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.”
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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.
