Event/Date: Zippo 200 – August 10, 2013
Venue: Watkins Glen International
News & Notes:
- This Week’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Toyota … Alex Bowman will pilot RAB Racing Chassis No. 55 in Saturday’s Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International. This chassis last saw action at Road America in June.
- First Timer… Though Bowman has recorded laps at many of the tracks on the Nationwide Series circuit throughout his seasons in the K&N Pro Series and the ARCA Racing Series, he has not yet competed at Watkins Glen International. As he heads out on the 2.45-mile road course for Nationwide Series practice this Friday afternoon, these will truly be his first laps here.
- RAB Racing at Watkins Glen … RAB Racing with Brack Maggard has competed in four Nationwide Series events at the New York road course since their inaugural year of competition in 2009. RAB Racing has accumulated one top-15 and two top-20 finishes with drivers Boris Said and Victor Gonzalez, Jr.
- Rice at Watkins Glen … Crew chief of the No. 99 Toyota Camry, Chris Rice, has sat atop the pit box at Watkins Glen International two times in his Nationwide Series career, boasting a near perfect lap completion record with drivers Stacy Compton and Kenny Wallace.
- Get to the Points … As we head into the 21st race of the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series season, Bowman currently occupies the 11th position in the drivers’ point standings, 64 points out of the top 10. Owner Robby Benton holds steady in the 15th position of the Nationwide Series owners’ point standings.
- Rookie Battle… Following his seventh place finish at Iowa Speedway, Bowman retained the second position in the Rookie of the Year point standings, 63 points behind Kyle Larson.
- Catch the Action … The Zippo 200 from Watkins Glen International will be televised live Saturday, August 10th beginning at 2 p.m. EST on ABC and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network.
- Get Social … Don’t miss any updates from Bowman and RAB Racing. Follow them on Twitter @AlexBRacing and @RAB_Racing.
Alex Bowman Quotes:
“I’m excited to be returning to a road course, especially such a historic track like Watkins Glen. All the legends of motorsports have won at Watkins Glen going all the way back to where they raced on the narrow streets of town, so it will be an honor to drive the track. We raced really well in my first Nationwide start at a road course at Road America and we’re bringing the same car so I’m really confident in my crew chief Chris Rice and what he learned from the first race and from Toyota Racing Development this week. I’m also honored to have Nationwide Children’s Hospital on the car this weekend, I encourage everyone to text ‘KIDS’ to 50555 and it will donate $10 to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital. It’s something I’ve already done this week and encourage everyone else to do the same.”
Chris Rice Quotes:
“Watkins Glen may be a track that our young and ambitious driver may like, but it’s a track that we as a race team want to take a conservative approach to and just get a good finish. Watkins Glen may look like an easy road course on paper but it offers a lot of challenges to a driver, especially a rookie driver. It’s very challenging to keep the car on track, there are so many instances where the racing groove narrows up and it becomes one lane, so if you’re side by side with another race car, it gets treacherous. Secondly, it’s a place where stock cars struggle to get grip coming off corners so that’s something we will have to work on in practice. Lastly we just need to survive until the end of the race, lately road course racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series has been wild to say the least, so we need to utilize pit strategy to get good track position and be around at the end of the race.”
