35-TIME MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPION – NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
PENNSYLVANIA 400
POCONO RACEWAY
POCONO, PENNSYLVANIA
AUGUST 5, 2012
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CHEVY RACING POCONO RACEWAY– JEFF CHEW, MARKETING MANAGER – CHEVROLET RACING: “We’re looking forward to this weekend’s festivities at Pocono Raceway. Pocono Raceway is a great facility where the Team Chevy fans always have a strong presence. For the fans this week the Team Chevy stage will feature appearances from Team Chevy drivers Paul Menard and Juan Pablo Montoya on Sunday. Fans can also spend time with one of our friendly product specialists and learn more about Chevy’s great vehicle lineup, and compete with other fans on our video race simulators. Also on display are Chevrolet Performance Parts crate engines and an assortment of accessories and performance parts for fans to purchase from their local Chevy dealer. We hope to see you there.”
TEAM CHEVY SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow Team Chevy on Facebook and @TeamChevy on Twitter to receive the latest news as well as updates with times and locations of events
TEAM CHEVY FOR THE FANS AT POCONO RACEWAY:
· Fans can visit the Team Chevy Racing Display in the Pocono Raceway Fan Midway area
· Fans can check out great Chevrolet vehicles including: Camaro Coupe, Malibu ECO, Silverado, Volt, Corvette Coupe, Cruze, Equinox and Sonic
· At the display fans can see a variety of show cars including: No. 88, 14 and 29 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars as well as the No. 57 Grand-Am GT.R Camaro
· Also on display is a Chevrolet R07 racing engine complete with electronic fuel injection that will power all of our NASCAR Sprint Cup series Team Chevy drivers in 2012. Fans can also see a sample of engines, parts and accessories available for purchase from Chevrolet at their local Chevrolet dealer
· Other activities at the Team Chevy Racing Display include a variety of interactive games for adults and kids
DRIVER FAN Q/A APPEARANCES:
· Friday August 3rd – Eddie Sharp Racing teammates Cale Gale and Justin Lofton will visit the Team Chevy stage at 2:10 followed by Richard Childress Racing teammates Ty Dillon, Tim George Jr. and Joey Coulter
· Sunday August 5th – Paul Menard will visit the Team Chevy stage at 9:30 a.m. followed by Juan Pablo Montoya at 9:50 a.m.
· Hours of operation: Fri. Aug. 3rd – 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Sat. Aug. 4th – 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and Sun. Aug. 5th – 7:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
TEAM CHEVY IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (NSCS) COMPETITION:
· Chevrolet has won 35 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Manufacturers’ Championships
· Team Chevy drivers have scored 697 wins and 624 poles in NSCS competition
CHEVROLET ON THE TRACK—POCONO RACEWAY:
· Chevrolet drivers have won 25 of 69 races at Pocono Raceway. Wins by active drivers are:
o Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet, has five (5) victories at Pocono (’96, ’97,’98, ’07 & ‘11)
o Kurt Busch, No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Inc. Chevrolet, has gone to victory lane at Pocono twice (’05 &’07)
o Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, has two (2) wins at Pocono (’04 – TWICE)
o Tony Stewart, No. 14 Office Depot Back to School Chevrolet, has two victories at Pocono (’03 & ’09)
o Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, has one trophy from Pocono (’08)
o Ryan Newman, No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet, has visited victory lane at Pocono once (’03)
· A Chevrolet driver has won one (1) of the last 5 races at Pocono Raceway
· A Chevrolet driver has sat on the pole at Pocono 28 times
· Team Chevy drivers have scored 134 top-five and 288 top-10 finishes at Pocono
· A Chevrolet has led 5,666 laps (41.8% of possible 13,571) at Pocono Raceway
TEAM CHEVY IN THE GARAGE POCONO RACEWAY– ALBA COLON – PROGRAM MANAGER, NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES – CHEVROLET RACING: “Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus, Rick Hendrick and all the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet team members for winning their third point’s race of the year and fourth race at the famed Brickyard last Sunday. What a race; and what a way to win it! Jimmie and his team were the class of the field all day. Their victory also marked the tenth consecutive win for Team Chevy at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which is a huge accomplishment for any OEM. The dedication, hard work, and passion of all our teams have contributed to Chevrolet’s heritage of racing and winning!
“Also, congratulations to Dale Earnhardt Jr., Steve Letarte, Rick Hendrick and the entire No 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet team for moving into the lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings. They have been a steady force all season.
“This week we return to Pocono Raceway where Chevrolet has also enjoyed a lot of success. It is our second trip to Pocono this year and our second run since the recent repaving of the track. We all remember the race there in June, and this will be a good opportunity to repeat what we did right, and work on the things that we need to improve.
“The unique nature of the triangular-shaped track is always a challenge. The 2.5-mile configuration in itself requires heavier use of the brakes than most big tracks. It not only puts extra wear on the brake components, but also on the engines; much like a road course does.
“Our Chevrolet engineering group has been working very closely with all of our teams to maximize every component of the cars to ensure reliability without sacrificing performance. There is always the need to continually improve; we are always working on technologies with our teams. At every race, our focus is to be much better than the race before, and to be the best in the field.
“When we were here just a couple of months ago, we enjoyed a good race but we didn’t get that win. This weekend we are looking forward to scoring that win and making a trip to Victory Lane on Sunday afternoon with one of our Chevy teams.”
TEAM CHEVY FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT:
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 DIET MOUNTAIN DEW/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET – LEADS STANDINGS: “I had a good, strong run at Pocono in June. I felt like we had a great car there last time. I’m definitely looking forward to going back there. I think the whole field will be a little bit stronger than it was. It will be a bit tougher. But I thought we had some good speed.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET – 4th IN STANDINGS: “I am excited to go back [to Pocono] because we had a really strong car there in the last race. I think we had a few track position issues to overcome and a two speeding issues, but we still managed a Top 5 finish. Chad (Knaus, crew chief) called a great race. He got me some track position on two tires. The pit stops were flawless and we had a fast car. After last week’s win at the Brickyard the entire team is excited to get to Pocono and keep the momentum going.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET – 6th IN STANDINGS: “The first thing you do is you’ve got to survive the restart (laughs). We learned last time that practice didn’t really matter if you could get a good restart and survive going through the corner and get in line then you were in good shape. It’s really fast and the thing I like about what they did at Pocono all the bumps are now kind of swells and you have the same kind of feels that you had there, they are just not extreme bumps. Each corner is fast. Turn one is a corner where you drive in and down shift. The key to Pocono now is getting up off the corners and in the throttle and being able to stay in the throttle really in all three of them.”
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT BACK TO SCHOOL CHEVROLET – 8th IN STANDINGS: “It was pretty hard to pass (in June), but it kind of normally is. I don’t think it was really any worse than it normally is. But seemed like at the end of the race it got pretty racy there and guys could move around a little bit. All in all, for a freshly paved track, it was a pretty good race.
“It was frustrating the first half of the race until guys got their cars better. You really just kind of got stuck, and then it seemed like the longer the race went, the easier it got to pass toward the end.
“The restarts were insane, but you had to take full advantage of them. That was the biggest opportunity to make gains and definitely big gains. You could get three or four at a time if somebody got bottled up a little bit. Had to be on your toes for the restarts, for sure.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET – 13th IN STANDINGS: “We had really good speed at Pocono in June and just had some bad luck on a restart. The track is so smooth and fast now, but you really need rubber down to pass. We easily had a top-10 car last time, so hopefully we have the luck this time.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET – 14th IN STANDINGS: “It’s (Pocono) one of my favorite race tracks just because it is so difficult. It’s really fun to drive. I like it because it’s challenging. Each corner is different – different radius, different banking, and different bumps. Each straightaway is a different length. It just seems like it’s a driver’s race track and a crew chief’s race track because he has to get the car to the driver’s liking in all three corners. It’s all about matching up the combination of how the crew chief sets up the car relative to how the driver drives the race car to make a happy package and have a shot at victory. It’s fun to have unique situations and unique racetracks. We look forward to going to Pocono each and every time.”
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET – 15th IN STANDINGS: “That was a tough race (in June), especially fighting back from a lap down and also having engine temperature issues. I remember two cars running off the track into the dirt that day and I was behind them both times which led to the high engine ‘temps.’ But the car had good ‘speed’ all day. I’m hoping the Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet has good race pace again and that we can do a good job of maintaining track position throughout the race.
“It’s amazing the difference on restarts when running up front here versus running mid-pack where you’ll get a run on a couple cars and before you know it, you’re already three-wide with other drivers that have gotten a run on you. This track – even after the repave made it smoother and faster with more grip – still has ‘old’ Pocono characteristics which I love. The shape and the banking of the turns haven’t changed. It still has three unique – and three very challenging – corners.”
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 MENARDS/SERTA CHEVROLET – 16th IN STANDINGS: “I don’t think the racing itself changed a lot, but the track is a lot faster. It opened up a second groove in turns one and two. It was pretty narrow around the entire track, but the racing has always been like that there.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/ALLSTATE CHEVROLET – 19th IN STANDINGS: “I am looking forward to heading back to the new racing surface at Pocono. I enjoyed racing there in June with the changes that have been made. We had a really good car for the last race, qualifying went well and we brought home a top-10 finish. I made it no secret that I wasn’t a big fan of Pocono before, but I really enjoy racing there now. We’ve had a busy week with the tire test at Michigan right after the Brickyard 400, so we will look forward to getting right back to the action this weekend.”
JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 ENERSYS CHEVROLET – 20th IN STANDINGS:
“I was very impressed. We had a disappointing 14th-place finish with a top-10 car. The last run of the race was our worst run and we lost a few spots in the end. We had fun that whole week and spent over five days there testing, practicing and qualifying. I had Harrison, my 11-year-old son, with me and we took advantage of what the area had to offer. We went to the go-kart race track, played paintball and all kinds of different stuff. We made a holiday out of it. Pocono Raceway took a step into the present. We used to go there and feel like our race cars, haulers and the preparation far outweighed the quality of the race track. We were taking modern pieces of racing technology to a track that was outdated. Today, Pocono (Raceway) is a modern facility with the kind of racing surface that is needed to put on a good race. I was very impressed with the workmanship and quality of the job. It’s as good of a job as any track we have repaved.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET – 21st IN STANDINGS:
“I think it’s fun going to Pocono and racing. The layout and the corners make it different from any other track we go to. Plus going to Pocono the second time it’s a little calmer, you know. The Target team kind of struggled there the first time. At the end of the race we got a little bit better, we were just never as good as we needed to be so hopefully this time we’ll get it figured out and get that Target Chevrolet to the front and stay there.”
REGAN SMITH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/FARM AMERICAN CHEVROLET – 24th IN STANDINGS: “If Sunday at Indianapolis was any indication of things to come for our Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet than we should be in good shape this weekend at Pocono. We had speed at Indy and ran with the leaders until the left-front fender got smashed in. But for the first 90 or so laps we had it going and it felt great to be running up front. It was a great start with new crew chief Todd Berrier and I look for better things to come in the future, starting with Pocono this weekend. We had a pretty good handle on Pocono’s new track surface back in June and expect that to improve too. All-in-all, we’re upbeat as we head to Pennsylvania.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 51 PHOENIX CONSTRUCTION SERVICES INC. CHEVROLET – 26th IN STANDINGS: “It’s a track that you can never get dialed in perfectly for all three corners. You have to compromise. Other tracks like that are Darlington and Phoenix, where all of the corners are different and you have to work your way through each one. When you’re making setup changes, you have to keep in mind what you do in turn one and how it’s going to affect turns two and three.”
Chevrolet NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturers Championships
Total (1949 – 2011): 35
First title for Chevrolet: 1958
Highest number of consecutive titles: 9 twice (1983 – 1991) (2003-2011)
Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Drivers Championships
Total (1949 – 2011): 28
First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)
Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005 – ’11)
Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Event Victories
Record for total race wins in single season: 26 – (in 2007)
2012 STATISTICS:
Wins: 10
Poles: 4
Laps led: 2353
Top-five finishes: 44
Top-10 finishes: 88
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 697 (1949 – to date); (2,338 possible = 29.8%)
Poles Won to Date: 624
Laps Lead to Date: 207, 455
Top-Five Finishes to Date: 3,491
Top-10 Finishes to Date: 7,138
Total NASCAR Cup wins by Corporation, 1949 – To-Date
GM: 1,032
Chevrolet: 697
Pontiac: 155
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 708
Ford: 608
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Chrysler: 464
Dodge: 215
Plymouth: 190
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 44
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
