JR MOTORSPORTS TEAM PREVIEW
No. 88 GT Vodka Chevrolet/No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
EVENT – Wypall 200 (200 laps / 200 miles)
TRACK – Phoenix International Raceway (1-mile oval)
DATE – Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010
TV / RADIO – ESPN2 (coverage begins at 4 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 4 p.m. EST)
Aric Almirola
No. 88 GT Vodka Chevrolet
“One of the coolest aspects about Phoenix is that it’s a mile track, but it races like a short track. Most everyone in this series grew up racing short tracks, so it will be familiar territory. You’ll see some close-quarters racing and it can get pretty dicey at times because the track gets slick.
“I’ll take any chance I can to race, so I’m grateful to be running triple duty through the end of the year. But I’m still focused on helping Pops (Eury Sr.) and this GT Vodka team prepare for a championship run next season, so we need to do our best to make that a reality this weekend and next.”
Danica Patrick
No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“I remember at Charlotte last month everyone was thrilled to be racing close to home. Now I get my turn for a hometown race. It will be nice to sleep in my own bed. I’m excited for that. It’s going to be a lot of fun to race this close to home at Phoenix. It’s a place I thought was cool in an Indy Car, and I’m sure it will be a handful in a stock car. I think Phoenix is a great track. It’s challenging, and I’m sure it will be even more so in a stock car with less grip.
“Our Go Daddy team has two more chances to get a top-15 finish this season. That still is something I’m aiming for. Our team is certainly good enough, now it’s a battle of staying out of trouble. We failed to do that last weekend at Texas, and it put us a ways behind. Everyone says Phoenix is similar to a short track, which certainly is area I need to work on. I’m looking forward to getting onto the track this weekend.”
JR MOTORSPORTS NOTEBOOK –
GO DADDY’S NASCAR FAN 1ST – Go Daddy drivers Danica Patrick and Mark Martin are participating in Go Daddy’s NASCAR Fan 1st on Thursday, Nov. 11, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. MT at the Chase Field Rotunda in Phoenix. Fans will have the chance to meet the Go Daddy drivers, get their autographs and try for a shot to cash-in on the Go Daddy “Cash Machine.” The event is free to the public and is also open to the media.
DOUBLE HOMECOMING – It will be a homecoming of sorts for both Go Daddy and driver Danica Patrick this weekend at Phoenix. Go Daddy’s headquarters are stationed in nearby Scottsdale, Ariz., while Patrick resides in the Phoenix area.
ALMIROLA AT PHOENIX– Almirola has five starts between NASCAR’s top three series at PIR. His best showing was a top-five finish in the Camping World Truck Series in 2009.
SEASON LONG STATS FOR 88 – The GT Vodka team has notched one win, seven top-five and 15 top-10 finishes on the year. They’ve also led a total of 116 laps. Aric Almirola, Steve Arpin, Kelly Bires, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ron Fellows, Jamie McMurray, Greg Sacks and Elliott Sadler are all racers that have shared driving duties in the 88. The team is ranked eighth in owner points.
MEDIA AVAILABILITY – Patrick will be available to members of the NASCAR media on Friday, Nov. 12, at 11:45 a.m. in the PIR infield media center.
ALMIROLA WITH JRM – Five of Almirola’s six NNS starts have come in JRM’s flagship No. 88 Chevrolet this season. The native of Tampa, Fla. has one top-five and three top-10 finishes with the team. Almirola has also led laps in four of those five starts, and earned an average finish of 11.0.
NO. 7 TEAM TO DATE – The No. 7 team has secured six top-10 finishes and led 42 laps with seven different drivers in 2010, including Aric Almirola, Steve Arpin, Landon Cassill, J.R. Fitzpatrick, Danica Patrick, Scott Wimmer and Josh Wise. The GoDaddy.com team is ranked 17th in 2010 owner points.
DANICA’S SEASON – Patrick embarks on her 12th race of her rookie campaign in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this weekend. In her previous 11 starts, she’s earned a career-best finish of 21st at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with her season-best qualifying effort of 14th coming at Auto Club Speedway. Patrick has finished no worse than 22nd in her past three starts.
JRM SOCIAL NETWORKING – Join the JR Motorsports team on Facebook at Facebook.com/dalejr
and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/jrmotorsports.
FREE JR NATION CREW FAN CLUB – Dale Jr. and JR Motorsports encourage fans to join the JR Nation Crew Fan Club for free. The official fan club provides members with exclusive ticket and merchandise offers, in addition to JRM blogs, forums, and chat rooms to interact with other members of JR Nation. For more information, visitwww.jrnation.com.
