36-TIME MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPION – NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
AAA TEXAS 500
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
FT. WORTH, TEXAS
NOVEMBER 4, 2012
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CHEVY RACING AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY– JEFF CHEW, MARKETING MANAGER – CHEVROLET RACING: “The Team Chevy Racing Tour has something for everyone. At Texas Motor Speedway this weekend, fans can ask questions of Team Chevy drivers Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray, and can spend time with one of our friendly product specialists and learn more about Chevy’s great 2013 vehicle lineup. 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 everyone 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 TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
Fans can visit the Team Chevy Racing Display in the Texas Motor Speedway midway area Fans can check out great Chevrolet vehicles including: Corvette GS Coupe, Sonic 5 Door LT, Cruze ECO Manual, Equinox, Traverse, Volt, Malibu, Tahoe, Silverado 1500, Silverado 2500, Camaro ZL1 and Spark
· At the display fans can see a variety of show cars including: No. 88 and No. 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars
Fans can 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
· Team Chevy Test Drive – This weekend at Texas Motor Speedway the Team Chevy Display will feature the Team Chevy Test Drive area. This area is located in the bus lot behind the midway area at Texas Motor Speedway. This location was designed to allow fans can climb behind the wheel of an array of featured Chevrolet vehicles and give them a test drive on site. The featured vehicles fans can test drive include: Malibu LTZ, Sonic 4 Door LTZ, Cruze LT RS, Volt, Corvette GS Convertible, Camaro Coupe SS, Tahoe 2WD, Equinox FWD V6, Avalanche 2WD and Silverado HD 2500
· On Saturday November 3rd the first 50 fans to complete a test drive will have the opportunity to get a ride-a-long from Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Huggies Chevrolet starting at 10:00 a.m.
DRIVER FAN Q/A APPEARANCES:
· Friday November 2nd – Ron Hornaday Jr., will visit the Team Chevy stage for a question and answer session at 12:30 p.m. followed by Eddie Sharp Racing teammates Cale Gale, Justin Lofton and Max Gresham at 3:50 p.m.
· Saturday November 3rd – Paul Menard will visit the Team Chevy stage for a question and answer session at 12:45 p.m. followed by Cole Whitt at 1:00 p.m. and Justin Allgaier at 2:00 p.m.
· Sunday November 4th – Jamie McMurray will kick off the driver appearances at the Team Chevy stage beginning at 10:30 a.m. followed his Earnhardt Ganassi teammate Juan Pablo Montoya at 10:45 a.m. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will stop by the Team Chevy stage at 11:00 a.m. followed by Jimmie Johnson at 11:15 a.m. The No. 1 over-the-wall pit crew will be at the Team Chevy stage signing autographs at 11:45 a.m.
· Hours of operation: Fri. Nov. 2nd – 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.; Sat. Nov. 3rd – 8:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. and Sun. Nov. 4th – 7:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
TEAM CHEVY IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (NSCS) COMPETITION:
· Chevrolet has won 36 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Manufacturers’ Championships
· Team Chevy drivers have scored 699 wins and 633 poles in NSCS competition
CHEVROLET ON THE TRACK—TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
Chevrolet drivers have won seven of 23 races at Texas Motor Speedway. Wins by active drivers are:
Jeff Burton, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, has two (2) victories at Texas Motor Speedway (’97 & ’07) Tony Stewart, No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, has gone to Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway twice (2) (’06 & ’11) Kurt Busch, No. 78 Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet, has one (1) win at Texas Motor Speedway (’09) Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet, has one (1) trophy from Texas Motor Speedway (’00) Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet, has one (1) victory at Texas Motor Speedway (’09) Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, has one (1) win at Texas Motor Speedway (’07) Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Hendrickcars.com/Great Clips Chevrolet, has gone to Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway once (1) (’06) Ryan Newman, No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, has one (1) victory at Texas Motor Speedway (’03)
A Chevrolet driver has won three (3) of the last 10 races at Texas Motor Speedway A Chevrolet driver has sat on the pole at Texas Motor Speedway 11 times Team Chevy drivers have scored 41 top-five and 99 top-10 finishes at Texas A Chevrolet has led 2,885 laps (37.2% of possible 7,752 laps) at Texas
TEAM CHEVY IN THE GARAGE TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY – PAT SUHY, MANAGER, CHEVROLET RACING – NASCAR GROUP MANAGER: “Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports on the win in Martinsville last week. It’s great to have a Team Chevy driver back on top of the point standings. The win clinched Chevrolet’s 36th Sprint Cup Manufacturers’ Championship. Two weekends ago, Team Chevy clinched its 15th Nationwide Manufacturers’ Championship. These successes are due to a winning combination of Chevrolet having the best teams in the business campaigning Chevrolets in all three of NASCAR’s touring series, coupled with our support of those teams with the best people, parts and processes in the business.
“Texas Motor Speedway is NASCAR’s next stop on the tour. The mile and a half quad oval is both a driver and fan favorite. With its steep 24° banking in the turns, and long front ‘straight’, drivers have their hands full with the high speeds reached entering Turn 1. Carrying the most speed through the turns is the fastest way around this track. A key ingredient to speed in the corners is aerodynamic downforce. There is continuous aero development involved; and even a car that was competitive here earlier in the year will need to be updated to the latest build spec in order to beat the competition this time around. Team Chevy teams and our Chevy aero engineers spend countless hours using CFD (computational fluid dynamics) as well as full scale and reduced scale in wind tunnels to fine-tune the aerodynamic performance of our Chevy Sprint Cup cars.
“With all of the hard work that’s gone into getting to this point in the season, Sunday’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race is sure to be a fan-pleaser. Team Chevy drivers and teams are well prepared and hungry to win. I’m sure we’ll see an exciting race at Texas Motor Speedway, and am looking forward to another chance to celebrate in Victory Lane.”
TEAM CHEVY FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT: JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET – POINT’S LEADER: “I expect us to be really strong this weekend at Texas. I love that race track. We were very good there in the spring. Our 1.5-mile stuff has been really fast. I’m thinking we are going to be really strong.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM/GREAT CLIPS CHEVROLET – 4th IN STANDINGS: “We got our first top-10 of the year at Texas, and it started a great streak for the team. I always love coming to this track. It’s fast with a lot of room to move around and race. I think that really fits my style and gives us a good chance to win.”
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET – 6th IN STANDINGS:
“Texas has been ‘hit or miss’ for me. I love the facility, and the track has matured over the years. The groove has really widened out compared to the first few races here. It’s become one of my favorite tracks.
“A lot has changed since April, and the setups are constantly evolving. But I’m looking forward to this weekend’s race because of how we ran in that race and because of what we’ve learned since then. With multiple grooves, you can search the track for grip and you can move up through the field like we did here in the spring, but being out front is the preferred route.”
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET – 10th IN STANDINGS: “You have to be comfortable or you’re not going to go fast. The more comfortable I am, the faster we go. This track, the grooves have moved around, especially in the last couple of years. We’ve seen the track get wider and it’s made it to where you can move around on the racetrack and where you can run the top side or the bottom side. It’s nice from a driver’s perspective to be able to have that flexibility behind the steering wheel, knowing that if your car’s not driving exactly the way you want it to, you can move around the racetrack and find a spot the car likes better.
“Any time you put more seasons on a race track, the better it gets because it seems like the pavement wears out on the bottom and it makes it to where you can run the top and be fast and you can run the bottom and be fast. It makes the whole race track, speed-wise, about the same, versus when they pave a race track and the only groove is right on the bottom. The fastest way is the shortest way because it all has the same amount of grip, so the shorter distance is faster. Every year we come here, I think the racing just gets better and better, as far as being able to move around on the race track and guys not having to just follow each other and get stuck behind each other. You can actually pass. You can race. You can get away from guys if your car’s fast.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 RHEEM/BUDWEISER CHEVROLET – 11th IN STANDINGS: “Texas (Motor Speedway) is a really fast race track and in the banking is where you can really feel how fast you are going. It’s one of those few race tracks where you feel the speed in the car. The unique part about Texas is that you have that big speed for about three or four laps, and as you go through the tire run the speed really drops off a tremendous amount. But, from a driver standpoint, you have a lot of options here and the race track has a lot of bumps that are great for character. You have to make your car work well and you have to get up off turn two, but you can run all over the race track. Obviously, qualifying will be on the bottom, but when race time comes you will be moving around all over the place so it’s fun from a driver’s standpoint.”
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 QUAKER STATE/MENARDS CHEVROLET – 16th IN STANDINGS: “Texas Motor Speedway is bumpy and worn out, which is good. During the transition off of turn two you lose a lot of grip on exit. Every place that there is a tunnel there’s a huge bump and everywhere there isn’t a tunnel there are still bumps, so you have to have a good shock package. You need to have a good aero package because you’re running 200 mph in turn one and trying to keep the tires under you.”
JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET – 19th IN STANDINGS: “That’s a yes and no answer. In my opinion, every week is an experiment with different setups, especially at 1.5-mile race tracks like Texas Motor Speedway. We want to win races now for our sponsors, but it is very important to always be looking at the future so you don’t fall behind. We realize that we’re 19th in the point standings and have to be smart about how to spend our money and prepare for 2013. We aren’t going out and building new cars or anything like that. They aren’t science experiments either, but there are definitely different setups that we will try in this race.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET – 20th IN STANDINGS: “Texas is always a fun place to race. We had a pretty good car for the Spring race here. Track position and fast pit stops will be crucial. We didn’t have many cautions for the first race and I expect this one might not be much different. Hopefully we can put together a good qualifying effort with our McDonald’s Chevrolet like we did at the first Texas race this year and maintain position on the lead-lap. If we can do that we can put ourselves in position for a strong finish.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 HUGGIES CHEVROLET – 22nd IN STANDINGS: “Texas is going to be a busy weekend for us. We’re running the Huggies paint scheme and we will have some folks from Target with us, plus a few appearances. I’m looking forward to getting out on the track. The guys are bringing a brand new race car and we’re trying new things to get ready for 2013. I’m hoping we learn a lot in these last three races of the season.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/FARM AMERICAN CHEVROLET – 25th IN STANDINGS: “I like Texas Motor Speedway, it’s fast and you have to be on the edge with that speed. However, when the track does slow down handling is a big characteristic, which is important. But over the years Texas has treated me well and I always get up on the wheel there. One of our main goals this weekend is to get our qualifying situation turned around. We’ve been able to get to the front the past two weeks, but it’s much easier and better for all concerned when you start up front.”
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY RACING CHEVROLET:
(ON WORKING WITH CREW CHIEF TONY GIBSON FOR THE FIRST TIME): “I know Tony about as well as I know anyone else at Stewart-Haas, other than Zippy (Greg Zipadelli). I’ve always felt really comfortable around Tony. I feel like he’s always listened to me. I feel like he has a lot of respect and I have a lot of respect for him. I get along with him great and, most of all, I trust in what they decide for me because I’m not experienced enough to make those calls. That’s why I went with a team like Stewart-Haas, because I know they’re going to give me what I need.”
Chevrolet NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturers Championships
Total (1949 – 2012): 36
First title for Chevrolet: 1958
Highest number of consecutive titles: 10 – (2003-2012)
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, 2012
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: 12
Poles: 13
Laps led: 3596
Top-five finishes: 72
Top-10 finishes: 139
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 699 (1949 – to date); (2,341 possible = 29.8%)
Poles Won to Date: 633
Laps Lead to Date: 208,698
Top-Five Finishes to Date: 3,519
Top-10 Finishes to Date: 7,189
Total NASCAR Cup wins by Corporation, 1949 – To-Date
GM: 1,034
Chevrolet: 699
Pontiac: 155
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 712
Ford: 612
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Chrysler: 466
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 190
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 49
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.
