Category: XFINITY Series

Saturday, June 4, 2011 Motorsports PR Chicagoland Speedway STP 300 Post-Race Quotes NASCAR Nationwide Series

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger R/T) Finished 30th “What a bummer. I’m not sure what exactly happened, the car just started to slow down. I thought at first that it might be an ignition box problem, but it’s something internal with the engine. It’s been one of them years where we’re catching some bad breaks. We had a great run last year and I’m still really proud of the guys that are working on this team. We’re fighting really hard and have Michigan coming up in a few weeks. Hopefully we’ll have a little bit more for them at my home track. I seem to race really well there and I can’t wait to get this Dodge Challenger to MIS. I feel fortunate and proud to have a sponsor like Discount Tire and Ruby Tuesday that really supports this series. It’s been a rough year to date but we’ll keep plugging away and get this Dodge into victory lane.”

PRIOR TO THE ENGINE PROBLEM YOU HAD A TOP-FIVE CAR ALL NIGHT: “We started sixth and never ran outside of fifth. We fought a little loose condition, but nothing that was too bad. The only issue we had was when I fought some vibration with the right-front, but we think that may have been because of the set of scuffs (tires) that we put on the car. Not the result we were looking for tonight.”

TODD GORDON (crew chief, No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger R/T) “Again we just try to make steps to get to where we want to be. I felt like we were doing it again tonight. We started sixth and ran second for quite a while. We decided to take a set of scuff tires out of sequence so we had stickers for later in the race. We were one adjustment away and I think we had a shot at a win. These Penske motors.they don’t have problems. It’s a part failure. It happens. We have really good stuff. We’ll just continue to work hard and move forward.”

THE RACE.   EVENT:  STP 300, Round 14 of 34 in the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series

DATE / TIME:  Saturday, June 4, 2011, 7:00 PM CT

VENUE: Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, IL (1.50-Mile Oval)

DISTANCE:  200 Laps, 300 Miles

TV (PRE-RACE): NASCAR Countdown, feat. Rusty Wallace, ESPN (Live-7:30 PM ET)

TV (RACE): ESPN (Live-8:00 PM ET)

RADIO: MRN Radio / Sirius (Live)

THE HEADLINES.   THE STORY:  Team 5-Hour Energy RWR’s Steve Wallace (No. 66 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry) blows into the Windy City this weekend hoping that just like the summer temperatures, his 2011 Nationwide Series campaign will continue to heat up.  His seventh-place finish last week in Charlotte marked his fourth finish of 11th or better in the last five Nationwide Series races and his career best at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  He enters Chicago ranked eighth overall and slashed the gap to seventh-place Kenny Wallace last weekend to 27 points.

STEVE WALLACE AT CHICAGOLAND:  Wallace has improved his finish in each of his four career NNS starts at Chicagoland.  His best effort to date was a lead-lap 12th-place finish last July.  The 23-year old wheelman hasn’t been without victory in the Windy City, though.  In 2006, Wallace started Chicagoland’s ARCA race from the pole and never looked back, leading 86 of 134 laps en route to a dominating six-second victory.

BRINGING THE HEAT:  After a slow start to the 2011 season, Steve Wallace’s NNS campaign has started to heat up recently, with four finishes of 11th or better in the last five Nationwide Series races.  Wallace’s seventh-place finish last week in Charlotte came in race 13 of the 2011 season; it could be an omen of good things to come.  Beginning with race 13 last season, Wallace went on a summertime tear of ten straight top-15 finishes, including seven top-10 efforts.  At the time that stretch ended, Wallace held the longest active streaks of top-10 and top-15 finishes in the series.

PIT CREW CHANGE:  Pedro Martinez, a member of JGR’s pit crew program, will replace Jon  Lucas as rear tire changer on the No. 66 car, effective immediately.

INJURY UPDATE:  Bryce Hildebrand, backup tire carrier for JGR’s Cup efforts, be on standby to replace Matt Donley at front tire carrier.  Donley suffered a hand injury earlier this week.

THE MACHINES.   TEAM 66 PRIMARY:  RWR-066-The newest Camry in the RWR fleet, RWR-066 was last piloted by Wallace to an 11th-place effort in its debut earlier this year at Iowa.

TEAM 66 SECONDARY:  RWR-052-Reconfigured as an intermediate car for 2011, Car 052 has yet to make its  2011 on-track debut, but scored a top-15 in its first start at Daytona last year.

THE ENERGY SHOT.   WELCOME ABOARD: 5-Hour Energy Racing welcomes Casey’s General Stores and Jewel-Osco as partners for the Chicagoland Speedway event.  Branding from both stores will adorn Wallace’s No. 66 Toyota in Saturday night’s race.

DID YOU KNOW?:  5-Hour Energy contains a blend of B-vitamins, amino acids and essential nutrients. It contains zero sugar, zero herbal stimulants and four calories. The amount of caffeine varies depending on the energy shot. Original 5-Hour Energy contains as much caffeine as a cup of premium coffee. Extra Strength contains as much as 12 ounces of  premium coffee, while Decaf 5-Hour Energy contains only as much caffeine as a half cup of decaffeinated coffee.

FROM THE COCKPIT.   STEVE WALLACE (NO. 66 5-HOUR ENERGY TOYOTA CAMRY):  “I’m looking forward to Chicago this weekend, believe it or not.  We haven’t run as well as we would have liked there in the past, but our finishes have definitely improved there over time.  I feel like we really learned some things last week at Charlotte that should apply at Chicago as well, so hopefully we’ll be able to knock down at least another top-ten and keep closing the gap in points even more.”

# # #

About Rusty Wallace Racing, LLC   North Carolina-based Rusty Wallace Racing (RWR) is a professional auto racing team steeped in the legendary racing history of its founder, Rusty Wallace.  The team currently campaigns the No. 66 and No. 62 Toyota Camrys-driven by Steve Wallace and Michael Annett, respectively-in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.  RWR will also campaign the No. 64 Camry in select 2011 events.  RWR entries have finished among the top-ten in the Nationwide Series driver or owner standings in each of the last three seasons.  For more on Rusty Wallace Racing, please visit the award-winning rustywallace.com.

About Living Essentials, LLC   Living Essentials, LLC, based in Farmington Hills Michigan, is the maker of 5-Hour Energy, the category leader in 2 oz. liquid energy shots.  5-Hour Energy is available nationwide at major retailers in the Grocery, Drug Store, Mass Merchant, Warehouse and Convenience Store classes of trade.  Living Essentials sells over seven million bottles of 5-Hour Energy per week.  For more information, please visit 5hourenergy.com.

Team looks for fourth consecutive Nationwide Series Victory; Stenhouse Jr. eyes NNS Points Lead; Bayne set for return

JOLIET, Ill. (June 3, 2011) – Roush Fenway Racing rolls into Chicagoland Speedway this weekend riding a hot streak and looking for its fourth consecutive Nationwide Series victory. Roush Fenway has wins in the last three events at Dover, Iowa and Charlotte, but in order to pull off the fourth, it will require the organization’s first NASCAR victory – ever – at Chicagoland Speeedway.

“I’m thinking about what a difference a year makes,” said team owner Jack Roush. “Last year it seemed for a long time we couldn’t buy one and this year we moved Chris Andrews to be the crew chief on the 16 car and provide his vision of engineering leadership to the program. We got the FR9 engine going and got a new Mustang car, and what a difference a year makes.”

Roush Fenway has been close at the 1.5-mile track, posting five runner-up finishes (three in the Sprint Cup and two in the NNS), including Carl Edwards’ second-place finish in the Cup race last year. Chicagoland remains the only current track on the NASCAR circuit, that hosts multiple series, where Roush Fenway has never won. However, riding a huge wave of momentum Roush Fenway’s trio of drivers – Carl Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Trevor Bayne – will look to change that statistic.

Currently Roush has fielded 79 entries at Chicagoland, while putting up 14 top-five finishes, 30 top 10s, two poles and led 659 laps.

In addition to going for Roush Fenway’s first Chicagoland win, Stenhouse – on the strength of three consecutive top-five finishes and a win – has pulled back to within one point of the Nationwide Series points lead and will look to retake the top spot this weekend in Joliet.

In addition, the Roush Fenway stable will again have the services of Trevor Bayne, who returns to action this weekend.

“I can’t explain how excited I am to get back in a race car,” said Bayne. “Sitting out for the last month and a half has made me realize how much I love to drive race cars and how blessed I am to do it. It’s easy to get wrapped up in all of this, but after watching races on TV you realize how fortunate you are to be in there. I’m very excited about getting back in the car at Chicago and hopefully we’ll have a good showing.”

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 (http://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.

The Headlines:

Heartland Hockey History: As a former ice hockey defenseman for Team Illinois, Rusty Wallace Racing driver Michael Annett previously called Chicago home during his junior year of high school. Leading the league in penalty minutes, Annett led Team Illinois to the 2002 Calgary Mac’s AAA Hockey Tournament championship before joining the United States Hockey League (USHL) sanctioned Waterloo Blackhawks back in his home state of Iowa where he was part of the Clark Cup championship winning team.

From the Rink to the Racetrack: Now off the ice and behind the wheel of a stock car, Annett will hit Chicagoland Speedway for his third start on the Windy City’s one and a half mile oval. Knocking on the door of the top-10 in the championship point race, Midwest native Annett enters this weekend’s event 11th in point standings, just five markers away from the top-10. Returning to America’s Heartland, Annett will make his 85th career Nationwide Series start in Saturday’s Nationwide Series STP 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.

RWR Crewman Visits Home State: Rusty Wallace Racing’s Brian Gainey, hails from Moline, Illinois. A jackman and underneath mechanic on the No. 62 Pilot Flying J Toyota Camry, the 28-year-old father of two spent the first 24 years of his life in the Prairie State before moving to North Carolina in 2006 to pursue a career in NASCAR. Following in his father’s footsteps, Gainey comes from an open-wheel background where he raced USAC and Silver Crown cars at tracks throughout the Midwest. Now residing in Troutman, North Carolina, he enjoys coaching baseball when he’s not following the Nationwide Series circuit with Rusty Wallace Racing’s No. 62 team.

Homecoming for Hauler Driver: Born and raised in Southside Chicago, Ken Adams drives the No. 62 Pilot Flying J transporter for Rusty Wallace Racing. With his wife as his co-pilot, Ken and Lori Adams are the only husband-wife transporter driver duo in the Nationwide Series. Ken has been a transporter driver in the motorsports industry for 16 years and began his career in the IndyCar Series. He currently leads the points in the Freightliner Truck Driver Challenge, and his next challenge event coincides with the race weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.

For the latest updates on Michael Annett, visit www.michaelannett.com.

The Machines:

Team 62 Primary: RWR-061 – The No. 62 team’s last outing with this car was at Dover International Speedway in May.

Team 62 Back-Up: RWR-051 – The No. 62 Pilot Flying J team’s last race competing with this chassis was at Bristol Motor Speedway in March.

Pilot Flying J Locations on your way:

Pilot Flying J provides 29 Pilot Travel Centers and Flying J locations along the highways throughout Illinois. Five of these locations are conveniently positioned within a 50 mile radius of Chicagoland Speedway. For more information on Pilot Flying J and to map their nearest locations along your route, please visit www.pilotflyingj.com.

Pilot Travel Center

I-55 Exit 248

23841 West Eames St.

Channahon, IL 60410

 

Pilot Travel Center

I-80 Exit 122

301 Ridge Rd.

Minooka, IL 60447

 

Pilot Travel Center

I-57 Exit 335

6002 Monee-Manhattan Rd.

Monee, IL 60449

 

Pilot Travel Center

I-80/I-94 Exit 2

8150 Indianapolis Blvd.

Highland, IN 46322

 

Pilot Travel Center

I-80/I-94 Exit 6

2501 Burr St.

Gary, IN 46406

 

About Pilot Flying J:

 

Pilot Flying J is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, and has more than 550 locations in North America. The company employs more than 20,000 people and is the largest retail operator of travel centers in North America. Follow Pilot Flying J on Twitter at @pilottravel.

 

Broadcast Info:

 

Nationwide Series Qualifying

Saturday, June 4, 4:30 p.m. ET

ESPN2

 

STP 300

Saturday, June 4, 8 p.m. ET

ESPN