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[/media-credit]CONCORD, N.C. (April 25, 2012) – While driver Scott Speed is no stranger to the Richmond International Raceway, Saturday night’s Sprint Cup Series 400 will be Leavine Family Racing’s first trip to the popular three-quarter-mile short track.
Speed will drive the No. 95 Tommy Williams Drywall (TWD) Ford Fusion on a track that’s become a favorite among NASCAR drivers.
“Richmond International Raceway is a unique track,” Speed said. “It has everything. It’s a driver’s track where you use a lot of short-track mentality and strategy. Crew chiefs love it, too, because the car is so important. It’s one of the few places where it takes a complete team effort to run a fast lap.”
Leavine Family Racing is running a limited 14-race schedule. Saturday night’s race, which is scheduled to take the green flag at 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX, is the second appearance for the second-year team.
“Although we ran a few tracks last year, this is the first time we will be going to Richmond,” crew chief Wally Rogers said. “This is quite a challenge because we’re going there with a blank team notebook. We have some fundamental ideas of what the car should need, but we’re going to have to rely on our overall experiences to get up to speed.”
“This is the kind of challenge this team really likes because it brings out our competitive nature. This is one of the reasons we picked Richmond: it’s a chance to perform under pressure.”
The team’s first race of the season two weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway ended early, resulting in a 43rd-place finish. After grass clogged the radiator, the engine overheated and the No.95 TWD Ford was forced to the garage.
Speed is confident things will run a little smoother this weekend.
“We’ll be on the lookout for grass, that’s for sure,” he said. “The one thing about Leavine Family Racing and team owner Bob Leavine is we don’t get down. We went right back to work and got ready for Richmond.”
Speed has five career starts at Richmond International Speedway.
About Us Leavine Family Racing (LFR), currently a two-team operation in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the ARCA Racing Series, is a Texas-based team – headquartered in Tyler, Texas. The racing team also has an entry in the ARCA Racing Series – the No. 95 car with development driver Michael Leavine. The team is owned by Bob and Sharon Leavine.
Leavine Family Racing began competing in NASCAR with four career-starts for the 2011 racing season in NASCAR’s premier series.
The team’s shop is located in Concord, North Carolina, just outside of Charlotte Motor Speedway’s turn two.
