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[/media-credit]DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY RACE PREVIEW
Michael Annett• No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang
Annett has six career starts in the Nationwide Series at Dover
Annett enters this weekend’s event in seventh-place in the Nationwide point standings
Annett’s best finish (12th) at “The Monster Mile” came in 2011
Michael Annett on Going to Dover: “I really like going to Dover, I run good at short tracks and Dover is a fast little one-mile track, so it fits my racing style. We were happy with our car at Bristol, and Bristol is like Dover on steroids, so I’m looking forward to taking that same car to Dover this weekend. We’ll have to have a good balanced Pilot Flying J Ford at ’The Monster Mile’ because typically, we fight getting loose off the corners. Pit road at Dover is one of the toughest ones we have on the circuit because it’s hard to get off the banking down to the flat area on such a narrow track. We’re just going to have to be careful and stay out of trouble so we can bring the Pilot Flying J Ford home in one piece at the end of the day.”
Crew Chief Philippe Lopez’s Thoughts on “The Monster Mile”: “Dover is very similar to Bristol; it’s a concrete track with a lot of banking. It will be important for us to qualify well, and then once we start up front, we need to make sure we have good pit stops. We want to concentrate on staying on the lead lap, because once you get a lap down, it’s very hard to make that up on a short track. Michael ran well in Bristol earlier this year and we are taking that same Pilot Flying J Ford to Delaware this weekend, so we should be in good shape. We’ve had some bad luck the past couple of weeks, so we are looking forward to putting that behind us and getting a great finish on Saturday.”
Chassis History: The No. 43 RPM NASCAR Nationwide Series team has prepared chassis No. 621 for the 200-lap race at Dover. This Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang was run previously this season at Bristol.
Notes: Annett has four NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at Dover International Speedway. His best finish (12th) came in 2011 and his best start (11th) came in 2010 at the one-mile track. Annett heads to Dover in the seventh position in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver point standings. The Iowa native has completed 1,208 of 1,214 laps attempted at the track, leading one of them. His average start is 27.2 and his average finish is 15.7.
Looking for a Pilot or Flying J store near Dover? There are six Pilot or Flying J stores within 100 miles of Dover International Speedway. The nearest store is 43 miles away from the race track. (Flying J (I-95 Exit 109A) 221 Belle Hill Rd., Elkton, MD, 21921.) There are 36 stores within 250 miles of the track. Go tohttp://www.pilotflyingj.com/locationsfind the nearest locations.
Annett will participate in the Dover Air Force Base Social on Friday from 6:30-7:30 p.m. with Richard Petty and teammate Aric Almirola. The event will offer live music, food and entertainment for the Air Force base community. In addition, Annett, “The King” and Almirola will be signing autographs for the troops and their families.
Can’t get enough of Annett? Tune into Sirius XM Radio on Channel 90, Saturday, at 10:15 a.m. ET for “The Front Stretch” with Pat Patterson, to listen to Michael talk about the upcoming race weekend at Dover International Speedway.
Race Information
Track: Dover International Speedway
Laps: 200 Laps/200 Miles
Track Size: One-Mile
TV Information: 1:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Radio Information: 1:30 p.m. ET on MRN
Be sure to follow Richard Petty Motorsports on Twitter @RPMotorsports for behind the scenes updates, driver appearance information and qualifying and race updates. You can also check us out on our Facebook page at Richard Petty Motorsports.
