NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIESTEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
NRA 500
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
FT. WORTH, TEXAS
APRIL 13, 2013
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CHEVY RACING AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY– JEFF CHEW, MARKETING MANAGER – CHEVROLET RACING:
“They say everything is bigger in Texas and that is certainly true of the Team Chevy display this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Not only can fans take a look at new Chevrolet vehicles like the 2014 Impala and 2014 Silverado, but they will have the opportunity to take a test drive in one of their favorite Chevy vehicles. We also have a great group of Team Chevy drivers dropping by to answer fan questions including three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup series champion Tony Stewart, Paul Menard, Austin Dillon, Johanna Long, Kyle Larson, Justin Allgaier and Nelson Piquet, Jr. Fans will also have an opportunity to collect autographs from Juan Pablo Montoya’s No. 42 over-the-wall pit crew. While at the display we encourage everyone to speak with our friendly product specialists and learn more about Chevy’s product lineup and compete with other fans on our video race simulators. We also have an assortment of Chevrolet Performance Parts and accessories that fans can shop through and order from their local Chevy dealer. We look forward to seeing you there.”
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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: Malibu, Equinox, Corvette Convertible 60th anniversary, Sonic RS, Volt, Traverse All Star, Silverado Crew 3500, Silverado Crew 2500, Avalanche LTZ, Tahoe Texas Edition, Suburban Texas Edition and Spark
· At the display fans can see a variety of show cars and specialty vehicles including: The NASCAR Nationwide Series No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro show car, the 2014 Silverado, the SEMA Tony Stewart Camaro, Camaro ZL1 and 2014 Impala
· Team Chevy Test Drive – This weekend at Texas Motor Speedway the Team Chevy Display will feature a Test Drive area. This is an area where 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: Corvette Grand Sport Convertible, Spark, Impala, Volt, Malibu, Camaro Coupe Hot Wheels edition, Equinox, Traverse, Tahoe and Silverado 2500 HD
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
DRIVER FAN Q/A APPEARANCES:
· Friday April 12th – Johanna Long will kick off the driver question and answer session at the Team Chevy stage beginning at 1:30 p.m. Turner Motorsport teammates Kyle Larson, Justin Allgaier and Nelson Piquet, Jr. at 1:45 p.m.
· Saturday April 13th – Austin Dillon will make an appearance at the Team Chevy stage at 2:45 p.m. followed by Paul Menard at 3:00 p.m. and Tony Stewart at 3:35 p.m. Fans can collect autographs from the No. 42 Chevrolet SS over-the-wall pit crew at 4:00 p.m.
· Hours of operation: Thurs. April 11th – 11:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.; Fri. April 12th – 9:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. and Sat. April 13th – 9:00 a.m. – 6:30 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 705 wins and 636 poles in NSCS competition
CHEVROLET ON THE TRACK—TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
Chevrolet drivers have won eight of 24 races at Texas Motor Speedway. Wins by active drivers are:
Jeff Burton, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet SS, has made two (2) trips to Winner’s Circle at Texas Motor Speedway (’97 & ‘07)
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Dover White Chevrolet SS, has two (2) wins at Texas Motor Speedway (’07 & ‘12)
Tony Stewart, No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS, has two (2) victories at Texas Motor Speedway (’06 & ’11)
Kurt Busch, No. 78 Furniture Row Racing/Serta Chevrolet SS, has one (1) trophy from Texas Motor Speedway (’09)
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet SS, has made one trip to Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway (’00)
Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Cromax Pro Chevrolet SS, has one victory at Texas Motor Speedway (’09)
Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet SS, has one (1) win at Texas Motor Speedway (’06)
Ryan Newman, No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet SS, has visited Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway once (1) (’03)
A Chevrolet driver has won two (2) of the last five (5) races at Texas Motor Speedway
A Chevrolet driver has sat on the pole at Texas Motor Speedway 12 times
Team Chevy drivers have scored 43 top-five and 104 top-10 finishes at Texas Motor Speedway
A Chevrolet has led 3,059 laps (37.8% of possible 8,087 laps) at Texas Motor Speedway
TEAM CHEVY IN THE GARAGE TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY – PAT SUHY, MANAGER, CHEVROLET RACING – NASCAR GROUP MANAGER:
“Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus and the whole No. 48 Lowe’s Chevy SS crew on the team’s eighth win in Martinsville. It’s always fun to watch them race there, knowing that there’s a good chance that they will dominate the race. To capture three Chevrolet wins in the first six races, Daytona, Bristol, and Martinsville, is more than we could have hoped for considering that the SS is still so new to our teams.
“Heading to Texas this week, all of the Sprint Cup teams will have a test day on Thursday, which doesn’t count against their allotment for the season. It’s the last scheduled test of this type, and the teams will all be taking advantage of the opportunity. The fact that Thursday is considered a test day and not practice time for the race, means that our Chevy teams will be able to run fully instrumented cars and obtain data that they’re not allowed to collect on race weekends. The teams’ Chevy SSs will be equipped with dozens of specialized sensors including things like laser ride height sensors, optical yaw sensors, many strain gage structural load sensors, and thermocouples and pressure sensors, which will be strategically located on and under the bodies. The data that is collected will be used to help validate the teams’ vehicle simulation models and generate up-to-date track maps for things like seven post testing and engine dynamometer test schedules. It will also help them dial in their setups for the Texas race, so it’s fair to expect that the racing will be closer than normal at the mile and a half circuit.
“Season after season, our lineup of Team Chevy teams has shown that they’re the best in the garage. Thursday’s test might bring everyone closer together in terms of speeds at Texas, but the strength and depth of our lineup still makes us a favorite for the win.”
TEAM CHEVY FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT:
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S DOVER WHITE CHEVROLET SS – POINTS LEADER:
“We ran really well at Vegas, and California didn’t go as well as we wanted, but it’s a much different racetrack than what we have at Texas. I would say that Texas and Vegas are closer together than Texas and California. We’ll go there and see. We’re still learning this car on the big tracks. Fontana we were certainly trying some things, and smarter leaving there, and I know that these guys will work hard and give me a great car this coming race.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – 3rd IN STANDINGS:
“I enjoy racing at Texas. It’s a mile and a half, like a lot of tracks we run on in the series, but this track has got some oddities to it that make it different than most of the other 1.5-mile tracks. The exits, to Turn 2 especially, are a real challenge. And the bumps and stuff are pretty challenging on the bottom of both corners. The entry to (Turn) 1 is always a lot of fun. It’s really fast and just trying to get the car through the middle is a challenge there. Texas is a unique place.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 TIME WARNER CABLE CHEVROLET SS – 5th IN STANDINGS:
“Every day I wake up and know that I’m part of Hendrick Motorsports and it feels good. Then to get a win early in the season in such a competitive series and do it in the No. 5 car, I feel really good about that. It’s great to get those post-win calls from Mr. H (Hendrick), and when he’s excited and happy that we were able to pull it off and put an entire race together and win, it makes it all pretty exciting and fun.”
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 QUAKER STATE/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS – 9th IN STANDINGS:
“I think Texas (Motor Speedway) is going to be a lot like Auto Club Speedway. The tires fall off quickly and the groove moves around a lot. The setups that work with fresh tires probably aren’t going to work with old worn out tires, so well have to calculate that into our adjustments. The track also has a lot of bumps that you have to drive around, kind of like the seams at Auto Club Speedway. The track has a lot of character to it, which makes it a fun 1.5-mile speedway to drive. After Martinsville, I’m looking forward to going out west and hopefully we can get back on track and start finishing in the top 10 again.”
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 CROMAX PRO CHEVROLET SS – 12th IN STANDINGS:
“We went into California with some concerns. I felt like we ran better at California than we did at Las Vegas, but we still have some things that we’re working on for Texas to make improvements. You’re always learning from your experiences and I think there are some things we learned in California that will make us better at Texas. We’re just going to stay focused on each race and continue to work on bettering our intermediate program.
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 BELL HELICOPTERS CHEVROLET SS – 13th IN STANDINGS:
“Texas will be an important gauge for our team. Obviously, having a strong mile-and-half program is important, with as many of those tracks that we run at, so it will be good to see where we are. We had a good car on the first mile-and-half track at Las Vegas, but we will work to improve on the run that we had there. Coming off of the strong weekend in Martinsville, we hope to carry some positive momentum into the Lone Star State. This weekend will be the first race for our team with Bell Helicopters on as primary sponsor. They are based in Fort Worth also, so we really want to represent them with a strong showing. ”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 RHEEM CHEVROLET SS – 14th IN STANDINGS:
“The track is just worn out. It’s becoming a lot more like Atlanta Motor Speedway than it has in the past because the grip level has gone down, which is a great thing for racing. It’s got some pretty good bumps in it, which gives it some character. The cars fall off a tremendous amount as you go through the run while you still carry a lot of speed, so it’s definitely a handling race track. You’ve got to move all around to try and find a line that works for your car, and you definitely have to drive it hard every lap just to keep up.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/SERTA CHEVROLET SS – 19th IN STANDINGS:
“After Martinsville, I am really looking forward to Texas, which should be our kind of track. Texas was my first top-10 with Furniture Row Racing (8th in November) and I am looking forward to having another strong run there. Our problem so far is that we’re making this more difficult than what it should be. We haven’t had a clean race this year due to a combination of bad breaks, mechanical issues and mistakes. We managed to work through some of those problems in Bristol and California where we had strong finishes, but it caught up to us in Martinsville with too many issues. We lost a lot of (Sprint Cup driver) points in Martinsville and need to turn things around at Texas and get some of those points back. I always enjoy going to Texas Motor Speedway and appreciate what the staff — led by Eddie Gossage — has done with its creative promotional work to help grow our sport.”
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 MOBIL 1/BASS PRO SHOPS CHEVROLET SS – 22nd IN STANDINGS:
“I’ve always liked Texas. I’ve been there clear back in my Indy car days in ’96. The fans in Texas and the people that come to Texas Motor Speedway are really appreciative of the drivers and the teams. They’re just really passionate about their racing. They have a great promoter with Eddie Gossage out there. It’s just a fun track, it’s a fun weekend, and it’s a place where we run really, really run fast. It’s a fast track. That makes it one on the schedule that you look forward to because you know you’re going to get to let your legs stretch out, so to speak, and run some quick lap times.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 QUICKEN LOANS CHEVROLET SS – 23rd IN STANDINGS:
“I always look forward to racing at Texas. I love the speed at Texas. It’s a fast race track. Texas is actually one of the fastest tracks we go to all year, so you have to be on top of your game because things can happen pretty quickly. It’s a track I’ve always liked, although it doesn’t necessarily show in my finishes. It’s a smooth, fast racetrack and there are multiple grooves, so it’s fun to race there. The asphalt has aged the track to the point it has gotten better and better each time we come back. What I mean is, the track has basically gotten wider. It’s gotten a bit more character. A little more bumpy, which is fine. I like it. I think, in general, the track has gotten wider and racier each time we’ve come back. It’s got less grip, but that’s fine. I’d rather slide around a little bit and be in charge of my racecar than be stuck to the race track.”
JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET SS – 24th IN STANDINGS:
“Texas Motor Speedway is a really fun and fast race track. It’s one of those places that requires throttle a lot of the time. It’s also a rough race track with fairly low grip levels. Texas should be a huge challenge for us with the new Gen-6 car. We’ve learned that the new car doesn’t like hitting the splitter on the bumps and Texas is a track that has many of those bumps. That will be an issue for sure. Having an extra test day will be beneficial for all teams, especially for the No. 31 team because we have been behind on the 1.5-mile program.”
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDAY.COM CHEVROLET SS – 26th IN STANDINGS:
“I think more than anything with Texas, it’s the fact that it’s a real high-banked, fast track and those are the kind of tracks that I’ve liked the most because I feel that load in the corner because you’re able to carry so such speed though because of that banking. I feel like it translates more to a feeling I was familiar with from Indy car. So I like going to Texas.”
JJ YELEY, NO. 36 ACCELL CONSTRUCTION CHEVROLET SS – 27th IN STANDINGS:
“I love racing at Texas Motor Speedway – there is nothing not to love about this track and the show that Eddie Gossage puts on. As we head into Texas we are hoping to gain some positions in the points this weekend with a solid finish. We have a good car for this weekend and glad to be back racing on the mile and a half track.”
DAVE BLANEY, NO. 7 SANY AMERICA CHEVROLET SS – 29th IN STANDINGS:
“We are looking forward to getting back to racing on the mile and a half track at Texas. Our guys have been working hard to get the car ready for this weekend and hope that we have a better finish than this past weekend.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET/KELLOGG’S CHEVROLET SS – 30th IN STANDINGS:
“To be honest with you I’d like to think all the bad luck is out of our system and that our luck is going to turn around. It’s been a rough start to the season and we need to start working on points and finishing races. The cars and speed are there, it’s that we haven’t been able to pull it all together or something weird happens. It’s hard to see the Target guys work so hard and not finish where we should. Texas has been one of those tracks that we either finish really well or end up middle of the pack. Hopefully this will be one of those good weekends.”
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)
2013 STATISTICS:
Wins: 3
Poles: 2
Laps led: 842
Top-five finishes: 13
Top-10 finishes: 31
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 705 (1949 – to date); (2,360 possible = 29.8%)
Poles Won to Date: 636
Laps Lead to Date: 209,783
Top-Five Finishes to Date: 3,539
Top-10 Finishes to Date: 7,235
Total NASCAR Cup wins by Corporation, 1949 – To-Date
GM: 1,040
Chevrolet: 705
Pontiac: 155
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 713
Ford: 613
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Chrysler: 466
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 190
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 51
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