Earnhardt Ganassi Racing/ Bud Shootout At Daytona Advance Notes

Budweiser Shootout At Daytona Advance Notes

Race:                                             Budweiser Shootout, Feb. 12

Track:                                            Daytona International Speedway

Location:                                      Daytona Beach, Fla.

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Media Contacts at Daytona:

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)                     

John Olguin                                  No. 1   Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet

Shayna Keller                              No. 42 Target Chevrolet                                                                    

NOTES

Jamie McMurray and No. 1 Bass Pro Shops® / Tracker Boats Team: 

Return of the Champion:  Jamie McMurray returns to Speedweeks and the Shootout as the defending Daytona 500 champion where he landed his biggest career win last February. In his 20 starts at Daytona, including the Budweiser shootout, McMurray has claimed two victories, five top-fives and seven top-10’s, with 25 laps led.

High Expectations: Jamie McMurray returns to Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates for the 2011 season coming off a record 2010 behind the wheel of the No.1 Bass Pro Shops/McDonalds Chevrolet. NASCAR’s “Big Event” driver, as McMurray was dubbed in 2010, became only the third driver in history to win both the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same season, in addition to winning the Bank of America 500 (Charlotte’s Chase race). He and the No.1 team claimed four poles (NSCS high), nine top-fives and 12 top-10 finishes. In the 36 Cup races last season McMurray lead a career-best 386 laps averaging a starting position of 11.6 and a finishing position of 18.0. While McMurray ended the season with a 14^th-place finish in the final championship standings, just failing to make the chase, he claimed a win (Charlotte), two top-fives and three top-10 finishes, leading 90 laps combined in the final 10 Chase races. McMurray and the No.1 team led by crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion now turn their attention to building on their previous success during the 2011 season.

Shootout at the Beach:   McMurray will attempt to better his last two races in the Shootout, scoring a career-best second-place finish in the 2009 race followed by a third-place finish in last year’s running. Among active drivers he yields the third best driver rating in the Shootout with a 99.6. In his five shootout attempts (‘04, ‘06, ‘08, ‘09, ‘10) McMurray has claimed two top-fives, three top-10s and four top-20 finishes with 19 laps led while completing 319 of a possible 366 laps. His best starting position came during the 2004 edition (McMurray’s first), when he started third.

Driver Highlights:

• McMurray will enter his ninth full season in the NSCS in 2011 with Bass Pro Shops and McDonald’s as his team’s sponsor
• Total of 294 career starts in NSCS heading into Daytona.
• Won a career-high four races in 2010, including three of the NSCS biggest events, Daytona 500, Brickyard 400, Bank of America 500 (Charlotte Chase Race) in addition to his Nationwide Series victory at Atlanta driving the No.88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
• On July 25, with his victory in the Brickyard 400, McMurray became only the third driver (Dale Jarrett-1996, Jimmie Johnson-2006) in NSCS history to record wins in both of NASCAR’s marquee events (Daytona 500, Brickyard 400) in the same season. McMurray’s win at the Brickyard also gave owner Chip Ganassi the Triple Crown of American auto racing – winning the Daytona 500 earlier in the season, and teammate Dario Franchitti winning the Indianapolis 500 in the IZOD IndyCar Series
• On Oct. 17, eight years after winning his first NSCS race at Charlotte Motor Speedway subbing for an Injured Sterling Marlin, McMurray played spoiler in the NSCS by winning the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the fifth Chase race on the 2010 schedule. The victory marked the first-time a non-Chase driver claimed a victory in the Chase since Greg Biffle at Kansas in 2007
• 2010 NSCS Coors Light overall pole award winner with four (Fontana, Darlington, Chicago, Fontana)
• 15 victories and 13 poles in his NASCAR (NSCS, Nationwide, Camping World Truck Series) career with 73 top-five and 160 top-10 finishes in 498 starts
• In 2005, McMurray returned to Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates for the third consecutive season grabbing four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes en route to a 12th place finish in the final point standings.
• In 2004, McMurray’s second season he earned nine top-five and 23 top-10 finishes – tied for second most with Jimmie Johnson and behind only Jeff Gordon.
• In 2003, McMurray grabbed his first career pole at Homestead-Miami Speedway and earned the 2003 Raybestos Rookie of the Year Award.
• In 2002 McMurray shocked the motorsports world when he filled in for an injured Sterling Marlin of Chip Ganassi Racing and won his first NSCS race at Charlotte Motor Speedway – still holding the NASCAR record for quickest to record first victory

Bass Pro Shops:  Bass Pro Shops, of Springfield, Missouri, will enter their sixth season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as one of the primary sponsors of the No. 1 Chevrolet.  With 56 retail stores in 26 states and Canada, Bass Pro Shops are visited by over 100 million people annually.  Their international catalog and internet retailing are second to none.  The American Rod & Gun wholesale division sells to over 7,000 independently owned retail stores worldwide, and the Outdoor World Incentives sell Bass Pro Shops gift cards through over 132,000 retail outlets across America.  Bass Pro Shops is also extremely proud of their restaurant division, featuring 26 unique locations.

Juan Pablo Montoya and No. 42 Target Team: 

High Expectations: Juan Pablo Montoya returns for his fifth full-time NSCS season at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates in the No. 42 Chevy with long-time partner Target.  Montoya and the Brian Pattie led Target team capped off the 2010 NSCS campaign highlighted by an Aug. 8 victory at Watkins Glen, giving Target their first NSCS victory and the second consecutive season that both Montoya and Target have added to their list of accomplishments together (making the Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2009). Montoya finished the season with one win, a career-high three pole awards, six top-fives, 14 top-10 (39%) and 18 top-15 (50%) finishes. In the 36 Cup races of the 2010 season Montoya earned 23 top-20 finishes, leading a career high 411 laps and averaging a starting position of 11.6 and a finishing position of 18.0. Although Montoya missed the Chase, he and the Target team ranked amongst chase contenders in 10 of the 15 NSCS loop date statistical categories:

• Average running position: 8^th place- 13.738 (highest non-chase driver)
• Driver Ranking: 11^th place- 90.9 rating (highest non-chase driver)
• Fastest drivers early in a run: 7^th place-9.962 (highest non-chase driver)
• Fastest Laps run: 6^th place- 4.4% of laps,  407 fastest laps run (highest non-chase driver)
• Fastest drivers on restarts: 7^th place- 12.917
• Laps in the top-15: 6^th place- 66.3 % of laps in top-15, 7148 laps in top-15 (highest non-chase driver)
• Laps led: 10^th place- 3.8 % of laps led, 411 laps led (highest non-chase driver)
• Mile leaders:  8^th place- 733.08 miles led (highest non-chase driver)
• Quality passes: 7^th place- 1928 quality passes (highest non-chase driver)
• Fastest speed in traffic:  12^th place-14.611 average rank (highest non-chase driver)

Superspeedway Success: In 16 Superspeedway starts in NSCS competition Montoya has a best finish of second (Talladega, 2008) three top-fives and five top-10 finishes with 54 laps led. In 2010 Montoya claimed a pair of third-place finishes at Talladega, with the second coming after winning his second career Talladega pole. In his four Superspeedway starts in 2010, Montoya and the Target team claimed two top-five and three top-10 finishes with one DNF coming in the July Daytona race that saw him lead 11 laps before being involved in a multi-car accident.

Target Shootout History: Montoya returns to the 33^rd Running of the Shootout for the second time in his career with the introduction of previous Sprint Cup rookies of the year to the shootout. Last year Montoya drove the Target Chevrolet to a tenth-place finish after starting 20^th, marking the second consecutive top-10 for the Target Team (2008, Reed Sorenson: fifth). In four Bud Shootouts, the Target car has never placed outside the top-20.

Driver Highlights:      

• Montoya will enter his fifth full-time year in the NSCS in 2011 with Target returning as the sponsor.
• Total of 145 career starts in NSCS heading into Daytona.
• After his 2010 victory at Watkins Glen he became the first foreign born driver to have multiple wins in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
• Only Latino, only Formula 1 driver, and only Indianapolis 500 winner to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup
• Three wins and five poles in his stock car career (ARCA, Nationwide, NASCAR) with 20 top-five and 45 top-10 results in 170 combined starts. 914 laps led
• One of only three drivers to win in Formula 1, IndyCar and NASCAR Sprint Cup (Dan Gurney and Mario Andretti).
• In 2008, became the first driver in history to win in his first two starts in the Rolex 24 At Daytona (2007 & 2008).
• Visited victory lane three times across three different racing series in 2007 – winning his first Rolex 24 At Daytona, his first Nationwide Series race in Mexico City, and picked up his first Sprint Cup victory at Infineon Raceway.
• 2007 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year.
• Crowned as the youngest ever CART Champion at the age of 24 (1999) and earned the CART Rookie of the Year Award
• 18 victories and 27 poles in his open-wheel career (CART, IndyCar, Formula 1) with 64 top-five and 81 top-10 results in 135 starts.

Target: Minneapolis-based Target celebrates its 22^nd season in motorsports with Chip Ganassi in 2011. The partnership continues to rank as one of the longest current sponsor relationships in motorsports.  With two full-time entries in the IZOD IndyCar Series and a full-time car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Team Target features some of the world’s most accomplished race car drivers. 

CHASSIS INFO

No. 1 Bass Pro Shops® / Tracker Boats (NSCS): Chassis #808. The No. 1 Bass Pro Shops® / Tracker Boats team will bring chassis #808 to the Bud Shootout. This is the same chassis McMurray drove to a third-place finish in last year’s Shootout.

No. 42 Target Chevrolet (NSCS):  Chassis #809.  Pattie and the No. 42 Target team are bringing chassis #901 to the Bud Shootout. This is the chassis that the Montoya qualified on the pole and drove to a third-place finish at Talladega in the fall of 2010.

2010 STATS

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

CAREER STATS

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

TEAM ROSTERS

Tony Glover – Team Manager

Steve Hmiel – Director of Competition