JR MOTORSPORTS TEAM PREVIEW
No. 88 GT Vodka Chevrolet / No. 7 GoDaddy.com/VeriSign Chevrolet
EVENT – New England 200 (200 laps / 211 miles)
TRACK – New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.058-mile oval)
DATE – Saturday, July 16, 2011 TV / RADIO – ESPN (coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. EST) / PRN (broadcast begins at 3 p.m. EST)
Aric Almirola No. 88 GT Vodka Chevrolet “Last week was another tough finish for our GT Vodka team. Sometimes it’s a tough pill to swallow with these fuel mileage races. A few weeks ago we were on the opposite side of this at Chicago, and got a great finish out of it. You just never know. But I’m looking forward to New Hampshire this weekend.
“Loudon has been a good track for me in the past, especially in the Truck Series. It’s another one of the mile tracks that we consider a short track because it races like one. Not only do you have long straights, but the corners are huge, and we’ll spend a lot of time getting our GT Vodka Chevrolet set up for that. It’s certainly a challenging place to get a hold of.”
Kasey Kahne No. 7 GoDaddy.com/Verisign Chevrolet “I had a lot of fun driving this No. 7 car last week. Working with Tony (Eury) Jr. and those guys, they’ve got a good group over there. To come out with a fourth-place finish was a great way to start my two-race stint with JRM.
“Looking ahead to Loudon, it’s a track that has very long corners so it’s going to be important that we get our car to roll really well through the center of the corners. The straightaways are long for just a one-mile track and the turns are extremely flat, so having good brakes that will last you to the end is important if you want to run well.” JR MOTORSPORTS NOTEBOOK – SECOND OF TWO FOR KAHNE – Kahne will drive the No. 7 GoDaddy.com/VeriSign Chevrolet at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in his second of two races with JR Motorsports in 2011. He earned a fourth-place finish in his first race with the team last weekend in Kentucky.
FIVE FOR FIVE – Following last week’s fourth-place finish, Kahne becomes the fifth of five drivers to score a top-10 finish with the No. 7 Chevrolet this season. He joins Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ron Fellows, Danica Patrick and Josh Wise as drivers of the No. 7 to accomplish that feat.
CONSECUTIVE TOP-10s – The No. 7 team is now riding a string of three consecutive top-10 finishes after Kentucky. Earlier this year, they had three consecutive top-10’s at Talladega, Nashville and Richmond.
CHASSIS INFO FOR THE 7 TEAM- The No. 7 GoDaddy.com/VeriSign team will unload chassis no. 621 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. This chassis previously raced at Phoenix, Bristol, Dover, Charlotte, Michigan and last week at Kentucky. If all goes well, the No. 7 team will use this chassis in three of the next four races (New Hampshire, Lucas Oil Raceway, and Iowa Speedway).
KAHNE IN THE GRANITE STATE – Kahne has three starts, earning one top-five and two top-10s in Nationwide Series competition at Loudon. The 31-year-old has an average finish of 8.3. His most recent race there was in 2005. In Sprint Cup Series competition, Kahne has one top-five and five top-10 finishes with 159 laps led.
NO. 7 SEASON STATS – The No. 7 team holds three top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 2011. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ron Fellows, Kasey Kahne, Danica Patrick and Josh Wise have shared driving duties in the No. 7 Chevrolet throughout the year, each scoring a top-10 finish. The team occupies 11th position in owner points.
JRM AT NEW HAMPSHIRE – JRM’s second organizational pole came at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2008. Additionally, the team holds one top-five and two top-10 finishes in seven starts there since 2006.
ALMIROLA AT THE MAGIC MILE – This weekend marks Almirola’s Nationwide Series debut at the 1.058-mile facility. He does hold three Sprint Cup Series starts with a best finish of 18th. The bulk of his success there came in the Camping World Truck Series where he notched two top-10 finishes in five starts. Since joining JRM in the summer of 2010, Almirola has three starts at one-mile facilities. He scored two top-10 finishes in those events.
CHASSIS INFO FOR 88 TEAM – The No. 88 GT Vodka crew will bring chassis no. 594 to Loudon. Almirola raced among the top-three for most of the night at Richmond earlier this year with this chassis. The team’s sure top-five and possible win unraveled by fuel shortage and a NASCAR-issued penalty in the closing laps.It also raced at Phoenix, Iowa and Road America.
NO. 88 SEASON STATS – The No. 88 team owns one top-five and eight top-10 finishes this season. Almirola is currently ranked sixth in the championship driver points (-88). The No. 88 team is 12th in owner points.
ALMIROLA AUTOGRAPH SIGNING – Almirola will sign autographs at the JR Nation merchandise hauler in the fan concourse area on Saturday, July 16, from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. EST. WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE – There is still time to win the keys to Dale Jr.’s Camaro. The Dale Jr. Foundation is giving fans the chance to win one of three prizes with the purchase of a $25 raffle ticket, including a shot at Earnhardt Jr.’s own 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. The contest will run through Sept. 1, 2011, with all proceeds benefitting The Dale Jr. Foundation. For complete details visit
