RICKY CARMICHAEL QUICK FACTS
No. 30 Monster Energy Chevrolet Impala
Virginia 529 College Savings 250
Richmond International Raceway
September 9, 2011
No. 30 Monster Energy Chevrolet News and Notes
- Welcoming ‘the Goat’ back… Ricky Carmichael will return to the seat of the No. 30 Monster Energy Impala this weekend at Richmond International Raceway (RIR) for his third NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) start of 2011. In his two previous starts this season he brought home a career-best ninth-place finish at Road America. Carmichael is set to make his final NNS start of the season at Phoenix International Raceway in November.
- On a roll… Carmichael is coming off a great weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway in his No. 4 Monster Energy Silverado. He captured his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Pole Award and after a strong showing in the Good Sam Club 200, he brought his truck home in the ninth position for his fourth top-10 finish of the season.
- Rookie at RIR… Though he is no stranger to racing competition, the 15-time AMA champion is a rookie at RIR having never made a start at the .75-mile D-shaped oval.
- This week’s Impala… The No. 30 Monster Energy team will hit the track with chassis TMS-119 this weekend at RIR. This chassis has seen track action several times this year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Kentucky Speedway and Iowa Speedway with both Reed Sorenson and Mikey Kile.
- Turner Motorsports: In the hunt… In 26 Nationwide Series events in 2011, Turner Motorsports-prepared entries have notched three wins, 20 top-five and 51 top-10 finishes. All three of Turner Motorsports’ championship-contending drivers are inside the top-six in the driver point standings with Reed Sorenson in third, Justin Allgaier in fifth and Jason Leffler in sixth.
- Make it 100… Carmichael made his 100th-career start on four wheels last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. After retiring from Motocross and Supercross full time in 2007, the 31-year-old driver made 14 starts in late model stock car competition at New Smyrna Speedway before moving to Ken Schrader Racing in 2008 where making 13 starts in NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series East Division where he finished sixth in points on the strength of three top-five and eight top-10 finishes. He was also named the series’ Most Popular Driver. Carmichael moved to the NCWTS the following year where he was once again dubbed the division’s Most Popular Driver. 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 60 races ago, the father of twins has gone on to earn one pole, three top-five and 15 top-10 finishes. Over those same 60 races, the motocross legend has logged a 15.1 average start, a 17.0 average finish, led 39 laps, completed 91.1 percent of the laps run and earned just over of $768,000 in purse money. Meanwhile, the Tallahassee, Fla., resident has made six NASCAR Nationwide Series starts where he’s notched one top 10 and seven starts in the ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards where he’s recorded one top five and a pair of top-10 showings.
- AN event for ECHO… On Monday, Sept. 12, Carmichael will host the Ricky Carmichael & Friends for ECHO charity golf tournament at Southwood Golf Club in Tallahassee. The Emergency Care Help Organization, Inc. (ECHO) was founded in 1981 by a group of Tallahassee churches and concerned citizens who realized a need for a central location to help individuals and families in crisis. Having served the Leon County community for over 27 years, ECHO is the largest faith-based human services organization in the Tallahassee community. ECHO puts faith into action by serving people in crisis and poverty, and restoring individual and family self-sufficiency and feelings of self-worth. ECHO provides assistance for those most in need and offers food, clothing, household items, furniture, and weekend meals for those who are hungry or homeless. The organization is also Tallahassee’s premier job program helping the chronically unemployed and underemployed find and keep employment. This program prepares eager, capable job applicants to meet the needs of local employers, and continues to coach and mentor those newly employed for up to a year. ECHO also provides emergency short-term shelter for families in a housing crisis. This program provides case management and other assistance geared to help families become self-sufficient and attain permanent housing. Children (from newborn to 17 years) make up the largest population in ECHO’s Family Services Program. For more information, contact the ECHO office at (850) 224-ECHO or visit www.echotally.org.
- Welcome aboard Fas Mart… Fas Mart Shore Stop operates over 200 convenience stores in eight different states including Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia. Fas Mart and Shore Stop are members of the GPM family of convenience stores and offer award-winning fried chicken, fresh dairy products, brand-name snacks, quality gasoline and more.
- Catch the race…The Virginia 529 College Savings 250 will be broadcast live on Friday, September 9th on ESPN2 and MRN Radio Affiliates with the green flag scheduled to drop at 7 p.m. EDT.
Carmichael Quotes
You’re making your third Nationwide Series start of 2011 at Richmond this weekend. Talk a little about that.
“I’m definitely looking forward to another opportunity to drive one of Turner Motorsports’ Nationwide Series cars. I’ve never had a chance to race at Richmond. It’s one of the very few tracks where I haven’t had a chance to race over the least three years, so this will be a first for me. It’s going to be a really busy weekend for a lot of reasons. I’ve never been to Richmond, it’s a one day show and I’ll be driving a car that I don’t have a lot of experience in. I’m excited for the opportunity and hoping to make the best out of it.”
Considering you don’t have any experience at Richmond, have you talked to anyone about the track to try and get some advice?
“I’ve talked to a few people about Richmond to try and get some information and digest as much as I can before I get there. At the same time, it’s hard to put that information to good use until you get a chance to get out there and make some laps.”
You’ve got your annual charity golf outing on Monday so you weren’t kidding when you said you are going to be busy this week.
“We’re hosting our charity golf tournament in Tallahassee (Fla.) on Monday and that’s always a lot of fun. We’ll have a lot of participants and supporters from both NASCAR and the Motocross and Supercross worlds. It’s a great event and all the proceeds go to support the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO). ECHO provides job assistance and helps feed families here in Tallahassee. It’s a great organization that helps people who have lost their jobs and homes and gives them temporary housing and helps with job assistance and placement. It’s an honor for me to be able help such an important local charity.”
You made your 100th-career start in four-wheel competition last weekend in Atlanta. Can you put that into perspective?
“I was really able to reflect on it after the Atlanta race. It was my 100th start on four wheels and for it to come at Atlanta and be able to sit on the pole and run up front all night made it really special. I’ve had a lot of great times in Atlanta in both Supercross and now in NASCAR. That town has just always been really good to me, statistically. It’s pretty cool to be able to look at my first pole award flag and know it came in my 100th four-wheel start and at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It’s pretty special.”
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