Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 – November 2, 2013
Venue: Texas Motor Speedway
News & Notes:
This Week’s Microsoft Windows Toyota Camry… Alex Bowman will pilot RAB Racing Chassis No. 42 in Friday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. A workhorse of the RAB Racing stable, this chassis last saw action at Kansas Speedway in October where Bowman finished in the 11th position. Earlier this season, Bowman piloted this chassis to the top of the pylon in qualifying to earn the pole at Texas Motor Speedway.
Welcome Back … Microsoft returns as a primary sponsor of the No. 99 Toyota Camry. Toyota teams – including RAB Racing – have been utilizing a Windows 8 custom line-of-business application called TRD Trackside. The new modern touch application enhances the team’s performance on and off the racetrack. Developed by Toyota Racing Development (TRD) and running on the Surface Pro, RAB Racing is able to monitor real-time performance data, conveniently and portably. Because of its ability to share data with the crew instantaneously, the application has quickly become a staple of the team’s strategy.
Texas Flashback… In April’s running of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300, Bowman posted the fastest lap in qualifying earning his and RAB Racing’s first pole award.
RAB Racing at Texas … RAB Racing with Brack Maggard has competed in nine Nationwide Series events at Texas Motor Speedway since their inaugural year of competition in 2009, accumulating one pole and three top 20 finishes with Bowman, John Wes Townley, and Kenny Wallace.
Rice at Texas… Crew chief of the No. 99 Toyota Camry, Chris Rice, has sat atop the pit box at Texas Motor Speedway 10 times in his Nationwide Series career, garnering one pole, one top-10 and two top-20 finishes.
Meet Alex … As part of the upcoming Texas race activities, Bowman will be at the Microsoft Frisco/Dallas specialty store in the Stonebriar Centre Mall on Friday, November 1 from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. CT. Bowman will race against fans playing Forza5 on Xbox, signing autographs, and giving away a pair of VIP Passes and a Surface to a grand prize winner to be an Honorary Pit Crew Member for a day. Bowman will also be making an appearance at Toyota PitPass on Saturday, November 2 at 10 a.m. CT.
Get to the Points … As we head into the 31st race of the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series season, Bowman currently occupies the 11th position in the drivers’ point standings, 69 points out of the top 10. Owner Robby Benton sits at 16th position in the Nationwide Series owners’ point standings.
Rookie Battle… Following his 18th place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway Speedway, Bowman retained the second position in the Rookie of the Year point standings, 71 points behind Kyle Larson.
Catch the Action … Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway will be televised live Saturday, November 2 beginning at 3:30 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 extremely excited to finally get back on track after two weeks off, and return to one of my favorite tracks on the schedule, Texas Motor Speedway. Texas is a special place for me and this team after winning the pole award last April, it’s a track I feel we emerged as contenders and set the tone for the rest of the season. It’s also a track I really enjoy driving, from it’s high banked corners and fast entry speeds, its a fun place to be able to race side-by-side at. People often label Texas as a “cookie-cutter track” but in reality, its much different than the other mile and-a-half tracks. The pavement is starting to wear and the amount of grip in the race track is decreasing, and the way the banking falls off into the corners and tapers off on the exits are unique and un-like any other track we go to. I’m very excited to get to the track, and we’re all confident in our No. 99 Microsoft Windows Toyota Camry, we’re confident it will race as good as it looks standing still.”
Chris Rice Quotes:
“I’m really happy to be heading back to the racetrack after two weeks off. We as a team are really prepared for Texas Motor Speedway, bringing chassis No. 42, the same car we grabbed the pole award at Texas with last April. Texas is very unique, the bumps are getting more pronounced and you really have to work on your shock and spring package. Aero is pretty big at the 1.5-mile oval too; you have to really work aero versus shocks so the car can ride over the bumps smoothly but stay tight enough to be able to race with others. We are also proud to have Microsoft Windows back on the No. 99 Toyota Camry this weekend. We all use the Windows Surface at the tracks and there’s a long list of features that have made all of our lives easier, from the track map, to the live timing and scoring. Probably my favorite feature on the device is how each one of my guys can share information back and forth without ever passing a note or talking to each other. I can instantly see all the information from my engineers, read tire temperatures all instantly. The Windows Surface device will definitely help us run upfront this weekend at Texas.”
