later a caution on lap 46 brought Bowles in for a pitstop and the team made track bar and air pressure adjustments to try and free the car up in the corners and subsequently get it to turn better.

However, over the next 50 laps the changes didn’t really improve the car and Bowles fell as far as the 25th position, but he would not give in.  A Kenny Wallace crash on lap 100 brought out another caution and the team made more changes to the American Majority Dodge to chip away at the tight condition. It was a slight improvement and Bowles moved forward again, picking up four spots as the race entered it last stint.

The top-20 was in sight as the readjusted goal and the team made one last change during its lap 165 pitstop to help Bowles settle in for the final 35 laps.  Charging hard and pulling away from a small pack behind, Jason laid down some of his best times of the race to take the checkered flag 19th.

“I felt like I had a good start and we got in there with the really fast guys early, but just as I was starting to think we could hang around there, the car started to tighten up,” Bowles explained.  “It’s one of things where all of a sudden you just can’t roll through the center of the corner and get back to the gas  like the other guys – and when it starts to get tight, it doesn’t generally fix itself.  That’s where we had to make some adjustments and we definitely got better through the race with those adjustments, which is a good thing.  I think we were pretty fast at the end, so that helps with everyone’s confidence too.

“The big thing though is we scored points today, came away with a clean car and had an entire race to work together.  If we can do this week in and week out the first part of the year, we will surprise people at some point.  So, I have to thank the guys for hanging in and working hard.  Now it’s on to Vegas and trying to keep building momentum.”

With Saturday’s finish, Bowles jumped 6 spots to 22nd in NASCAR Nationwide Series points.

Follow Jason and the American Majority Racing team on the following outlets:

Twitter

@bowlesjason

@am_national

@majorityracing

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/JasonBowlesMotorsports

http://www.facebook.com/AmericanMajorityRacing

Web:

http://www.mms81.com/

http://americanmajority.org/

About American Majority Racing

American Majority Racing is a national program of American Majority, the nation’s leading conservative grassroots training organization.  The program is designed to target millions of NASCAR fans from all political backgrounds in an unprecedented effort to engage them in the electoral process.  Having teamed up with NASCAR driver Jason Bowles and car #81 MacDonald Motorsports for the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series racing season, the American Majority Racing program is designed to educate Americans about how smaller government and less spending will “Keep America Free.”  Through www.PledgetoVote.com, American Majority Racing encourages all Americans to register and vote in the 2012 elections.

About American Majority

American Majority is the leading developer of the nation’s new 21st century conservative grassroots political infrastructure.  The organization uses its cutting edge curriculum to empower individuals and organizations with the most effective tools to promote liberty through limited government. American Majority trains thousands of activists and candidates each year in communities across the country to be catalysts for authentic change in government.  The non-profit, non-partisan organization is dedicated to developing a new generation of American elected and opinion leadership that will reject the self-destructive policies associated with government expansion and promote those that will lead to growth and success.

About MacDonald Motorsports

MacDonald Motorsports Owner Randy MacDonald has been around the NASCAR circles since 1985, when he began his own racing career with the loving support of his father “Doc” and his mother Pat MacDonald.  As a NASCAR driver, Randy was successful in making it all the way to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.  The MacDonald family became NASCAR team owners in 1986 and have fielded cars in all three of NASCAR’s elite series following faith based principles. MacDonald Motorsports focuses on assisting our sponsors with strategically increasing the overall awareness of corporate messaging or brand recognition by consistently articulating the message to be delivered through motorsports. MacDonald Motorsports offers drivers opportunities to gain experience from grass roots all the way through the elite series of NASCAR.

-MacDonald Motorsports Press Release

[media-credit name=”lvms.com” align=”alignright” width=”160″][/media-credit]Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – Sam’s Town 300 Advance

Team:           No. 6 Ford Ecoboost Mustang

Crew Chief:  Mike Kelley

Chassis:       RK-740 – primary – new Nationwide chassis

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

Stenhouse, Jr – Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

Date Event St Fin Laps Money Status Led

2/27/2010 Sam’s Town 300 7 30 152/200  $       25,923 running 0

3/5/2011 Sam’s Town 300 3 8 200/200  $       28,405 running 0

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

Cumulative        2                 0           0               1             0             0          $54,328

QUOTES

Stenhouse, Jr. on racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

“I’m looking forward to racing at Las Vegas this weekend because Roush Fenway has had great success at this 1.5-mile track.  You must have a good handling race car at Las Vegas because the track surface is so bumpy. I know Mike Kelley and the guys have been working hard on our shock package and getting the balance right for our No. 6 Ford. We will carry our momentum into this weekend, and hopefully can get this No. 6 Ford Ecoboost Mustang into Victory Lane.”

Crew chief Mike Kelley on racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

“Las Vegas has been a good track for the entire Roush Fenway organization, so I’m looking forward to racing there this weekend. We are bringing a brand new Nationwide chassis that I feel confident will perform well on this rough track surface. Handling is key at Vegas, so we have been working hard to get the balance right.  I feel confident that we will have a strong run and continue Roush Fenway’s success this weekend.”

FAST FACTS

The 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Champion had two wins, 16 top-five, 26 top-ten, three poles. Stenhouse is currently fifth in the point standings; 25 points behind leader Elliott Sadler

Stenhouse’s average start at LVMS is 5.0; average finish is 19.0.

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=”www.phoenixraceway.com” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]RCR Post Race Report — Phoenix International Raceway

NASCAR Nationwide Series

RACE: Bashas’ Supermarkets 200

TRACK: Phoenix International Raceway

Race Highlights:

Racing teammates finished first (Elliott Sadler), fourth (Austin Dillon) and fifth (Kevin Harvick). Sadler leads the Nationwide Series driver championship point standings by 10 points over Dillon. Sadler earned his sixth-career Nationwide Series win and first since a 1998 victory at Rockingham Speedway. Combined, the RCR entries posted 50.5 percent of the fastest laps of the race, with Harvick posting the fastest lap 63 times, Dillon 21 times and Sadler eight times. According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, Harvick and Sadler ranked first and second, respectively, in the Driver Rating category, with a 140.2 (Harvick) and a 120.4 (Sadler), while Dillon ranked sixth with a driver rating of 106.0. Each of the RCR entries completed the entire race without falling below 15th in the running order. Dillon led the field in Quality Passes (passing for position while running in the top 15) with 28. Harvick boasted the highest average running position during the race with an average running place of 2.7. Harvick led the NASCAR Loop Data categories for Fastest Drivers Early in a Run (130.640 mph), Fastest Laps Run (34.6 percent / 63 total), Green-Flag Speed (130.121 mph) and Laps Led (53.5 percent / 107 total). Sadler was followed to the finish line by Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Dillon and Harvick. The next Nationwide Series race is the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, Mar. 10. The third race of the 2012 season is scheduled to be televised live on ESPN2 beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

Elliott Sadler Gets Retribution with Victory at Phoenix International Raceway

Elliott Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial team earned their first victory of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series season Saturday afternoon at Phoenix International Raceway. Less than four months after Sadler’s Nationwide Series championship title hopes were dashed at the Avondale, Ariz., track after a late-race incident, Sadler came back with his new Richard Childress Racing team with a vengeance. The OneMain Financial Chevrolet started from the eighth position, and competed within the top 10 for much of the 200-lap race. Competing in the eighth position with 80 laps remaining, Sadler began to make a push toward the front and picked off cars one at a time. The caution flag flew with 36 laps remaining, and crew chief Luke Lambert called Sadler to pit road for left-side tires and fuel, getting off pit road in the second position. When green-flag racing resumed, Sadler was able to quickly slide in front of then-leader Brad Keselowski, holding him off until the checkered flag dropped. The victory at Phoenix serves as Sadler’s sixth-career Nationwide Series win, his first since 1998 when he captured the checkered flag at Rockingham Speedway. With two races under his belt in the 2012 season, Sadler heads into next week’s event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with one win, two top-five finishes and the Nationwide Series driver point lead, 10 points ahead of RCR teammate Austin Dillon.

Start -8      Finish – 1     Laps Led – 26       Points – 1

ELLIOTT SADLER QUOTE:

“It’s a very emotional win. We all know how long it’s been since I was in Victory Lane. Luke Lambert, my crew chief, made a great call at the end to change left-sides only, and it definitely panned out the way we wanted it to. The guys on the No. 2 OneMain Financial team have worked so hard throughout the off season and it is great to be able to kick our season off like this. Thanks to Richard Childress for this great opportunity and to everyone who has worked on this program. It’s a great feeling to be back in Victory Lane after so long.”

Dillon Earns Second Consecutive Top-Five Finish with Fourth-Place Result at Phoenix

Austin Dillon and the No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet team finished fourth in the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway to earn their second consecutive top-five finish in the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series. Dillon started the 200-lap race from the ninth position and never fell outside of the top 15, utilizing spotters Andy Houston and Kevin Hamlin to navigate the black No. 3 Chevrolet around lapped traffic on the tight short track. The Lexington, N.C. driver was scored in the 10th position when the first caution flag of the race was displayed at lap 42 and crew chief Danny Stockman directed Dillon down pit road so the RCR team could service the car with left-side tires and an air pressure adjustment designed to maximize the handling of Dillon’s machine. Following the routine stop, Dillon restarted the race in the third position on lap 48, but fell back to 13th in the running order within one lap after getting loose and making contact with another competitor. Dillon recovered from the setback and began working his way toward the front of the field, making two additional pit stops under caution periods. He was scored in the ninth position at the race’s halfway point and made it to fifth in the running order with 30 laps remaining in the race. He passed his RCR teammate, Kevin Harvick, for the fourth position on the final lap to claim his second consecutive top-five finish. In addition to the fourth-place finish, Dillon was the Sunoco Rookie of the Race and now sits second in the Nationwide Series driver championship point standings.

Start – 9               Finish – 4                 Laps Led – 0         Points – 2

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:  “It’s great to see RCR on top. Our Chevrolets, so far, have been really fast this season, so all of our tests during the off season have paid off. I really thought we had something for them today. We ran the fastest laps a bunch but we just lost track position a few times. We made a two-tire pit stop at one point, and then I came really close to wrecking off of turn four and lost a bunch of track position. We really passed a lot of cars today. At the end of the race, it was tough to get going after only taking two tires but Elliott Sadler was able to so I think that is what won him the race. I want to congratulate him on the win. That’s really great for him and RCR.”

Harvick Posts Fifth-Place Finish in the Desert Following Dominating Run

Kevin Harvick had a dominant performance in his return to the NASCAR Nationwide Series with Richard Childress Racing but had to ultimately settle for a fifth-place finish in the Bashas’ Supermarket 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. After starting the 200-lap affair from the 12th position, the 2006 Nationwide Series Champion raced the No. 33 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet up into the top five and used a four-tire pit stop call by crew chief Ernie Cope to take the lead for the first time on lap 52. Once Harvick took the point, he didn’t look back as he went on to lead 107 of the 200 laps, stretching the margin at one point to more than six seconds over the second-place driver. It wasn’t until a caution-flag period with under 40 laps remaining in the event that the No. 33 Chevrolet relinquished the lead. One final pit stop was in order, and since Harvick had been so strong on earlier restarts, Cope used the same strategy and once again called for four tires and fuel. This time, however, many other teams chose to complete just a two-tire stop which lined up the South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet seventh on the final restart with 33 laps remaining. Heavy traffic caused the black and gold machine to handle differently than when it paced the field, and though he picked up a few positions, Harvick couldn’t work his way back to the front in the remaining laps. RCR teammate Austin Dillon scooted under Harvick on the final lap to claim a fourth-place finish while teammate Elliott Sadler took the checkered flag in the desert.

Start – 12           Finish – 5    Laps Led – 107       Owner Points – 5

KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:

“That four-tire stop at the end just really got us farther behind than we thought it would. I think we restarted seventh and it just didn’t handle the same back in traffic. I really want to congratulate Elliott Sadler on the win and everyone in this RCR Nationwide Series shop. This team worked hard and the South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet was really good today. It’s just a 50-50 call there at the end and you win some and you lose some. We’re going to keep our heads up and know we had a fast car today.”