Annett will make his 10th start at Charlotte this weekend and his 160th NNS career start. Earlier this year, Annett made his first start back in the No. 43 Ford Mustang at Charlotte in the spring after recovering from the injuries he received in an accident at Daytona. He’ll look to improve on his best finish of 10th at the mile-and-a-half track, which he earned in the fall race of last year.
Comments from the No. 43 Pilot Travel Centers Ford Mustang driver Michael Annett:
“I’m really looking forward to Charlotte. The spring race here was my first race back in the car after my accident, and it was really more for me to get comfortable in the car again. I’m ready to come back to a track that I consider as much my home track as Iowa and bring home a solid finish.
“We had been struggling on the mile-and-a-half tracks, but the last couple weeks, I really think we’ve found some things that work and the car is improving every week. We’ve come really close to getting those top-10 finishes for about the last month or so, and I think we’re due for a top-10, if not a top-five, this weekend.”
Comments from Crew Chief Philippe Lopez on Charlotte:
“Our team, along with the Roush Fenway Nationwide camp, has been working hard on new set-ups for the mile-and-a-half tracks. It was a big struggle at Atlanta and Chicago, and we found a lot of things not to do. We seem to be getting a better handle on it, and you can see that in our results the last couple of weeks. We still have a long way to go to get where we need to be, but we feel like if we iron out all of the little bugs, it will be a really good race package. A lot of the trials and tribulations have been to get ready for 2014, but we’re also trying to do the best we can and win races for the last four this season.
“At Charlotte, track position, fuel mileage and tires are all important. It’s one of the tracks where you can’t put the emphasis all on one and ignore the other because all three will have a play into the race. Qualifying will be extremely important. If you can stay up front during the race, you have a better chance of your race strategy working to your advance.”
Chassis History:
Lopez and the No. 43 Pilot Travel Centers team have prepared chassis No. 752 for Charlotte. They previously ran the chassis at Texas, Michigan, Indy, and Chicago earlier this year.
About Richard Petty Motorsports
A performance and marketing driven company, Richard Petty Motorsports, co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty and successful business entrepreneurs Andrew Murstein and Douglas Bergeron, is one of the most recognized brands in all of motorsports. With a history of over 200 wins and business partnerships with national and global leaders, today the race operation fields two teams in competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Aric Almirola pilots the famous No. 43 Ford Fusion with primary partners Smithfield Foods, U.S. Air Force and STP and Marcos Ambrose drives the No. 9 machine with primary partners Stanley and DEWALT. In addition, Michael Annett wheels the No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The team is headquartered in Concord, N.C.
