Ricky Carmichael
No. 4 Monster Energy Chevrolet Silverado
Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: Coca-Cola 250 Powered by fred’s – October 22, 2011 Venue: Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, Ala.
· This Week’s Monster Energy Chevrolet Silverado … Ricky Carmichael will pilot chassis TMS 016 from the Turner Motorsports NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) stable in Saturday’s Coca-Cola 250 Powered by fred’s at Talladega Superspeedway. Built new last season, this is the same Monster Energy Chevrolet Silverado Carmichael drove to a fifth-place finish last fall at Talladega and to an eighth-place showing in this year’s season-opener at Daytona International Speedway.
· A Look Back at Las Vegas…Despite being collected in an early race incident of another driver’s making, Carmichael and his Doug George-led Monster Energy Team dug deep and came away from last Saturday’s Smith’s 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with an admirable 12th-place finish. While the damage to his Turner Motorsports-prepared entry was substantial, George made the executive decision to not have his driver take the truck to the garage area for repairs but to assess and fix the machine on pit road. The plan paid off in spades and after multiple trips to the service lane, courtesy of an inordinate amount of yellow flags, Carmichael turned in an exceptionally respectable finish. At the same time, the Tallahassee, Fla., resident moved inside the top 15 of the NCWTS driver point standings. Immediately following the Truck Series race, Carmichael headed for Sam Boyd Stadium where he worked the broadcast booth for SPEED’s live coverage of the inaugural Monster Energy Cup where Monster Energy rider Ryan Villapoto dominated the event and took home a cool $1 million in prize money.
· Talladega Totals … Carmichael has two NCWTS starts at Talladega Superspeedway and calls a fifth-place finish a career-best at the gargantuan 2.66-mile Alabama race course. He’s earned an 11th-place starting average, a 12.5 average finish and completed 188 of the 193 total laps run (97 percent) over both races.
· In a Nutshell … The 2011 season marks Carmichael’s second year competing on a full-time basis and third overall in the NCWTS. Since making his series debut 64 races ago, he has gone on to earn three top-five and 16 top-10 finishes. Over those same 64 races, the motocross legend has logged a 15.0 average start, a 16.9 average finish, led 39 laps, completed 91.6 percent of the laps run and earned just over of $817,000 in purse money. · A Busy Week … Following last week’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Carmichael headed to California on Sunday morning where he’s spending the week visiting sponsors Monster Energy, Fox and Oakley. · Turner Truck Totals … In 21 NCWTS races in 2011, TMS entries have earned 11 top-five and 27 top-10 finishes. James Buescher leads the way with 17 top 10s and is third in points. With the exception of Martinsville, Chicagoland and Las Vegas, Buescher has finished inside the top 10 in every race in which he has competed in the division this season. Carmichael has logged five top 10s and is 15th in the standings. Blake Feese finished fourth and Ryan Newman was fifth in Atlanta. Mark Martin finished seventh in the No. 32 machine at Pocono while Brad Sweet drove the same truck for the first eight races of the year, logging a pair of top-10 results.
· Get to the Point(s) … Carmichael jumped from 16th to 15th in the NCWTS driver point standings after finishing 12th last weekend in Las Vegas and is currently just four points behind 14th-place Justin Lofton. Buescher trails current point leader Austin Dillon by seven points and is only two markers behind second-place Johnny Sauter. While Blake Feese has made just six starts in 2011, the No. 32 machine is assured a spot on the starting grid by virtue of being 16th in the NCWTS owner point standings.
· Stars Fell On … JR Norris, truck chief for the No. 4 Monster Energy Team, hails from nearby Hueytown, Ala., just an hour from Talladega. Norris, a former racer, made a name for himself in the NASCAR Auto Zone Southeast Series in 2004 by earning Rookie of the Year honors. In 2006 he claimed the series’ championship after an intense battle that came down to the final laps of the season. Norris also has three NCWTS starts to his credit, having never qualified outside the top-15 in those starts.
· Welcome Aboard… Turner Motorsports and Monster Energy are pleased to feature CVS Pharmacy on the lower-rear quarter panels of the No. 4 entry this weekend at Talladega. CVS Pharmacy is the second largest pharmacy chain in the United States, with over 7,000 stores in 41 states and Puerto Rico. As the retail pharmacy division of CVS Caremark, CVS Pharmacy sells prescription drugs and a wide assortment of general merchandise, including over-the-counter drugs, beauty products and cosmetics, film and photo finishing services, seasonal merchandise, greeting cards and convenience foods through their CVS Pharmacy and Longs Drugs retail stores and online through CVS.com.
· Nationwide Notes … In 31 NASCAR Nationwide Series races in 2011, TMS-fielded teams have notched three wins, 21 top-five and 60 top-10 finishes. TMS’s No. 32 Dollar General team maintained seventh in owner’s points after Brian Vickers finished 10th last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 31 Brandt Chevrolet, was seventh in the final rundown last week and jumped from fifth to fourth in the driver point standings. Jason Leffler was credited with 11th in Charlotte and held on to sixth in points. The drivers and teams of the NASCAR Nationwide Series enjoy the next two weekends off before returning to the track the first weekend in November at Texas Motor Speedway. ESPN2’s live coverage of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge will be televised on Saturday, Nov. 5 beginning at noon Eastern Daylight Time. The race will also be broadcast on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Qualifying for Round 32 of the 2011 Nationwide Series Championship will be televised live on SPEED Friday, Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m. EDT.
· See the Monster Energy Chevrolet Silverado … Carmichael’s No. 4 Monster Energy Chevy show truck will make three stops this week in the Talladega area. On Wednesday, Nov. 19, from 2 p.m. – 6 p.m., the Monster Energy Silverado will visit CVS Pharmacy located at 1535 Decatur Highway in Fultondale, Ala. On Thursday, Carmichael’s race truck will CVS in Moody, Ala. – 2828 Moody Parkway – also from 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. The truck will make its third and final pit stop of the week in Birmingham on Friday from 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. at the CVS located at the intersection of Highway 280 and Valleydale Road.
· Up to Speed … Live coverage of the Coca-Cola 250 Powered by fred’s will take the green flag Saturday, Oct. 22 beginning at 3:30 p.m. EDT. The race will be televised live on SPEED and broadcast on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Qualifying for Round 22 of the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship will be televised on SPEED Friday, Oct. 21 at 5 p.m. EDT.
RICKY CARMICHAEL QUOTES Talk about this weekend’s race at Talladega. “I’m always excited when we go to restrictor-plate races. We’re taking the same truck we raced at Daytona in the first race of the season. It’s a very fast truck so everyone will have a little extra pep in their step this weekend. We had a great finish with the Monster Energy Chevy last fall at Talladega and given how we ran at Daytona, I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be as good, if not better, than we were in the season opener.”
How is Talladega different from Daytona? “Daytona is more of a driver’s track than Talladega is. The race track is quite a bit narrower than Talladega but this race always produces great side-by-side racing and a lot of passing. The fans are going to be on the edge of their seats from the drop of the green until the checkered flag. We’ve made some good ground in the points over the last two races and that’s what we’re looking to do this weekend, as well. We’ve been working hard to break into the top five all year and we’re in great position to do just that this weekend. ”
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About Turner Motorsports: Turner Motorsports, LLC, established in 1999, is in the midst of its sophomore season of NASCAR competition. Owned by Texas businessman Steve Turner, the organization has expanded in 2011 from a two-truck operation in the NCWTS to become the largest stand-alone multi-series team in NASCAR’s top-tier touring series. Turner Motorsports operates out of an 110,000 square-foot state-of-the art facility in Mooresville, N.C., and will compete with three entries in NCWTS and four entries in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS). The team boasts an all-star driver line-up that includes Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Jason Leffler, Brian Vickers, Justin Allgaier, Ricky Carmichael, James Buescher, Brad Sweet, Steve Arpin, Blake Feese and Brandon McReynolds. The Chevrolet-backed team has created alliances with General Motors’ powerhouse teams Hendrick Motorsports, which will provide engine support for both its NNS and NCWTS programs, Kevin Harvick Inc. for body and aero support, and Earnhardt Technology Group for drive train and suspension technology assistance. Turner Motorsports’ marketing partners include Dollar General, Great Clips, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Monster Energy, BRANDT, Rexall, Exide, AccuDoc Solutions, Wolfpack Rentals, Fraternal Order of Eagles and ABF Freight. For more information on Turner Motorsports, visit www.turnermotorsportsllc.com.
