JTG DAUGHERTY RACING
ISM RACEWAY ADVANCE
Event: TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway
Date/Time: Sunday, March 11 at 3:30 PM ET
TV Network/Radio: FOX / MRN Radio / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CAMARO ZL1
CHALLENGES OF ISM RACEWAY: “ISM Raceway in Phoenix is definitely a unique racetrack,” Allmendinger said. “For a while racing there, you felt like you needed a lot of mechanical grip. I feel like as we’ve taken off downforce on our rules package, the more aerodynamic stability you get in our Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, the more difference it makes in the racecar. It’s a place where because it is really flat – especially through Turns 3 and 4, and even in Turns 1 and 2 – as you go down the corner, there’s a fine line between getting the car to turn and not being too loose, and vice versa. It’s always a challenge there.”
TRACK CONDITIONS AT ISM RACEWAY: “The track in Phoenix has gotten a lot slicker through the years, causing it to degrade a lot more,” Allmendinger said. “The rubber builds up and the track widens out. In the fall race there last year, we were almost up near the wall in Turn 3 and 4 trying to run a different lane. It’s something that more than anything, you’ve got to have the aerodynamics in the car to get the speed in it. Once you develop the aerodynamic elements, you work to get the mechanical grip. It’s a racetrack that when you get there, it’s dusty and dirty being in the desert of Arizona, so its slick and it changes a lot throughout the weekend. It’s a place where we haven’t had much speed at in the past, but hopefully all the work we’ve done in the off season and the new Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 body style will help that.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, NO. 37 SCOTT TOWELS CAMARO ZL1
CHALLENGES OF PHOENIX: “ISM Raceway in Phoenix is extremely tricky for me,” Buescher said. “For myself, Phoenix has been a tough one for me. I haven’t quite got my hands around it, and it’s been a little bit of hit and miss for me. I’ve tried to study that place a lot through the last couple years and even got on iRacing trying to learn as much as I could.”
NEW START/FINISH LINE CONFIGURATION: “With this configuration, it’s created a lot of wild racing,” Buescher said. “Now that we’re going to put the start/finish line in the middle of the turn, we’ll see even more action. I don’t know how it’s going to go. I think it’ll be a test to see what we can get away with as far as some of these things go. We’ll go there and make the best of it.”
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ISM RACEWAY FAST FACTS
AJ ALLMENDINGER
Career Starts: 17
Career Wins: 0
Pole Awards: 1 – 4/10/2010
Top-5 Finishes: 0
Top-10 Finishes: 2
Laps Led: 17
Average Start: 17.0
Average Finish: 18.1
CHRIS BUESCHER
Career Starts: 4
Career Wins: 0
Top-5 Finishes: 0
Top-10 Finishes: 0
Laps Led: 1
Average Start: 31.5
Average Finish: 31.5
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FAST FACTS – AJ ALLMENDINGER
Career Starts: 338
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: 8/9/2015 Watkins Glen International
First Start: 3/25/2007 Bristol Motor Speedway
Best Start: 1st – 8/9/2015 Watkins Glen International (most recent)
Best Finish: 1st – 8/10/2014 Watkins Glen International
Driver DOB: 12/16/1981
Hometown: Los Gatos, CA
Crew Chief: Tristan Smith
FAST FACTS – CHRIS BUESCHER
Career Starts: 81
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
