35-TIME MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPION – NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
LENOX INDUSTRIAL TOOLS 301
NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
LOUDON, NEW HAMPSHIRE
JULY 15, 2012
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For full program details and limitations go to chevyconfidence.com.
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TEAM CHEVY IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (NSCS) COMPETITION:
· Chevrolet has won 35 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Manufacturers’ Championships
· Team Chevy drivers have scored 695 wins and 624 poles in NSCS competition
CHEVROLET ON THE TRACK—NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
· Chevrolet drivers have won 17 of 34 races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Wins by active drivers are:
o Jeff Burton, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, has four (4) victories at New Hampshire (’97, ’98, ’99 & ‘00)
o Kurt Busch, No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Inc. Chevrolet, has three (3) wins at New Hampshire (’04 – TWICE & ’08)
o Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, has three (3) trophies from New Hampshire Motor Speedway (’95, ’97 & ‘98)
o Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, has gone to victory lane at New Hampshire Motor Speedway three (3) times (’03 – TWICE & ’10)
o Ryan Newman, No. 39 Army ROTC Chevrolet, has three (3) victories at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (’02, ’05 & ’11)
o Tony Stewart, No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, has taken the checkered flag at New Hampshire Motor Speedway three times (’00, ’05 & ’11)
o Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet, has one victory at New Hampshire (’06)
· A Chevrolet driver has won five (5) of the last five (5) races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
· A Chevrolet driver has sat on the pole at New Hampshire 15 times
· Team Chevy drivers have scored 77 top-five and 137 top-10 finishes at NHMS
· A Chevrolet has led 5,153 laps (51.3% of possible 10,047) at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
TEAM CHEVY IN THE GARAGE NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY– ALBA COLON – PROGRAM MANAGER, NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES – CHEVROLET RACING: “Congratulations to Tony Stewart, Steve Addington and the entire No.14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Stewart-Haas Racing organization on their big win at Daytona International Speedway last week. It was a typical superspeedway race, with all of us sitting on the edge of our seats waiting to see what will happen and who would be the one to be victorious in the end. Tony drove a beautiful race and showcased his talents at restrictor plate racing.
“This week we head north to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where we will officially begin the second half of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. With just eight races to go in the ‘Race to the NASCAR Sprint Cup’, our GM Racing engineers and dedicated teams still have a lot of work to do.
“Our Chevy teams have delivered eight wins so far this year, and Chevrolet continues to lead the Manufacturers’ Cup standings. Those are two tasks that are certainly not easily accomplished. It requires a lot of teamwork from everybody involved. Our goal is to do nothing less than to earn the Manufacturers’ Cup and the Driver’s Championship, and that’s what we continue to strive for day after day.
“The teams love to race at this challenging 1.058-mile oval track. It is fast and nearly flat, with long straights and tight turns. New Hampshire is a handling track. It requires the race cars to have the good cornering abilities for a short track, along with the aero characteristics necessary for an intermediate track. Our teams must find the right balance of trade-offs between the two in order to give their drivers competitive cars that will run up-front.
“Team Chevy has had a lot of great results at this track in the past, and we are looking forward to continuing that success on Sunday. It would be great to go into the off-weekend on a good note with another great win at New Hampshire!”
TEAM CHEVY FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT:
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD/DIET MOUNTAIN DEW CHEVROLET – 2nd IN STANDINGS: “I really like New Hampshire, and it’s a lot of fun to race. There’s lots of ways to get around a corner. It is really hard to pass, but it is a fun racetrack, and I look forward to coming here every time we get the opportunity.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET – 4th IN STANDINGS: “It’s (New Hampshire Motor Speedway) a tricky track with the lack of banking and the tight fast corners. I was able to sweep it there one year and since we’ve been okay. It’s a tough track. I think for a good day its good fuel mileage and good track position.”
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 MOBIL 1/OFFICE DEPOT CHEVROLET – 5th IN STANDINGS: “It’s a big motor deal. With the corners being so tight, you’ve got to put a lot of gear in the car to get it up off the corner. Forward bite is always an issue there too, so it’s hard to get up off the corners. Then you’ve got long straight-a-ways where you can kind of relax a little bit. Coming into the corners, you use a lot of brake, and it’s hard to not only get the car stopped, but to get it to turn. Then you go through that challenge all over again.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 RHEEM CHEVROLET – 6th IN STANDINGS: “New Hampshire (Motor Speedway) is a track that I enjoy. It’s a track where you have to have a good handling car, you have to have track position, and you have to have everything go right. If you get yourself stuck in the middle of the pack you’re not going to have a very good day, unless you have a really good car. Overall New Hampshire (Motor Speedway) is a track that I enjoy and hopefully we will run well.”
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 MENARDS/DURACELL CHEVROLET – 13th IN STANDINGS: “New Hampshire Motor Speedway is tricky because you have to turn the center and then need a lot of drive off, much like the short tracks we visit, like Martinsville (Speedway) or Richmond (International Raceway). It seems like with all the horsepower these cars pack, it’s really easy to burn off the rear tires. It’s also easy to worry about that too much and then you can turn in the center (of the turns). Loudon (New Hampshire Motor Speedway) is a big mix of both.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 ARMY ROTC CHEVROLET – 15th IN STANDINGS: “I think this track (New Hampshire Motor Speedway) is the key place when it comes to being aggressive and patient all at the same time. There is a different style of driving that you have to have there. You can’t really be overaggressive at this racetrack. It’s kind of a combination of patience and aggressiveness. You want to take what the car will give you because the track is flat. With banking, the faster you go, the more it pushes the car down into the racetrack. We don’t have that there, so it’s just a matter of feeling that razor-blade-edge of grip and getting everything you can and I’ve been successful at it there. It’s kind of clicked with me since the beginning. I really like the racetrack and obviously know how to drive it, which is a big part of it. It’s a good place to start up front because it’s a short race, and it’s not the easiest place to pass.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET – 16th IN STANDINGS: “We had a lot of speed at New Hampshire last fall and led some laps before it turned into a fuel-mileage race. I think with the power we get from Hendrick engines, we can have a good weekend. We need another win, if not two more, to make the Chase. The competition for the wild card spot is really strong right now. It would be great to get it this weekend and have that momentum when we come back to Loudon in September.”
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET – 17th IN STANDINGS: “I feel like (crew chief) Alan (Gustafson) and our engineers do an excellent job on flat race tracks – especially tracks like Loudon. I can’t wait [for this weekend’s race]. [New Hampshire Motor Speedway] is high on my list of tracks that I feel we can capitalize on. I think Loudon is a great opportunity for us. We’ve been very competitive here recently, and I feel we can be competitive here again this weekend with hopefully a shot at winning. It’s a track that I really enjoy, but it’s not an easy one to get around because of the long straightaways, flat corners and hard braking. I think the variable banking has made it a little bit easier to run side-by-side and make passes, though.”
“We are not afraid of trying things with the setup or during the race. We’re not afraid to take some risks. Each race that goes by without a win [means] the more risk we are willing to take, but I feel like we’re still a long way from being out of this thing.”
JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET – 18th IN STANDINGS:
“New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a very challenging track. It’s one of those places if you are off a little bit, it shows a lot on the leaderboard. There is a fine line between being really good and not very good. It’s definitely a tough race track. The car must turn in the middle of the corners at New Hampshire. Rear grip has become less of an issue since we first started racing there. When we first started going there, rear grip was everything. If you could accelerate off the corner before your competitor, you were in good shape. Throughout the years, that has really changed. You must rotate in the middle of the corners. If it doesn’t rotate, your lap times will suffer. To me, rotation in the middle of the corners is the most important key to being strong.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/ALLSTATE CHEVROLET – 20th IN STANDINGS: “New Hampshire is a track that I really enjoy racing at. I like the close-quarters racing on a flat track. I just feel like I adapt well to that style of racing. It has been a busy week since Daytona last weekend. We went to Indianapolis to test the Grand-Am car on Monday and then off to a two-day test in Nashville. It will be nice to be in one place for more than two days. “
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 DEGREE CHEVROLET – 21st IN STANDINGS:
“New Hampshire is one of those tracks where if you qualify well, you are going to run well. It’s always been a pretty good track for me so I’m pretty excited to go back there with the Target team. The biggest challenge there is learning to use the grooves. It seems like you never get to the yellow line, the yellow line is a groove off of where you normally run. You have to use a lot of braking. It can be quite challenging but I really enjoy racing there.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 51 PHOENIX CONSTRUCTION SERVICES INC. CHEVROLET – 25th IN STANDINGS: “New Hampshire is a track that has been pretty good to me since I started racing in the top series of this sport. I raced there for the first time in the Truck Series and won that race. Then it’s a track where I have three wins in the Cup cars and, when you’re able to go to a track where you’ve had that kind of success, it just gives you that confidence. Because of the wins and everything, it’s a place we go to where I feel like I especially know what it takes from the car and the driver to be successful.”
REGAN SMITH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/FARM AMERICAN CHEVROLET – 26th IN STANDINGS: “Considering how things have gone recently (four accidents in last six races), I will happily take our 10th-place finish that we had in New Hampshire last fall. We’ve had some solid runs goings recently but can’t seem to avoid getting collected in multicar wrecks. New Hampshire Motor Speedway is the type of track that we grew up on and I feel that this is a venue that we can start turning things around in our Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet. This weekend’s race begins the second half of the season and we need to keep our heads up and not look back at the disappointments during the first half of the season.”
Chevrolet NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturers Championships
Total (1949 – 2011): 35
First title for Chevrolet: 1958
Highest number of consecutive titles: 9 twice (1983 – 1991) (2003-2011)
Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Drivers Championships
Total (1949 – 2011): 28
First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)
Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005 – ’11)
Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Event Victories
Record for total race wins in single season: 26 – (in 2007)
2012 STATISTICS:
Wins: 8
Poles: 4
Laps led: 2178
Top-five finishes: 39
Top-10 finishes: 77
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 695 (1949 – to date); (2,336 possible = 29.7%)
Poles Won to Date: 624
Laps Lead to Date: 207,280
Top-Five Finishes to Date: 3,486
Top-10 Finishes to Date: 7,127
Total NASCAR Cup wins by Corporation, 1949 – To-Date
GM: 1,030
Chevrolet: 695
Pontiac: 155
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 708
Ford: 608
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Chrysler: 464
Dodge: 215
Plymouth: 190
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 44
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
