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[/media-credit]Turner Motorsports NASCAR Nationwide Series
Michigan International Speedway News & Notes
Pre-Race Info for Justin Allgaier, Brad Sweet and James Buescher
JUSTIN ALLGAIER QUICK FACTS
No. 31 BRANDT Chevrolet
Michigan International Speedway
Alliance Truck Parts 250
June 16, 2012
Media Contact:
Martha McGrath | 704-299-0368
martha.mcgrath@turnermotorsportsllc.com
Starts Poles Wins Top-Fives Top-10’s DNFs Avg. Start Avg. Finish
3 0 0 1 2 0 16.0 8.0
No. 31 BRANDT Chevrolet News and Notes
Weekend Rewind: Off Weekend – After coming off his season-best finish of fifth at Dover International Speedway two weeks ago, Justin Allgaier followed it up with a 10th-place finish at the Eighth Annual Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway last Wednesday night. Not being able to stay away from the race track, even on a precious weekend off, Allgaier headed to Texas Motor Speedway to watch his Turner Motorsports teammates in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, as well as support CEO Rick Brandt’s daughter Sierra, as she made her debut in a bandolero car at the track. Brandt finished sixth in the event.
Allgaier at Michigan International Speedway – Allgaier will make his fourth series start this weekend at Michigan International Speedway. In three previous races, he earned one top-five and two top-10 finishes along with leading 10 laps. Allgaier has an average start of 16.0 coupled with an average finish of 8.0 and has completed all 375 laps he’s attempted. The Illinois-native’s best finish of fourth came back in 2010 at the two-mile oval, and he scored a 13th-place result in last year’s event.
Dropping in at the FFA State Convention – On Tuesday morning, Allgaier made a stop at the Illinois State Future Farmers of America (FFA) Convention in Springfield, IL. Over 2000 students, parents and advisors will be on hand for the multi-day event and Allgaier was there with the BRANDT show car to sign autographs and attend opening ceremonies.
Tuesday Night at the Dirt Track – Allgaier heads to Macon Speedway in Macon, Illinois on Tuesday night for NASCAR Night of Stars 2 to pilot his No. 31 BRANDT dirt modified car. Allgaier will join Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart, as well as Stewart’s fellow co-owners of the 1/5 mile track, Kenny Schrader and Kenny Wallace for an evening of racing in the dirt.
This Week’s Impala – This weekend, Allgaier will pilot TMS-324 in the Alliance Truck Parts 250 at Michigan International Speedway (MIS). This chassis last saw action at Texas Motor Speedway and previous to that, Auto Club Speedway (ACS) which is the sister track to MIS. Allgaier was racing in the top-three at ACS before falling victim to a mechanical failure with only 38 laps remaining.
Allgaier on the busy week and racing at Michigan:
“It’s been so great to be home in Illinois for a few days. I feel like we’ve kind of been going non-stop for a while. I’m looking forward to all the things we have going on in the area this week, especially the FFA State Convention here in Illinois and racing at Macon with Tony (Stewart), Kenny Schrader and Kenny Wallace. It really is a lot of fun getting to do that. After doing a few more things on Thursday, we’ll head up to Michigan to finally get on track. I’m excited to see what the new surface is like and how our cars will respond. It’s nice that we will have an extra practice session on Friday to get it sorted out. We are bringing the same car we had at California where I thought we were finally headed to victory lane. Hopefully that’s the result we can look forward to this weekend in Michigan. I definitely want to keep that momentum from the top-five at Dover going!”
Follow the No. 31 team on Twitter! @No31TurnerNNS
Follow BRANDT on Twitter! @BRANDTRacing
Follow Turner Motorsports on Facebook! Facebook.com/TurnerMotorsports
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BRAD SWEET QUICK FACTS
No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet
Michigan International Speedway
Alliance Truck Parts 250
June 16, 2012
No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet News and Notes
Brad Sweet Career NNS Stats
Starts Poles Wins Top-Fives Top-10’s Avg. Start Avg. Finish
5 0 0 0 1 14.2 21.2
Five in a row for Sweet… Brad Sweet will return to the seat of the No. 38 Great Clips machine this weekend for the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Michigan International Speedway (MIS). Sweet will compete in the next four events on the NNS schedule before Kasey Kahne rejoins the team at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Previous experience at MIS… Sweet has made just one career start at MIS. In 2009, he competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race there, finishing 19th.
Earlier this year, Sweet found success at MIS sister track, Auto Club Speedway, where he proved impressive by bringing home a sixth-place finish in just his second career NNS start.
Nothing like the first time… During the NNS off-week, Sweet joined the Kasey Kahne Racing crew for some World of Outlaws (WoO) racing. Though the Grass Valley, Calif.-native isn’t competing in as many WoO races as he has in past years, he proved he hasn’t gotten rusty as he earned his first career win in the series at Clay County Fair Speedway on Friday. The win was Sweet’s fifth consecutive top-10 in the races he’s competed with the Outlaws since April.
Who’s on the pit box? Mike Shiplett joined Turner Motorsports in 2012 and has a unique role as he calls the shots for both a veteran (Kasey Kahne) and a rookie (Sweet). It is a reunion of sorts for Kahne and Shiplett, who were paired together in the NNS during the 2007 season and put down impressive results including two victories (Charlotte Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway, spring events).
This Week’s Impala… The No. 38 team will unload chassis TMS-321 this weekend at Michigan International Speedway. This chassis last saw track time at Texas and Las Vegas where Kahne finished 10th (led for 40 laps) and 3rd, respectively.
Kahne and Sweet: a unique combination… Not only are Kahne and Sweet good friends off the track, but the veteran is serving as mentor to Sweet as he makes the transition from open-wheel competition to stock cars. Sweet was handpicked by Kahne in 2008 to drive for Kasey Kahne Racing (KKR) where he has since experienced tremendous success in the World of Outlaws Series. Sweet will continue to compete on a limited basis for KKR when he is not behind the wheel of the No. 38 Great Clips machine in the NNS. You can expect Kahne to be very involved and present in the NNS garage when Sweet is behind the wheel of the No. 38 as he will closely monitor his progress and offer encouragement.
Kahne brought Great Clips their first win! From 2003-2005, Kahne and his sponsor, Great Clips, Inc., reached momentous milestones, including capturing Kahne’s first Nationwide Series victory in 2003 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was also Great Clips’ first win as a primary sponsor. In 2005, Kahne captured his second career win at Texas Motor Speedway before leaving the Nationwide Series to allow more time for his Sprint Cup Series efforts.
Great Clips goes racing with the World of Outlaws in 2012! Great Clips serves as sponsor for KKR driver Joey Saldana this year in the World of Outlaws series. The Minneapolis-based company has been a sponsor of KKR for the past two seasons. This year, they will be featured on all three KKR entries – as a primary sponsor on the #9 with Saldana as well as associate sponsor placement on Brad Sweet’s #49 and Cody Darrah’s #5 World of Outlaws cars.
12 Years and Counting… Great Clips, Inc. is currently the longest-running sponsor in the NNS and has used the Nationwide Series as their primary marketing platform for the last 11 years. Their sponsorship began in 2000 with Akins Motorsports as they climbed on board to sponsor the team’s No. 38 entry with driver, Christian Elder. Mark Green piloted the No. 38 for one season before general manager, Doug Stringer, hired up-and-coming talent, Kasey Kahne, thereby solidifying Great Clips’ commitment to their NASCAR sponsorship.
Sweet on this weekend’s NNS race at Michigan
“After a week off, I’m ready to get back at it! In my races in the Great Clips Chevy this year we have had some good runs but just not the luck to go along with it. By far, our best race was at Fontana at the beginning of the season where we finished sixth, so we are looking to build from there. I can’t say enough about these guys and how hard they work. As a rookie, having that kind of support and experience in your corner, is pretty important.”
Follow the No. 38 team on Twitter! Twitter.com/No38TurnerNNS
Follow Kasey Kahne on Twitter! Twitter.com/KaseyKahne
Follow Brad Sweet on Twitter! Twitter.com/KBradSweet49
Follow Turner Motorsports on Facebook! Facebook.com/TurnerMotorsports
About Great Clips: Great Clips, Inc. was established in 1982 in Minneapolis. Today, Great Clips has more than 3,000 salons throughout the United States and Canada, making it the world’s largest salon brand. Great Clips salons employ nearly 30,000 stylists who receive ongoing training to learn advanced skills and the latest trends. Make Great Clips your choice for value-priced, high-quality haircare for men, women and children. No appointments needed, and salons are open nights and weekends. And, it’s more convenient than ever with Great Clips’ Online Check-In. To check-in online, visit www.greatclips.com or download the app for Android and iPhone. For more information about Great Clips, Inc. or to find a location near you, visit www.greatclips.com.
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JAMES BUESCHER QUICK FACTS
No. 30 Amway Chevrolet
Michigan International Speedway
Alliance Truck Parts 250
June 16, 2012
No. 30 Amway Chevrolet Impala News and Notes
James Buescher Career NNS Stats
Starts Poles Wins Top-Fives Top-10’s Avg. Start Avg. Finish
44 2 1 2 10 18.3 17.4
This Week’s Impala… The No. 30 Amway Chevrolet Impala team will utilize chassis TMS-326 in Saturday’s 125-lap race at the two-mile speedway located in the Irish Hills. TMS-326 last saw racing action at Charlotte Motor Speedway last month, where James Buescher crossed the finish line in the seventh position. Welcome Aboard… Turner Motorsports is pleased to announce the addition of Amway to the 2012 sponsor lineup. The Ada, Mich. company will adorn the sheet metal of the No. 30 Chevrolet Impala this weekend at the newly repaved Michigan International Speedway. Founded in 1959 and based in Ada, Michigan, Amway is one of the world’s largest direct selling businesses and a member of the Alticor family of companies. Amway offers consumer products and business opportunities in more than 80 countries and territories worldwide through more than 3 million Independent Business Owners building their own Amway™ businesses. Top-selling brands for Amway are NUTRILITE® vitamin, mineral, and dietary supplements, and ARTISTRY® skincare and colour cosmetics. For more information, visit news.amway.com.
For a Good Cause… The No. 30 Amway Chevrolet will carry the Gaddes Foundation logo on the decklid for Saturday’s 250-mile race at Michigan International Speedway. Gaddes Foundation’s mission is to increase awareness of Cystic Fibrosis in addition to registering organ donors. They register organ donors by raising public knowledge of the requirements, process and need. They are working to accomplish these through registration drives, participation at community events and talks at local churches and community groups. For more information go to www.gaddesfoundation.org.
Come and See Me… Buescher will make an appearance at the Chevrolet display, located in the display area outside the frontstretch grandstand, on Saturday, June 16th at 2:30 p.m. EST. The Texas native will answer questions in addition to signing autographs for fans on site.
Follow Me… Visit www.twitter.com/jamesbuescher or www.facebook.com/jamesbuescherracing for the latest news and updates on James Buescher and the No. 30 Turner Motorsports team.
Watch and Listen… The Alliance Truck Parts 250 will be broadcast live on Saturday, June 16th on ABC. Race coverage will begin at 3:30 p.m. EST. The event can also be heard live on MRN Radio as well as Sirius Satellite Radio, channel 90. Check local listings for start times.
James Buescher on driving at Michigan International Speedway
“This weekend is going to be new for everyone in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS). With the newly repaved surface, the track has a ton of grip, which equates to speed. There is a ton of room to race, so I expect there to be two and sometimes three-wide racing all the way around the track. This kind of racing is great for the fans. We know that we have to give and take all day and keep the fenders on our Amway Chevrolet in order to race for the win. These guys have had a weekend off to take a breather and are all ready to get back to the track. I am looking for great things out of the No. 30 Turner Motorsports team this weekend.
“We are honored to have Amway on board for this weekend’s race at Michigan International Speedway. They are an iconic brand that has a wide variety of home and beauty products. They, like Turner Motorsports, rely on relationships and teamwork to keep them ahead of the competition. We are excited to welcome them to the Turner Motorsports family and look forward to getting the Amway Chevrolet into victory lane on Saturday afternoon.”
