Ricky Carmichael, No. 4 Monster Energy Chevy, Bristol Motor Speedway Preview

Ricky Carmichael

No. 4 Monster Energy Chevrolet Silverado

Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date:       O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 – August 24, 2011

Venue:             Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, Tenn.

Ricky Carmichael’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Performance History at Bristol Motor Speedway

• This Week’s Monster Energy Chevrolet Silverado … Ricky Carmichael will pilot chassis TMS-005 from the Turner Motorsports (TMS) NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) stable in Wednesday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway. This is the same Monster Energy Chevy Carmichael raced to a 21st-place finish at Kansas Speedway earlier this season after a qualifying incident forced his team to roll out its back-up truck for the race. Built new in 2010, this is the same truck Carmichael’s TMS-teammate James Buescher raced three times last season including the first race at Nashville (St. 20, Fn. 13) Gateway (St. 2, Fn. 12) and Bristol (St.2, Fn. 33).
• Bristol Bits … Carmichael started 22nd and finished 19th in his lone NCWTS start at BMS and completed 203 of the 206 laps contested.
• Michigan Minutes … Carmichael and the Monster Energy Team turned in a solid 12th-place finish in last Saturday’s VFW 200 at Michigan International Speedway. The Tallahassee, Fla., resident qualified seventh, raced inside the top 10 for most of the afternoon and just missed out on a top-10 finish when the checkers waved.
• In a Nutshell … The 2011 season marks Carmichael’s second year competing on a full-time basis and third year overall in the NCWTS. Since making his series debut 58 races ago, the father of twins has gone on to earn three top-five and 14 top-10 finishes. Over those same 58 races, the motocross legend has logged a 15.2 average start, a 17.0 average finish, led 39 laps and completed 91.2 percent of the laps run and earned just over of $746,000 in purse money.
• Turner Truck Totals … In 15 NCWTS races in 2011, TMS entries have earned seven top-five and 19 top-10 finishes. Buescher leads the way with seven top fives, including a fourth-place finish last weekend in Michigan where he moved up from third to second in points following his 13th-consecutive top-10. With the exception of Martinsville, Buescher has finished inside the top 10 in every race in which he has competed in the division this season. Carmichael has logged three top 10s, including a season-best sixth-place showing at Texas Motor Speedway and is 17th in the standings. Mark Martin finished seventh in the No. 32 machine two races ago at Pocono while Brad Sweet drove the same truck for the first eight races of the year and logged a pair of top 10s.
• Blake’s Back In … For the second time this season, Blake Feese will climb aboard the No. 32 AccuDoc Solutions machine for Wednesday night’s race in Bristol. With the exception of next month’s event at Chicagoland Speedway, where Steve Arpin will handle the driving chores, Feese will fill out the remainder of the 2011 schedule in the No. 32 Chevrolet Silverado.
• Get to the Point(s) … Carmichael maintained 17th in the NCWTS driver point standings following his 12th-place finish last weekend. He’s now just five points outside the top 15 and just 35 behind 12th-place Brendan Gaughan. Buescher jumped to second in the standings after his top-four showing in Michigan and now sits a mere five points behind leader Johnny Sauter. While Feese has made just one start in 2011, the No. 32 machine is assured a spot on the starting grid by virtue of being 17th in the NCWTS owner point standings.
• Welcome Aboard … Turner Motorsports and Monster Energy are pleased to feature Roadrunner Markets on the lower-rear quarter panels of the No. 4 Monster Energy Silverado Wednesday night at Bristol. Roadrunner Markets strive to delight the customer today that makes them come back tomorrow.  Roadrunner Markets realizes the value of its customers and attempts to do whatever it can to make their stop fast, and enjoyable.  Roadrunner Markets operates 92 convenience stores in Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina and provides incredibly clean restrooms and organized stores with a friendly staff.  Roadrunner Markets customers and the NASCAR customer, in a lot of ways, are the same person.
• Nationwide Notes … In 24 NASCAR Nationwide Series races in 2011, TMS-fielded teams have notched three wins, 19 top-five and 47 top-10 finishes. Reed Sorenson, driver of the No. 32 Dollar General Chevrolet, fell from second to third in points after finishing 25th last weekend at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 31 Brandt Chevrolet, was eighth in the final rundown last weekend and moved up from fifth to fourth in the standings. Jason Leffler finished ninth in Montreal and held on to sixth in points. The drivers and teams of the NASCAR Nationwide Series also head for Thunder Valley this weekend for 250 laps of Friday night short-track action. The Food City 250 will take the green flag Friday, Aug. 26 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on ESPN beginning at 7 p.m. EDT and broadcast on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
• See the Monster Energy Silverado … The Monster Energy Chevrolet Silverado show truck will make a pair of stops in the Bristol market this week. On Wednesday, from 9 a.m. – noon, the No. 4 machine will visit Roadrunner Markets Store No. 131 – 3900 Bristol Highway in Johnson City. Later that afternoon, the Monster Energy machine will make a pit stop at Roadrunner Markets Store No. 121 located at 1309 Highway 394 in Blountville for a 2 p.m. – 5 p.m. visit.
• Up to Speed … Live coverage of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 from Bristol Motor Speedway will take the green flag Wednesday, Aug. 24 beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on SPEED and broadcast on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Qualifying for the 16th of 25 races on the 2011 schedule will be televised live on SPEED the same day at 5 p.m. EDT.

RICKY CARMICHAEL QUOTES

Are you excited to go race Bristol Motor Speedway this week?

“Last year was my first time at Bristol and I picked it up pretty quickly. I actually surprised myself. But, honestly, you don’t have a choice but to pick it up right away. You’ve got to get out there and get after it real quick. That was the attitude I had going in and that’s what we did. It took me until about halfway through the race before I really got it figured out but after that I started picking guys off and reeling them in. It took me about that long to figure out how to race the track but once I did I think I made my way up to 11th or somewhere around there. Unfortunately, we got caught up in a wreck with about four laps to go and that really set us back.

“I like going to Bristol and I’m really looking forward to building off our momentum from last weekend at Michigan. We didn’t exactly get the finish we wanted but we were fast all weekend and I found the comfort level that I like. We tested a couple weeks ago at Gresham Motorsports Park and learned some things that should help us a lot over these last 10 races. It’s a short week for us but that just keeps my confidence up from last weekend. I have a lot of confidence and the team does too.”

Does Bristol remind you of anywhere you raced during your motocross days?

“Bristol is very similar to a Supercross race. You’re in a stadium surrounded by a ton of fans and the energy level is through the roof. People are screaming and yelling in a small, confined space.  For a driver or a rider, these types of venues are hard to beat.”

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About Turner Motorsports: Turner Motorsports, LLC, established in 1999, is in the midst of its sophomore season of NASCAR competition. Owned by Texas businessman Steve Turner, the organization has expanded in 2011 from a two-truck operation in the NCWTS to become the largest stand-alone multi-series team in NASCAR’s top-tier touring series. Turner Motorsports operates out of an 110,000 square-foot state-of-the art facility in Mooresville, N.C., and will compete with three entries in NCWTS and four entries in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS).  The team boasts an all-star driver line-up that includes Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Jason Leffler, Reed Sorenson, Justin Allgaier, Ricky Carmichael, James Buescher, Brad Sweet, Steve Arpin, Blake Feese and Brandon McReynolds. The Chevrolet-backed team has created alliances with General Motors’ powerhouse teams Hendrick Motorsports, which will provide engine support for both its NNS and NCWTS programs, Kevin Harvick Inc. for body and aero support, and Earnhardt Technology Group for drive train and suspension technology assistance. Turner Motorsports’