CORNELIUS, N.C. — Casey’s General Store and Hughes General Contractors will co-sponsor Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 15 Toyota driven by Clint Bowyer in Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway.
The race marks the first time the companies have served as primary sponsors on a Sprint Cup car.
“It’s great when we get a chance to bring companies like Casey’s and Hughes General Contractors into the sport and show them the power of NASCAR,” said Bowyer. “I hope they see how welcoming our fans are and how they support the companies that allow us to go racing.”
The No. 15’s black-and-orange paint scheme makes its first appearance at the 1.5-mile track in Sparta, Ky., for a NASCAR test session on Wednesday followed by practice and qualifying on Friday. NBC Sports Network televises the race nationally Saturday night.
Hughes General Contractors, based in North Salt Lake, Utah, is a third-generation, family-owned commercial contractor that specializes in construction management projects. Hughes is an established forerunner in the art of tilt-up construction and concrete work, a nationally recognized expert in historical restoration, and an educational construction specialist.
Bowyer, a native of Emporia, Kan., finished third at Kentucky in 2013. He owns eight Sprint Cup victories and is battling for a berth in NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.
How do you feel about the new rules package at Kentucky?
“I think a good race car driver adapts to any situation as does a good race team with the communication process and the way they go about their business. A lot of times when you cut downforce away and things like that the cars that were fast were probably going to still be that way. The cream always rises to the top. It always has been that way. People get behind and struggle but they usually find their way back to the top once they get ironed out. If you look back at the last several years of racing, when they made a rule change it kind of shook things up and made for a really entertaining race and a good product on the race track. I’m looking forward to seeing the product. We’re going to learn at Kentucky. There’s going to be some growing pains. You’re not going to set a set of rules up for a race track and it be good everywhere. You’re just not. But, I think they’ve got a good game plan. I think they’ve done the due diligence. They’ve reached out to all of the channels, leaning on a lot of smart people – certainly a lot smarter than any one person in particular. I think they’ve got a great plan going into this for all of us and I think if we don’t see exactly what we’re looking for at Kentucky hopefully we’ll see it soon.”
NO. 15 CREW ROSTER
Billy Scott
Crew Chief
Terry Spalding
Front Tire Changer
Allen Steele
Front Tire Carrier
Lee Cunningham
Rear Tire Changer
P.J. Briody
Rear Tire Carrier
Brian Chase
Jack Man
Evan Marchal
Gas Man
J.D. Frey
Car Chief
Brett Griffin
Spotter
Dax Gerringer
Race Engineer
Joe Bisson
Race Engineer
Adam Cooke
Shock Specialist
Travis Stock
Rear Mechanic
Chris Sherwood
Front Mechanic
Kyle Anderson
Interior Mechanic
James Davis
Tire Specialist
Gregg Huls
Engine Tuner
Ray Erwin
Truck Driver
Jeff Shano
Truck Driver
KENTUCKY STATS
· One top-five and one top-10 finish in four starts
· Completed 1,059 of 1,068 laps (99.2%)
· Average start 13.0 and average finish 19.2
· No DNFs (Did Not Finish)
CHASE ELIGIBLE
1 – Jimmie Johnson (4 wins) … 589 points
2 – Kevin Harvick (2 wins) … 656 points
3 – Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2 wins) … 593 points
4 – Kurt Busch (2 wins) … 508 points
5 – Joey Logano (1 win) … 581 points
6 – Martin Truex Jr. (1 win) … 569 points
7 –Brad Keselowski (1 win) … 520 points
8 – Matt Kenseth (1 win) … 501 points
9 – Denny Hamlin (1 win) … 480 points
10 – Carl Edwards (1 wins) … 408 points
11 – Jamie McMurray (0 wins) … 526 points
12 – Jeff Gordon (0 wins) … 500 points
13 – Kasey Kahne (0 wins) … 496 points
14 – Paul Menard (0 wins) … 480 points
15 – Ryan Newman (0 wins) 472 points
16 – Clint Bowyer (0 wins) … 465 points
DRIVERS OUTSIDE THE CHASE
17 – Aric Almirola (0 wins) …24 points behind 16th
18 – Kyle Larson (0 wins) … 70 points behind 16th
19 – Greg Biffle (0 wins) … 73 points behind 16th
20 – Danica Patrick (0 wins) 79 points behind 16th
WINNERS NOT IN TOP 30 IN POINTS
37 – Kyle Busch (1 win) … 128 points behind 30th
