Event: Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500
Date/Time: Sunday, February 25 at 2:00pmET
TV Network/Radio: FOX / PRN Radio / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CAMARO ZL1
RACING AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY: “Atlanta (Motor Speedway) is a really fun racetrack,” Allmendinger said. “We all begged them not to repave the racetrack and they didn’t. So, it’s about conserving tires. A car and driver that can be a little easier on their tires is definitely a huge advantage at Atlanta. Comparing last year’s Atlanta race to this year is really difficult. Our race cars are a lot different. I think the Camaro ZL1 body is going to be a big benefit to all Chevrolet teams. For us as a team, Chris Buescher had a good test at Las Vegas (Motor Speedway) in January and I think we’re going to use some of those notes heading into this weekend.”
CONSISTENCY: “Although Vegas and Atlanta are two very different racetracks, the ultimate goal is to win,” Allmendinger said. “Our team owner Brad Daugherty always says if we don’t go there with the ultimate goal to win, we shouldn’t show up. But at the same time, if we can go run consistent inside the top-20 and top-15 every week, that’s going to be a solid day for us compared to where we were last year on the 1.5-mile tracks. That’s our focus. If we get there and we’re faster than that, then we’ll adjust accordingly. I’m really looking forward to it. Everyone at our race team has done so much work in the offseason to make our race cars better. I’m really looking forward to Atlanta and seeing what this 1.5-mile package can do for us.”
PAVEMENT CHANGES YEAR-TO-YEAR: “The pavement at Atlanta Motor Speedway gets rougher and slicker every year,” Allmendinger said. “With the slickness and the way it degrades tires, it’s always going to be like that. It always gets a little more rough each year with harsh winters but it’s a challenge and it’s what makes it fun. The cars sliding around puts on some of the best racing. For us drivers, it’s a challenge because you have to find different grooves. You really have to save the tires through the course of a run so you don’t overdo it early. It’s something that, as race teams, we really enjoy doing. It’s a 1.5-mile racetrack, but it’s different than any other place we go to.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, NO. 37 LOUISIANA HOT SAUCE CAMARO ZL1
LOUISIANA HOT SAUCE ON NO. 37 CAMARO ZL1: “You definitely won’t be able to miss our Camaro ZL1 this weekend,” Buescher said. “The car is as hot and slick as the racetrack! We’re really fortunate to have great partners that allow us to get creative with our paint schemes, and this one is on fire. I’m looking forward to getting to Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend and seeing what we can do on the racetrack.”
RACING IN ATLANTA: “Atlanta Motor Speedway is its own animal,” Buescher said. ”You look at the surface there and it’s unlike anywhere else we go. It’s a place that has a lot of character, and it’s hard to get a judge on how your intermediate program is going to be from Atlanta. It’s a good start to think about it, but the surface is so worn out that any changes you make through the race or through practice are so dependent on where you’re at in a tire run. It makes it really hard to fine tune anything there. It’s one of the most fun racetracks we go to.”
LOOKING AHEAD IN 2018: “After last weekend’s race at Daytona (International Speedway), we’re further along from where we were at in this point last season,” Buescher said. “To come out of Daytona with a good run and be in a good points situation; now it’s up to us to not make mistakes going forward. We want consistency this season. We want to improve five spots every week from where we were last season. If we can keep going to the racetrack and make smart decisions, stay out of accidents and be nice, clean and smooth every time we come down pit road with the changes made there, we can really improve our season from last year.”
PIT ROAD CHANGES: “I think we learned some things on pit road from this past weekend in Daytona,” Buescher said. “It was great for the pit crew to be able to run through it live. Practice only goes so far. You don’t have the pressure or the noise. There’s a lot that’s different from a live race pit stop compared to practicing at the shop. Daytona was good for us because we did go through mostly four-tire stops, we did some two-tire stops and we did fuel-only once or twice. We went through a lot of the different scenarios and kind of let them play out. We had good speed and we were mistake free. That’s what’s going to be the most important this season is to make sure that you don’t try to get ahead of yourself.”
SPEED ON PIT ROAD: “The pit stops are a lot slower now that only five crew members are allowed to go over the wall,” Buescher said. “Our pit stops are in the 17-18 second range now compared to 11-12 seconds last year because of eliminating one man going over the wall from six to five. For us as drivers, that’s a long time inside the car. For me, when you drop the right-side jack, you put it in gear and as soon as that jack comes up on the left side, you start throwing some throttle in it to get ready to leave pit road. Now, you have to wait for it to come up and let everyone get caught up. Pull the tires off, and as they get the tires on the hub, that’s when I’m starting to throttle up to get ready to leave pit road. It’s a strange gap in there that you don’t typically have, so I’m glad we got to use Daytona as a practice because there are going to be four tire stops every time we come down pit road at Atlanta.”
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ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY FAST FACTS
AJ ALLMENDINGER
Career Starts: 12
Career Wins: 0
Top-5 Finishes: 0
Top-10 Finishes: 3
Laps Led: 1
Average Start: 23.7
Average Finish: 17.9
CHRIS BUESCHER
Career Starts: 2
Career Wins: 0
Top-5 Finishes: 0
Top-10 Finishes: 0
Laps Led: 0
Average Start: 29.5
Average Finish: 26.0
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FAST FACTS – AJ ALLMENDINGER
Career Starts: 336
Wins: 1- 8/10/2014 Watkins Glen International
Top-fives: 10
Top-10s: 53
Pole Awards: 4
First Pole: 4/10/2010 ISM Raceway
Last Pole: 10/9/2015 Watkins Glen International
First Start: 3/22/2015 Auto Club Speedway
Best Start: 9th – 6/25/2017 Sonoma Raceway
Best Finish: 1st – 8/1/2016 Pocono Raceway
Driver DOB: 12/16/1981
Hometown: Los Gatos, CA
Crew Chief: Tristan Smith
FAST FACTS – CHRIS BUESCHER
Career Starts: 79
Wins: 1 – 8/1/2016 Pocono Raceway
Top-fives: 3
Top-10s: 7
Pole Awards: 0
First Start: 3/22/2015 Auto Club Speedway
Best Start: 9th – 6/25/2017 Sonoma Raceway
Best Finish: 1st – 8/1/2016 Pocono Raceway
Driver DOB: 10/29/1992
Hometown: Prosper, TX
Crew Chief: Trent Owens
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AJ ALLMENDINGER & CHRIS BUESCHER KROGER STORE APPEARANCE
WHERE: 1524 Georgia Highway 16 W., Griffin, GA 30223
WHEN: Thursday, February 21 from 5:30 – 6:00 pm
