Alex Bowman Looks to Continue Momentum Into Charlotte

Alex Bowman
No. 99 St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Toyota Camry

Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date:          Dollar General 300 – October 11, 2013
Venue:                   Charlotte Motor Speedway

News & Notes:

This Week’s St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Toyota … Alex Bowman will pilot RAB Racing Chassis No. 41 in Friday’s Dollar General 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This chassis last saw action at Chicagoland Speedway in September when Kenny drove this Camry to a 17-place finish.

Welcome Back… St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital returns as primary sponsor of the No. 99 Toyota Camry this weekend. Founded in 1962 by Danny Thomas, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is a pediatric treatment and research facility focused on childhood diseases.

I’ve Been Here… Bowman has competed at Charlotte Motor Speedway once before in the Nationwide Series. In May’s History 300, Bowman started in the eighth position and finished in the 20th position.

RAB Racing at Charlotte … RAB Racing with Brack Maggard has competed in ten Nationwide Series events at Charlotte Motor Speedway since their inaugural year of competition in 2009, accumulating three top 20 finishes with Bowman and Kenny Wallace.

Rice at Charlotte… Crew chief of the No. 99 Toyota Camry, Chris Rice, has sat atop the pit box at Charlotte Motor Speedway nine times in his Nationwide Series career, garnering two top 10 and seven top 20 finishes.

Homecoming … Owner Robby Benton hails from Harrisburg, N.C., graduated from North Mecklenberg High School and attended UNC Charlotte. He began his racing career in go-carts at Woodleaf Speedway in Salisbury, NC when he was 14 years old. Benton went on to race in the ARCA Series, where he earned one top-five and three top-10 finishes in 11 starts. From there, Benton made a combined seven starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series, before climbing out of the driver’s seat and focusing on team ownership. Benton’s Concord, N.C.-based RAB Racing has earned one win, one pole, five top-five and 22 top-10 finishes in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Get to the Points … As we head into the 30th race of the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series season, Bowman currently occupies the 11th position in the drivers’ point standings, 60 points out of the top 10. Owner Robby Benton sits at 16th position in the Nationwide Series owners’ point standings.

Rookie Battle… Following his 11th place finish at Kansas Speedway, Bowman retained the second position in the Rookie of the Year point standings, 71 points behind Kyle Larson.

Catch the Action … Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway will be televised live Friday, October 11 beginning at 7:30 p.m. EST on ESPN 2 and broadcast live on the Performance 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 really excited to get back to Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend and continue the momentum we’ve had on mile and a half tracks as of late.  This will be the first time I’ll be running under the lights at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and I’m sure the track will be completely different compared to the race in May.  It’s a difficult track to find a good car setup because the track surface is very temperature sensitive. You almost need a completely different car setup when the race ends at night compared to when the green flag waves at dusk.  My crew chief Chris Rice and I have a plan to work on these changing conditions in practice, so I can’t wait to get on the track on Thursday.”

Chris Rice Quotes:

“Well, we definitely have some momentum rolling into the last four races of this season.  After a top five finish in Kentucky and top 10 runs in Chicago and Kansas, we are all looking to run well at our home track.  Charlotte is so exciting at night and although it’s still your mile and a half cookie-cutter track, the track’s temperature makes a huge difference on the car’s handling. I’d consider Turn 1 and 2 some of the easiest corners on the NASCAR circuit, while Turns 3 and 4 are some of the most difficult, so there is a balance that you have to hit. I feel like our Toyota Camry will run well here and since Alex has experience at this track, we’re all counting on a good finish.”