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[/media-credit]CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY RACE PREVIEW
Michael Annett• No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang
Annett has six career starts in the Nationwide Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway Annett enters this weekend’s event in sixth-place in the Nationwide point standings Annett’s best finish (13th) at the 1.5-mile superspeedway came in 2009
Michael Annett on Going to Charlotte Motor Speedway: “I like going to Charlotte, it’s a fun track to race on. It’s a fast 1.5-mile speedway and my Cup teammates have had some great success there, especially this past weekend. I’m going to get some advice from them this week and hopefully the Pilot Flying J Ford can add to RPM’s success at Charlotte on Saturday. We’ve had great cars all year and my team has worked really hard to make sure we are competitive each and every week, so it will be nice for them to be able to show off in front of their family and friends this weekend at NASCAR’s home track.”
Crew Chief Philippe Lopez’s Thoughts on Racing in Charlotte: “Charlotte will reward the experienced teams, crew chiefs and drivers, simply because it is one of the most difficult place we go to all year. Every 10 minutes the track conditions seem to change, whether it be for clouds, the amount of sun that is hitting the track or what angle the sun is coming from, the car just changes immensely as the day goes on. We’re going to have to anticipate what we think the track conditions will be like at race time without over adjusting. We’re going to lean on our Cup Series teammates since they brought back some good notes for us from the Showdown and All-Star race.
“I’ve gone racing in Charlotte quite a few times and my biggest challenge is going to be making sure the car isn’t too tight. The race track typically makes the car tight and during the day we’ll try to get the car to free up as the track conditions change. We’re just going to have to be really sensitive and make sure we don’t get the car too free, we are really going to have to focus on just having a good balanced Pilot Flying J Ford.”
Chassis History: The No. 43 RPM NASCAR Nationwide Series team has prepared chassis No. 635 for the 200-lap race at Charlotte. This Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang was run previously this season at California.
Notes: Annett has six NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway. His best finish (13th) came in 2009 and his best start (17th) came in 2010 at the 1.5-mile track. Annett heads into this weekend in sixth position in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver point standings. The Iowa native has completed 897 of 1,173 laps attempted at the track, leading one of them. His average start is 24.0 and his average finish is 22.2.
Looking for a Pilot or Flying J store near Charlotte? There are 15 Pilot or Flying J stores within 100 miles of Charlotte Motor Speedway. The nearest store is 11 miles away from the race track. (Flying J (I-85/1-77 Exit 39) 3887 Statesville Ave., Charlotte, N.C. 28206.) There are 60 stores within 250 miles of the track. Go tohttp://www.pilotflyingj.com/locations to find the nearest locations.
Don’t miss out on your chance to meet Michael Annett. He will participate in the NASCAR Nationwide Series autograph session in Uptown Charlotte in the Creative Loafing Area of Speed Street form 1-3 p.m. ET on Friday.
Can’t get enough of Annett? Tune into Sirius XM Radio on Channel 90,Thursday, at 8 a.m. ET for the Morning Drive with Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone, to listen to Michael talk about the upcoming race weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Annett will also participate in Richard Petty Motorsports third annual Fan Appreciation Day on Thursday from 7 a.m. to noon at the RPM shop in Concord, N.C. The first 200 fans in line who donate a nonperishable food item to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina will receive a commemorative ticket allowing them access to the shop and an autograph session with Richard Petty, the Iowa native and his teammates, Aric Almirola and Marcos Ambrose. Other activities include a Q-and-A session with the RPM drivers and Richard Petty hosted by Miss Sprint Cup, raffles, give-a-ways and free food.
Race Information
Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway
Laps: 200 Laps/300 Miles
Track Size: 1.5-Miles
TV Information: 2:30 p.m. ET on ABC
Radio Information: 2:30 p.m. ET on PRN
Be sure to follow Richard Petty Motorsports on Twitter @RPMotorsports for behind the scenes updates, driver appearance information and qualifying and race updates. You can also check us out on our Facebook page at Richard Petty Motorsports.
