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[/media-credit]BRAD SWEET QUICK FACTS
No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet
Iowa Speedway
Pioneer Hi-Bred 250
May 20, 2012
No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet News and Notes
Brad Sweet Career NNS Stats
Starts Poles Wins Top-Fives Top-10’s DNFs Avg. Start Avg. Finish
3 0 0 0 1 1 9.7 23.3
Back in the saddle… Brad Sweet will return to the seat of the No. 38 Great Clips machine this weekend for the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ (NNS) first of two stops at Iowa Speedway. This event will mark the Grass Valley, Calif.-native’s third NNS start of the season after proving impressive in his first race at Auto Club Speedway where he brought home a sixth-place finish. In his second start at Talladega, Sweet ran solidly inside the top-10 before being collected in a late-race accident. While Sweet has not competed at Iowa Speedway in NASCAR competition, he knows the place well having wheeled Silver Crown cars and midgets around the 7/8-mile track throughout his open-wheel career.
Road trip for Great Clips corporate employees… … With Great Clips corporate headquarters located just three hours away in Minneapolis, Minn., expect to see a large contingency of folks sporting their Great Clips Racing tees this weekend. Over 70 corporate employees and guests will board a bus and make the three hour trip to Iowa Speedway to cheer on Sweet and the No. 38 team on Sunday.
Come see me… Sweet will join fellow NNS drivers, including Turner Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier, in greeting fans at the Iowa Speedway autograph session on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
Who’s on the pit box? Mike Shiplett joined Turner Motorsports in 2012 and has a unique role as he calls the shots for both a veteran (Kasey Kahne) and a rookie (Sweet). It is a reunion of sorts for Kahne and Shiplett, who were paired together in the NNS during the 2007 season and put down impressive results including two victories (Charlotte Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway, spring events).
This Week’s Impala… The No. 38 team will unload chassis TMS-319 this weekend at Iowa Speedway. This chassis last saw track time at Richmond and Phoenix where Kahne finished 18th and 10th, respectively.
Five in a row coming up for Sweet… Kahne is scheduled drive the No. 38 Chevy in the next NNS event on the schedule at Charlotte Motor Speedway but he will then hand back over the reins to Sweet for the following five events (Dover, Michigan, Road America, Kentucky, and Daytona).
Come see me… Sweet will join fellow NNS drivers, including Turner Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier, in greeting fans at the Iowa Speedway autograph session on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
Who’s on the pit box? Mike Shiplett joined Turner Motorsports in 2012 and has a unique role as he calls the shots for both a veteran (Kasey Kahne) and a rookie (Sweet). It is a reunion of sorts for Kahne and Shiplett, who were paired together in the NNS during the 2007 season and put down impressive results including two victories (Charlotte Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway, spring events).
Kahne and Sweet: a unique combination… Not only are Kahne and Sweet good friends off the track, but the veteran is serving as mentor to Sweet as he makes the transition from open-wheel competition to stock cars. Sweet was handpicked by Kahne in 2008 to drive for Kasey Kahne Racing (KKR) where he has since experienced tremendous success in the World of Outlaws Series. Sweet will continue to compete on a limited basis for KKR when he is not behind the wheel of the No. 38 Great Clips machine in the NNS. You can expect Kahne to be very involved and present in the NNS garage when Sweet is behind the wheel of the No. 38 as he will closely monitor his progress and offer encouragement.
Kahne brought Great Clips their first win! From 2003-2005, Kahne and his sponsor, Great Clips, Inc., reached momentous milestones, including capturing Kahne’s first Nationwide Series victory in 2003 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was also Great Clips’ first win as a primary sponsor. In 2005, Kahne captured his second career win at Texas Motor Speedway before leaving the Nationwide Series to allow more time for his Sprint Cup Series efforts.
Great Clips goes racing with the World of Outlaws in 2012! Great Clips serves as sponsor for KKR driver Joey Saldana this year in the World of Outlaws series. The Minneapolis-based company has been a sponsor of KKR for the past two seasons. This year, they will be featured on all three KKR entries – as a primary sponsor on the #9 with Saldana as well as associate sponsor placement on Brad Sweet’s #49 and Cody Darrah’s #5 World of Outlaws cars.
12 Years and Counting… Great Clips, Inc. is currently the longest-running sponsor in the NNS and has used the Nationwide Series as their primary marketing platform for the last 11 years. Their sponsorship began in 2000 with Akins Motorsports as they climbed on board to sponsor the team’s No. 38 entry with driver, Christian Elder. Mark Green piloted the No. 38 for one season before general manager, Doug Stringer, hired up-and-coming talent, Kasey Kahne, thereby solidifying Great Clips’ commitment to their NASCAR sponsorship.
Sweet on this weekend’s NNS race at Iowa
“I can’t wait to get out on the track! I have raced here a few times over the years in the Silver Crown cars and midgets and it’s a great facility. The racing action is really good and I know by talking to a lot of the other Nationwide drivers that it’s just as much fun in these stock cars. It’s also the first stand-alone race of the year, which gives us regulars a chance to go out there and battle it out amongst ourselves. It’s going to be a great weekend of racing!”
