RICKY CARMICHAEL QUICK FACTS N
o. 30 Monster Energy Chevrolet Impala
Bucyrus 200 Road America
June 25, 2011
No. 30 Monster Energy Chevrolet News and Notes
· Welcome aboard Ricky Carmichael… 15-time AMA champion and full-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) driver, Ricky Carmichael, is set to make his 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) debut in the No. 30 Monster Energy Chevrolet at Road America. Carmichael made his NNS debut in 2010, finishing a career-best 18th at Kansas Speedway. He is scheduled to make three more NNS starts in 2011 at Daytona International Speedway, Richmond International Raceway and Phoenix International Raceway.
· Road America is a first for Carmichael… This weekend’s event at the 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course will be Carmichael’s first visit to the famed track. It will also mark his first road course race in any of NASCAR’s top-three series.
· This week’s Impala… The No. 30 Monster Energy team will hit the track with chassis TMS-303 this weekend at Road America. TMS-303 is a brand new chassis in the Turner Motorsports stable.
· Road racing with Ricky… In his time in the K&N Pro Series East (2008), Carmichael made stops at two road courses on the series’ schedule, Watkins Glen International and Lime Rock Speedway, bringing home 12th and ninth-place finishes, respectively.
· Meet and Greet… Before hitting the track on Friday, Carmichael will make a special appearance at country music star, Tim McGraw’s, Thursday night performance in Milwaukee. In addition to a pre-show meet and greet with the three-time Grammy Award winner, he will be introduced on stage and stick around for the show.
· Welcome aboard Q-Mart… Q-Mart Marketplace will be featured on the lower-rear quarter panels of the No. 30 Monster Energy Impala this weekend at Road America. Q-Mart Marketplace is a locally owned company featuring 18 convenient locations. They promise “Guaranteed Everyday Value”. Any time you walk into one of their stores, you will find great products and great prices. They feature a “State-of-the-Art” customer loyalty program that offers great deals everyday! Customers earn points with every purchase which can be redeemed for FREE gasoline and store merchandise.
· See the No. 4 Monster Energy Silverado… Carmichael’s NCWTS show truck will make four stops in the Sheboygan-area. On Friday, June 24th the show truck will visit Q-Mart store No. 218 – 3715 Washington Avenue Sheboygan, WI – from 12 – 2 p.m., and later that day, Q-Mart store No. 235 – 1230 North Taylor Drive Sheboygan, WI – from 3 – 5 p.m. On Saturday, June 25th it will be at Q-Mart store No. 221 – 3626 South Taylor Drive Sheboygan, WI – from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. and later at Q-Mart store No. 219 – 1050 Highway 32 North Sheboygan Falls, WI – from 12:30 – 2p.m.
Carmichael Quotes
You have two K&N Pro Series East road course races under your belt where you finished pretty well. Did that help drive the decision for you to run Road America?
“I like to race road courses. I did pretty good my first few times I raced them with the East Series. It requires quite a bit of discipline and it brings back memories of the motorcycle days when every weekend we would go to a track and it was a different design. It requires you to memorize things very fast and it speeds up the learning process when it’s not the same thing all the time. For sure, when the opportunity came about to get in the Nationwide car for a road course, I was really excited. I really do enjoy road course racing.”
Do you enjoy road course racing?
“Yes, I enjoy road course racing. It’s really fun. It’s always fun to switch things up. It has always catered to my racing style and I can compare it to motocross, which helps.”
Obviously, it is hard to make many specific comparisons between motocross and racing on four wheels. That being said, can you draw any comparisons now that we’re talking about road course racing as opposed to an oval?
“There are a lot of comparisons between road racing and motocross. With as many turns as it has and memorizing the track and having that much focus to remember where you are on the track, that’s very, very similar to motocross. So, I look forward to going to road courses just for the fact that I think that it kind of levels the playing field out for me. Going to the road courses with guys who always race ovals, it kind of narrows the gap a little bit. In motocross you go to tracks that are designed differently every week, not just an oval, so you have to get used to memorizing a different designs like you do with a road course. So, that is another reason why I like road racing so much.”
You had a chance to run some laps at Road America last week. What were your impressions of the race track?
“Yeah, [Justin] Allgaier, [Reed] Sorenson, James [Buescher] and I had a chance to drive some Mazda sports cars with Chris Cook out there last week. Last week was a great opportunity for me to get a visual of the track. We had a great time with Chris Cook helping us out. We were driving a lot different cars than the Nationwide cars, but it was very beneficial to get some time on the track. When I go up there this week I will be able to fire off right away in practice and not have to worry about memorizing the track. If anything, I think it gives me an advantage over the guys who haven’t been there. I was really impressed with the track. It was really fun. I can’t wait to get out there and race! It’s going to be a really fun weekend.”
What parts of the track will provide opportunities to pass and what parts of the track will you have to focus more on just staying on the pavement?
“Well I think there are three great passing zones. Getting into turn one is heavy breaking, and could be a good passing zone. If you can get a good exit out of turn seven coming into turn eight, it’s a hard left hander, I think that’s a great passing zone. Also, the corner just after the kink is another great passing zone. If you want to pass a guy you are going to have to make sure you are on your game.
As far as staying on the pavement, I think that is the key all the way around the track as far as any road race that you go to. So, I am really thankful for the opportunity to go there and I just want to put in consistent laps and bring the No. 30 Monster Energy Impala back with a top-10 finish. That’s my goal.”
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