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[/media-credit]EVENT: Virginia 529 College Savings 250
TRACK: Richmond International Raceway
LENGTH: .750-mile oval
DATE: Friday, April 27, 2012
TV: ESPN2 (Coverage begins at 7 p.m. EST)
RADIO: MRN (7:15 p.m. EST)
Cole Whitt
No. 88 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet
“Richmond won’t be a completely new race-track for me. I raced there in USAC (United States Auto Club) a few years ago. I think it’s a track that for me, is comparable to Iowa just with less banking. My mindset is on the importance of corner exit speed and being able to roll through the center.
“Everything went good last week with (new crew chief) Bruce Cook. We worked real well together. Right now our biggest deal is understanding each other and getting on the same page. We have different scales on handling. Like, when I say the car is loose, Bruce doesn’t know how loose I mean. That type of understanding is something that will come in time. We made big strides in becoming faster through the weekend at Texas, so there was definitely improvement on that end.”
Danica Patrick
No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“There’s no doubt this weekend will be a test for me. Short tracks are challenging, and an area where I need to see improvement. We have great results to build off from our last race, so this is a good opportunity to take that positive momentum and move forward. I have a certain level of experience at RIR, so that is something I have going for me. I just want to go in there, take it one lap at a time and not get ahead of myself.
There is a great support system with Tony Jr. and the entire Go Daddy team. “I think short track racing at night is a lot of fun. It makes the cars look really cool, especially our Go Daddy car. It’s a good night out for people at the race-track. Ours is a visual sport and there are lots of fans watching. So the better it looks, the better it is.”
Notes
JRM AND EARNHARDT JR. PARTNER WITH CLEAN COAL CAMPAIGN – JRM an-nounced this week a partnership with the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE). ACCCE supports energy policies that balance coal’s role in supplying the United States with affordable and reliable electricity. The partnership includes primary branding on Whitt’s No. 88 Chevrolet for four events in 2012 (Dover, Michigan, Iowa II and Kentucky II) and associate branding for the duration of the NASCAR Nationwide Series season. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has also signed an agreement to represent and drive awareness to the ACCCE as part of its nationwide campaign to promote the impor-tance of clean coal technology.
PRESS ON FUND FEATURED ON 88 CHEVROLET – CURE Childhood Cancer’s Press On Fund will be featured on Whitt’s No. 88 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet at Richmond International Raceway and Darlington Raceway as part of a collaborative effort by TaxSlayer and JR Motorsports to raise awareness in the fight against childhood cancer. The Press on Fund logo will be lo-cated on the 88 car’s TV panel. For more information on Press on Fund, please visit www.pressonfund.org.
SHORT TRACK PAST – Whitt makes his Nationwide Series debut at Richmond International Raceway this weekend. If his short track statistics from the Camping World Truck Series are any indication, Whitt should adapt quickly to the .75-mile oval. In four short track truck starts in 2011, Whitt tallied three top-10s (Martinsville, Iowa and Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis) and an average finish of 8.0.
POINTS CLIMBER – Patrick advanced from 17th to 11th in the championship standings following her eighth-place finish with the Go Daddy machine at Texas Motor Speedway two weeks ago. She now sits 15 markers outside the top 10 in points.
NIGHT RACING – Patrick has found success racing under the lights. Three (Chicagoland, Daytona and Texas) of her four career top-10 finishes and 85 percent of her laps led have been earned in night races.
WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE ROUND TWO – For the second consecutive year, The Dale Jr. Foundation will again be raffling off Dale Jr.’s ride. This time around it’s an inferno-orange colored 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. Raffle tickets are only $25 each and only 8,888 will be sold. The winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will hand over the keys to their brand new car. The contest will run through Oct. 1, 2012 with all proceeds benefitting The Dale Jr. Foundation. For complete de-tails about the car, a list of second and third-place prizes, and to purchase tickets visit www.windalejrsride.com.
