Category: XFINITY Series

The Finish: While the final results of the US Cellular 250 will show that Michael McDowell and the No. 18 Pizza Ranch Toyota started ninth and finished ninth, the night was anything but routine for the Joe Gibbs Racing team. McDowell fought back from being two laps down to drive from 18th to ninth over the race’s final 30 laps and grab his third top-10 finish of the season.

The Race Recap: Michael and the Pizza Ranch team started the day off by qualifying the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the ninth position for Saturday evening’s event at Iowa Speedway. When the green flag flew, McDowell began charging to the front. By lap five, McDowell already found himself in the top-five, taking a spot from JGR teammate Drew Herring. Following a round of pit stops, McDowell grabbed the lead on lap 51 and held the point, holding off Carl Edwards for 17 laps before relinquishing the spot. McDowell raced inside the top-10 for most of the event before having to come down pit road under green flag conditions on lap 166 with a bad vibration caused by a loose wheel. The resulting green-flag stop put McDowell and the No. 18 Pizza Ranch Toyota two laps down. The team was able to take the wave around to get one lap back and then received the “lucky dog” on a subsequent caution, putting him back on the lead lap with just 30 laps to go. McDowell restarted 18th and was able to race all the way to ninth when the checkers flew, giving him his third top-10 finish of the season. The No. 18 JGR team still leads the NASCAR Nationwide Series Owner’s standings by 25 points over the No. 32 of Turner Motorsports.

Michael’s Quotes: “I’m pretty happy with the way that we ran tonight. We didn’t get the finish that we deserved out there, but you’ll have nights like that. This Pizza Ranch Toyota was really good out there. I think had things worked out right, we would have been able to be up there in the top-three and we could have given those Roush Fords a run for their money. But I’m really excited about the way we came back from some pretty unfortunate circumstances and got a top-10 finish out of all of it. No one gave up, (crew chief) Jason (Ratcliff) and all of the guys kept a level head and we got back in contention. We just didn’t have the time at the end of the race to get up there farther. But the Pizza Ranch Toyota was fast. This was a good car, just disappointed we didn’t get a chance to get the finish we should have.

“We just had a loose wheel there past halfway. Things like that happen. It wasn’t done on purpose or anything. You will have things like that happen in these races. The impressive part is that no one got down, no one hung their heads and we just started focusing on getting back in this thing right after that happened. We knew if we could get the wave around and get a lucky dog, we would have a shot to get right back in it and that is exactly what happened. Unfortunately, that just all happened a little too late in the race. We had 30 laps to make the most out of it when we got back on the lead lap. I got on the radio and said ‘let’s do this’ and we just started picking up spot after spot. We were able to get up to ninth there by the checkers. It wasn’t a bad day for the Pizza Ranch Toyota.

“I’ve got to thank Pizza Ranch for all of their support this year. This was the last race of the year for them as a sponsor and they’ve been great to work with. I really wish we could have won a race for them, but their support has given me a shot to race in great equipment and it’s been an awesome opportunity. Hopefully, we’ve brought them a lot of added exposure. We’ve got another race in a couple of weeks, so hopefully we can get this Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 team another win before the year is out.”

What’s Next: The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will return to the track next weekend with Kyle Busch behind the wheel at Watkins Glen International. McDowell will return to the No. 18 the week after in Montreal.

CHINA GROVE, N.C. (August 7, 2011) – Robert Richardson, Jr. and the No. 23 North Texas Pipe Dodge team of R3 Motorsports had a cyclical race at Iowa Speedway during Saturday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series event coming back right to where they started 250 laps later.

After posting the 24th-fastest time in the final practice on Friday evening, Richardson and team backed that up by qualifying 23rd for the race on Saturday afternoon. Once the green flag fell over the .75-mile oval at dusk, Richardson settled into a top-25 running position fluctuating up and down the scoring chart within a few positions of where they started.

Taking advantage of cautions on laps 24 and 49, Richardson was called down pit road by crew chief Walter Giles for tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments to get the car better. They didn’t have much to do because Richardson was saying the car was handing great through the turns.

As the air and track temperatures started to cool once the sun set over the Midwestern plains, the 29-year old driver was looking forward to the track coming to his car later in the race.

However, the team’s progress upward on the scoring pylon was slowed when an overheating engine occurred under green. This forced the No. 23 North Texas Pipe Chevrolet down pit road to cool it off and see what was causing the rise in temperature.

Giles directed the efforts enabling Richardson a return to action and good to go for the remainder of the race. Despite losing some laps on pit road, the good news was he could keep racing towards the checkered flag.

Some late race cautions on lap 154 and 185 allowed for more adjustments, the chance to double check the engine wouldn’t overheat and, for one of them, Giles called for the wave around to make up some laps.

Richardson was logging great lap times keeping up with cars in the top-20 and even some in the top-15, at times. Unfortunately, they were trapped too far down on laps to take advantage of those commendable lap times and race it out for a good finish.

When the race was said and done, Richardson completed the “23 cycle” by finishing right where he started – in 23rd place; in their No. 23 car. Knowing they have a good car ready to race again in the future will keep driver and team looking forward to their next outing.

This weekend, the NNS will race The Glen of Watkins Glen International for their second road course race of the year. Alex Kennedy will return to action for the team, just like last year.

Robert Richardson, Jr. Quotes: “That was, by far, the absolute best car I have ever driven at Iowa Speedway. We could corner just right, the speeds were consistent and it was just a great-running car all weekend.

“It’s too bad we had that overheating problem in the middle of the race and had to come to pit road under green. We lost some laps, but Walter (Giles, crew chief) and team was able to get us good to go again so we could finish the race.

“We just kept at it for the rest of the race to get a good finish. They kept telling me were running some good top-20 lap times, just too bad we couldn’t get up there to race with those guys like we wanted.

“Taking advantage of the wave around was a good call, just too bad we didn’t get a chance to do more of them. So, we’ll have Alex Kennedy in the car next week at Watkins Glen and I’m going to go up and help spot for him, so that should be fun.”

Sam Hornish Jr. Runs Strong But Finishes 24th at Iowa Speedway in the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger

NEWTON, Iowa (August 6, 2011) – Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the No. 22 Discount Tie Dodge Challenger in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS), finished 24th Saturday evening in the U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway. The event marked the first NNS race of 2011 for Hornish in the Discount Tire Dodge. Hornish stepped in for Brad Keselowski, who usually pilots the No. 22 Dodge Challenger, after Keselowski injured his ankle during a test session earlier this week at Road Atlanta. Hornish led laps early at Iowa before brake issues haunted the Discount Tire team in the second half of the race.

Hornish started from the third position after posting a qualifying time of 23.903 seconds, or 131.783 miles per hour, during Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session. The result marked his fifth top-10 start of the 2011 season. The No. 22 Dodge Challenger started the race strong as Hornish quickly found himself gaining track position. By lap 13, Hornish had seized the lead of the race and began pulling away from the rest of the field.

When the first caution flag flew on lap 21, after the No. 31 car of Justin Allgaier brushed the wall and sent debris onto the track, crew chief Todd Gordon instructed Hornish to remain on track to maintain track position. Hornish told his team that the car was a little tight-handling but he was able to move the Discount Tire Dodge around the race track while making his way through race traffic. Hornish chose to stay in the outside lane when the race restarted again on lap 26.

As the race progressed, Hornish reported that the car was handling tighter in the middle of the turns and he asked Gordon to make an adjustment during the next caution. The Discount Tire crew got the chance to make changes when the yellow flag flew for the second time on lap 48. Gordon called for a four-tire stop with fuel and sent Hornish back out onto the track in the fourth position.

With 79 laps completed, Hornish continued to run at the front. He was able to quickly move through lapped traffic and found himself battling with the No. 18 car of Michael McDowell for the third position. As the caution flag flew for a third time, the Discount Tire Dodge Challenger again made its way down pit road for another four-tire stop. After he restarted in the fourth position on lap 105, Hornish again began to focus on reclaiming the race lead.

As the sun started to set over Iowa Speedway, Hornish mentioned to the Discount Tire team that the car was beginning to run tight again as the track surface began to cool down. While battling with the No. 33 machine of David Mayhew for the third position, Hornish radioed that the No. 22 car had a flat right front tire and he quickly made his way down pit road. The Discount Tire crew changed all four tires, filled the car with fuel and sent Hornish back on his way.

While coming out of the pits, Hornish noticed that his brakes were not working properly and in order to slow the car down he had to pump the brakes several times. Gordon called for Hornish to make a second trip down pit road so the crew could fix the broken flex line that was believed to be the cause of the issue. After realizing that the brake problem had not yet been resolved, Gordon advised Hornish to “nurse” the car around the track until he was able to return to pit lane during a caution to replace the brake line completely. Hornish fell out of the top-10 and he eventually restarted the race in the 23rd position, running three laps down to the leaders.

When fifth caution flag of the night came out on lap 184, Hornish brought the No. 22 Dodge Challenger down pit road again to address the brake problem. When the race restarted with only 55 laps remaining, only the rear brakes were working on the Discount Tire Dodge.

The No. 22 team made another attempt to fix the brake problems during the final caution period of the race, but ultimately, Hornish was not able to make up the lost ground. He fought to the end and finished the race in 24th place, five laps down to race winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

“It was just a disappointing night,” said Hornish. “We had a really good car for the first 150 laps. We ran over a piece of debris and cut down the right front (tire) and in getting back to the pits we broke a brake line. So we spent the rest of the race trying to get all four breaks back but we just never seemed to get there. It’s unfortunate that the night ended like it did but the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger was pretty fast and we were able to lead a few laps early on. I really need to get this monkey off of my back. It seems like no matter what happens, we always have some kind of issue. I’m very proud of the whole Discount Tire team and the car that they gave me was great. I just wish we could have gotten more out of it today.”

Keselowski will return to the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge next weekend at Watkins Glen International for the Zippo 200 at the Glen on Saturday, August 13. Live television coverage will begin at 2:00 pm ET on ESPN. The race will also be heard on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 90.

Roush Fenway claims 12th win of 2011 season; Increases Nationwide Points lead

NEWTON, IOWA (August 6, 2011) – Roush Fenway Racing posted the wildest one-two finish in team history Saturday night at Iowa Speedway, with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. posting his second career NASCAR win; sweeping both races at Iowa this season. The win is Roush Fenway’s 12th NASCAR win in 2011 and their eighth in the Nationwide Series this season.

“This was just an awesome job from this No. 6 team,” said Stenhouse Jr. “They work harder than anyone out there; all the guys at the shop and everyone at Roush Yates engines. I have to thank the good Lord above; he’s helped us through so much. I have to thank Nationwide Insurance for giving us the opportunity to come out here and put on a show for all these awesome fans. I just wish we had Blackwell Angus Beef and Cargill on this car tonight.”

Stenhouse and Roush Fenway teammate Carl Edwards engaged in a heated battle throughout the course of the race, with Stenhouse using a dramatic three-wide move to slice his No. 6 Ford Mustang through lapped traffic, eventually passing Edwards and taking the lead with 22 laps remaining.

Stenhouse looked as if he would cruise to the win, but the drama was far from over. A late mechanical issue forced him to slow at the finish line on the final lap. Edwards was unable to maneuver through the thick smoke and around the No. 6 car, violently slamming into the back of Stenhouse just short of the finish line, with the two crossing the line sideways, first and second, with severely damaged cars.

“I don’t think anyone’s finished one-two with two torn up race cars like that, so congrats to Jack (Roush),” said Edwards. “I hoped he would be out of the way when I got there and I would drive around him. I have to thank Fastenal for being a part of this. It was a huge day. It’s fun to come here and race in front of this crowd and a great race for Ricky even with his problem there at the end.”

All three Roush Fenway Ford Mustangs led in the race, with Edwards leading a race-high 109 laps. Stenhouse led 25 laps and Trevor Bayne, who started second – was strong early; leading seven laps. Bayne was running top-five when he was forced to pit with a loose wheel. Bayne finished 25th in the race.

With the victory, Stenhouse increased his Nationwide Series points lead to 12 points. Stenhouse and Edwards finished both Iowa races first and second this season.

Roush Fenway and the Nationwide Series return to action next weekend at Watkins Glen.

NEWTON, IA — Elliott Sadler used a lap of 23.794 seconds to grab his ninth career NASCAR Nationwide Series start, and will lead the field to green in tonight’s running for the US Cellular 250 presented by Enlist Weed Control System.

[media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”229″][/media-credit]The top speed also served as Sadler’s third pole of the season.

2011 Daytona 500 Champion Trevor Bayne qualified second for his 15th top-10 start of the season.

Sam Hornish Jr., who is taking the place of injured Brad Keselowski this weekend at Iowa Speedway, qualified third.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Drew Harring rounded out the top-five qualifiers. Justin Allgaier, Jason Leffler, Kenny Wallace, Michael McDowell and Brian Scott rounded out the top-ten qualifiers.

Carl Edwards, who climbed into his car just a few minutes before the 60 car took to the track, will start the race 17th.

Forty-three drivers signed entry blanks for the race, therefore all who made a qualifying lap will start tonight’s race.

The 3rd annual US Cellular 250 is slated to start at 7:30 p.m. ET.

TOYOTA NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Michael Annett, Drew Herring & Michael McDowell — Notes & Quotes Iowa Speedway — August 5, 2011

MICHAEL ANNETT, No. 62 Pilot/Flying J Toyota Camry, Rusty Wallace Racing What happened during the competition at the Living History Farm? “I was disappointed in myself — I didn’t have it today. I had a horse malfunction, got an injury in the corn shucking — I think I dominated the cow milking, I don’t know what that means, but I did dominate one thing.”

How does it feel to come home to Iowa Speedway? “Getting a win here, that would definitely be a dream come true. I kind of have a love-hate relationship with this place. I had some really good runs and had some bad ones as well. This track is kind of what started my career with my first ARCA race here where I sat on the pole and ran third in that race. This place has been really good to me, but it’s been bad as well. Kind of like Jason (Leffler) said, this weekend is really cool. Of course we’re all going for the trophy — we all want the win, but one of us here is going to get that bonus. We’re not going to the race saying we need to beat three guys, we need to beat 42 guys and get the trophy. It would be a dream come true.”

What are you going to work on during practice to prepare for the race? “Just going into this one, I think everybody thought loose in here in the race earlier in the season and we got back to North Carolina and tried to figure out what did we need to make the car that could have improved us and get us in the top-10. Basically if we could have fixed the loose in, we would have been right there. We’ll take care of that and I think we saw in the Truck race that ran here at night that we need to get the car to be able to turn around on the bottom and drive through the bump rather than around it in turns one and two. Those are probably two things that we’ll focus on.”

DREW HERRING, No. 20 SportClips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What do you think of racing at Iowa Speedway this weekend? “I’m definitely excited to be back at Iowa. I think it’s a great track with great people and some of the best fans in the nation, really. I had the pleasure to come here a couple times in the Pro Cup Series and now this will be my third race in the Nationwide Series. For me, I’m just excited to go back to a track that I’m familiar with. We ran our first race with Gibbs earlier this year here and it was my first race working with Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and the guys on the 20 team. These past couple weeks we’ve been in the car consecutively and for me not having the seat time, and a lot of the other guys in the series do, it is really important for me to be able to get in the car consecutive weeks. Not only that, but now we’re coming back to a track that I am familiar with and definitely feel like I have some good confidence coming into this weekend. We have SportClips on and I’m just really excited to get this day started here at Iowa.”

Are you going to be attending college at N.C. State full time in the fall? “It’s definitely been a great vacation, that’s for sure. Last summer, I actually did summer school. This summer we had this opportunity with Gibbs, so I took the summer off and wanted to make sure I focused on that 150 percent. I’m definitely getting ready to start here in a couple weeks. This is almost like I’ve been off for two years now having the whole summer off. It’s going to be a little difficult to get back in the swing of things, but we’re definitely going to keep digging. I definitely would like to run some more races, but right now we’re going to keep focusing on this weekend — I’m really excited to be back here at Iowa. As Michael (McDowell) said earlier, we both had really good races here at the beginning of the year and led some laps. I think we have a lot to build on, working on my pit stops and clean that up. Hopefully we won’t have any issues with that tomorrow and we can run just as well and hopefully get a solid top-five. I felt like all three races we’ve run, we had a chance to finish in the top-five and just had some things taken from us. We’re going to keep digging and hopefully we can get it done this weekend.”

How would you handle school and racing this fall if that opportunity was presented to you? “Yeah, I definitely thought about it. My professors before have usually been pretty good about working with me on those kinds of things. You kind of have to take it day by day though. Definitely going to go back and try to focus on school and do the best I can with that. Racing is my life — I love it and I’ve been doing it since I was 10. I really don’t know what I’d do without it. If I got the opportunity to come back and do something, it would definitely be hard, but we’d make it work somehow — I just hope I get that chance.” What is your major? “Mechanical Engineering.”

DREW HERRING, No. 20 SportClips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) What does it mean to be in a car that has won races and championships? “It’s definitely some added pressure. I think there’s two different ways to look at pressure — there’s a positive and a negative about it. You can definitely let this kind of pressure eat at you and it can kind of take a hold on you and it can end up making for a bad weekend. Or, you can take this kind of pressure and use it as a positive. We know we’re in good equipment, we know we have the opportunity to run up front, now all we have to do is go out there and perform and do our best. I try to use that in a positive way, for sure. I think it’s great to just have this opportunity, I can’t thank everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing and SportClips and all the guys on the 20 team enough — it’s been an amazing experience and it’s definitely something I’ll never forget. Hopefully we’ll get some more.”

MICHAEL McDOWELL, No. 18 Pizza Ranch Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What do you think of racing at Iowa Speedway this weekend? “It’s awesome. The 18 car, I don’t know if you guys watch, but pretty much wins like every weekend I think, so definitely some pressure getting in Kyle Busch’s car. I’m excited to do it for Pizza Ranch, this is their home race so they’re going to have 400 or 500 people from their franchises here tomorrow. It’s a big event. Like Drew (Herring) said, Iowa for me is actually one of the tracks I’ve been to the most. I’ve done two ARCA races here and however many Nationwide races we’ve had here. It’s definitely a great place — they always pack the house full with fans. We had a good car here last time, we brought the same car that we finished seventh. We ran better than that most of the day and led some laps, so we’re looking to build on that. Any time that you can come back to a race track it’s beneficial. But, for me in particular, I only get five races with this 18 Joe Gibbs Racing car, so just being able to come back to the same track with the same group of guys when you only have a handful of races is a big help. I’m looking forward to it — it’s going to be fun.”

What’s it like working with crew chief Jason Ratcliff? “It’s been great for me. You know, a lot of my time in the Nationwide Series has been in the back half of the field cars and equipment. Just to see the level of professionalism and everything is thought out — every small detail is thought out. They unload with a game plan and stick to their game plan. I think the biggest thing is confidence built on confidence. Those guys win so often, they know that their plan works so they’re very military-like as far as their procedure goes. They know exactly what they’re going to do, so it gives me a lot of confidence too because all I have to worry about is just driving knowing that you get in a car that runs up front. But also, they have the strategy worked out. They know what they’re doing when it comes to two tires, four tires, no tires because they’re in that position every weekend. So, I don’t have to think about any of those things — I just go out there and drive. It’s been great to work with Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and all those guys — they do such a great job at Joe Gibbs Racing.”

What does it mean to be in a car that has won races and championships? “For me, I have been in this sport, not for a long time, but I’ve done a lot of races and it hasn’t been in quality equipment. I don’t necessarily feel the pressure — I joke about it because it’s fun and Kyle (Busch) does win every weekend, but I don’t feel the pressure from that. Really for me, it’s more about it’s a great opportunity to showcase what I can do. There’s more pressure when you’re in a 25th-place car and you come in and can’t put tires on because they don’t have them or they leave a wheel loose so they put the left sides on the right sides. For me, just knowing that I’m getting fresh tires, good pit stops — I have a car that can win the race. That kind of takes the pressure a little bit off of me because for me it’s not so much the ego, it’s more that I have a great opportunity to run up front and I’m thankful for that and not going to let the pressure get to me. It’s always easy to say that. You get to the end of the race last week and I was like, ‘Man, I lost four or five spots at the very end, we had a good run going.’ In this sport, it’s so tough you have to manage the highs and the lows because you’re going to have both — everybody does. I’m just trying to enjoy this experience knowing that I only have a few races. It’s not always like this. For these guys up here, it’s unbelievable to get in great equipment and I’m very fortunate to do that. It also makes you very appreciative because I’ve been in the other side of equipment side, too. It’s a great opportunity.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Iowa Transcript

Newtown, Iowa (August 5, 2011) – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. visited with members of the media today prior to practice at Iowa Speedway along with Rookie of the Year contenders Blake Koch and Timmy Hill. The following is a transcript of Stenhouse’s quotes from that press conference.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 6 RickyvsTrevor.com Ford Mustang: “It’s always good to come back to Iowa, especially with the great crowds that we get here. It’s always exciting for us drivers when you know that the stands are going to be full when you are on pit road getting ready for driver introductions. Always look forward to coming back here and after we won here we’ve been looking forward to coming back here ever since. We’ve got a newer car; we’ve got a lot of updates on it I think that should play into our favor, should be a little bit faster than what we were here last time so that’s a good thing going for us. We’re running off pretty good momentum coming from a fourth-place finish at New Hampshire and leading laps late, a second at Nashville and then leading a lot of laps last week and running third. We’ve got a lot of momentum. We ran good here last time and we really think we can get another win here. Coming from 35 [points] down last year to win Rookie of the Year, we got down this year in the points but going through that last year and coming back and winning it definitely makes me not ever give up and that’s one of the things that we’ve been focused on this year. Even though when you have a couple bad races in a row, we found ourselves 30-something points out of the lead not too long ago and we fought our way back and wanted the points lead before we left ORP and that was kind of our goal and we accomplished that and hopefully we can keep it. As far as these two guys, you just have to go out there and stay consistent and run your own race. Last year that’s what we did toward the end of the year; just run our own races. We were racing Brian Scott for Rookie of the Year and we just gave it all we had and tried to finish as high as we could every single race and it just worked out.”

OBSERVATIONS FOLLOWING YOUR FIRST WIN HERE IN MAY. “They always say you’ve got to enjoy it but in this sport you’ve got to go on to the next race and you’re only as good as your last. We had to go to Charlotte and we ended up sitting on the pole and running fourth. But we were really disappointed. After you get that first win you expect to win a lot more and we haven’t done that yet so we’ve been disappointed but at the same time we’ve been running consistently in the top-five and that’s what we’ve got to do to win this championship. Looking back on it I couldn’t think of a better place to get our first win with all the fans up here, with me growing up racing sprint cars down the street at Knoxville. I have a lot of fans there and won there, too. So it was a great place to do that and glad that we’re back here now.”

ARE YOU DISAPPOINTED THAT BRAD KESELOWSKI ISN’T HERE THIS WEEKEND? “It’s real unfortunate he had a crash testing a Road Atlanta. It’s never good to see one of our competitors get hurt. After last week I was wanting to race him here and be battling for the win. I’m sure if he was here we’d be battling. He’s a really great race car driver and I feel like I’d like to beat him here so we can put last week behind us but I guess we’ll have to wait for that.”

IS IT FRUSTRATING TO LEAD A LOT OF LAPS AND NOT WIN OR HAS IT BEEN ENCOURAGING TO COME SO CLOSE TO WINNING? “It’s been a little bit of both. Earlier in the year we led laps, I think, California late in the race and finished fourth. At Michigan we led late. Carl [Edwards] beat us and we finished second. So it’s good confidence-wise for our team knowing that we can run up front and lead laps. We led late at New Hampshire. It’s just frustrating when you don’t cap it off. But I think with a little bit more experience a few of those races could have been very easily been capped off in a win. And I guess that’s part of learning. This is our second full season of running Nationwide so I feel like I’ve still got a lot to learn. I think going through those times of leading late and not winning I think is building me as a better driver. I think each and every race we’re getting better as a team. It’s frustrating but then again it builds confidence, too.”

HOW TOUGH IS IT TO SWEEP EVENTS? “To be honest with you I don’t know how hard it is to sweep one because I’ve never done it but we’re sure going to try [smile]. We feel like we have a really good opportunity to do it. I don’t think its any more pressure. I feel like we show up at the racetrack every week to win and that’s what we do as a team. We feel like every week we have a shot to win no matter what track we’re going to. I think that’s one of the positive things about being on our Blackwell Angus beef and Cargill Mustang team is they work really hard. They were with us all last year. We work really well as a team. I feel like we can sweep here. That’d be a huge accomplishment to do that for myself and I think it’d be a pretty good statement for our race team.”

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About Roush Fenway Racing Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR’s largest team operating seven motorsports teams. Four in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with drivers Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; and three in the Nationwide Series with Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Trevor Bayne. For more information on any of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, log onto www.RoushFenway.com. Become a fan of Roush Fenway Racing on Facebook by going to http://www.facebook.com/roushfenway and follow us on Twitter @roushfenway. For sponsorship inquiries please contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.