Turner Motorsports NASCAR Nationwide Series
News & Notes
Richmond International Raceway
Pre-Race Info for Justin Allgaier, Brad Sweet & James Buescher
JUSTIN ALLGAIER QUICK FACTS
No. 31 BRANDT Chevrolet
Richmond International Raceway
Virginia 529 College Savings 250
September 7, 2012
No. 31 BRANDT Chevrolet News and Notes
Weekend Rewind: Atlanta – Prepared to turn things around after the previous weekend at Bristol, the BRANDT team went to work at the very fast, 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway. With the call of the night, crew chief Jimmy Elledge kept Justin Allgaier out on the track under a long, green-flag run in the waning laps of the 195-lap race. A timely caution allowed Allgaier to come to the attention of his team for new tires and fuel. He went on to score a fifth-place finish, his sixth top-five of the season.
Allgaier at Richmond – Allgaier will make his eighth NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) start at Richmond International Raceway this weekend. In seven previous starts, he has scored one top-five and three top-10 finishes, with an average starting position of 17.3 and an average finish of 14.3. Allgaier’s highest finish of third came in 2011 and he scored a 15th-place finish at Richmond in the spring.
Come See Me – Allgaier will make two public appearances during the race weekend in Richmond. He will join fellow NNS drivers for an autograph session on Friday from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. at the amphitheater behind the Commonwealth Tower. Immediately following that, Allgaier will join teammate Brad Sweet and fellow Chevy driver Danica Patrick at the Chevy display for a Q&A session.
Making Moves at Short Tracks – In the past 10 races at tracks measuring a mile or less, Allgaier is ranked second among his NNS peers in points scored with 376. The former ARCA champion boasts one win (Bristol, 2010), four top-fives, eight top-10s and 31 laps led, as well as an average start of 12.2 and average finish of 7.4 in those 10 races.
This Week’s Impala – This weekend, Allgaier will drive TMS-320 in the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway. This car was raced at just over a month ago at Iowa Speedway, where Allgaier scored a runner-up finish after leading 101 of 250 laps.
Allgaier on heading back to Richmond:
“Our race at Richmond in the spring was definitely not up to the expectations we have every week and so we are excited to get back there and improve on it. I think we learned a lot from the spring race that we can use this weekend. After these past few weekends, we’ve kind of reassessed things as a team. We are in a position now where we can take a few more chances like Jimmy (Elledge, crew chief) did last weekend at Atlanta. We just want to win more races and get this BRANDT team back in victory lane and I think we have a great shot at that this weekend in Richmond.”
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
Richmond International Raceway
Virginia College Savings 250
September 7, 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
12 0 0 0 1 16.3 20.1
First time at Richmond International Raceway for Sweet… Friday night’s race under the lights at RIR will mark Sweet’s first start at the 0.75-mile oval. Sweet has only competed at three tracks one mile or less this season, with two visits to Iowa Speedway (0.875-miles) in which the Grass Valley, Calif.-native finished 13th and 12th, and one trip to Dover International Speedway (one-mile) where he finished 23rd.
Who’s on the pit box?… Trent Owens, who has led James Buescher and Nelson Piquet Jr. to NNS victories this season, has recently taken over as crew chief for the No. 38 Great Clips team with drivers Kahne and Brad Sweet. A former driver himself, Owens is a long-time fixture in the NASCAR garage. Over the years, the Darlington, S.C., native has been successful working with a variety of drivers with different levels of experience and has visited victory lane with both rookies and veterans alike including Buescher, Piquet. Jr., Mark Martin, Dave Blaney and Reed Sorenson.
This Week’s Impala… The No. 38 team will unload chassis TMS-323 this weekend at RIR. This is the same chassis Jamie McMurray piloted earlier this season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, bringing home a ninth-place finish.
Come and see me! Sweet will participate in the NNS driver autograph session on Friday afternoon from 2-3pm at the amphitheater behind the Commonwealth Tower. Following the autograph session, he will join Turner Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier and fellow competitor Danica Patrick at the Chevy display for a Q & A with fans.
Gear up for the Kasey Kahne Foundation Five Kahne 5K presented by Great Clips!! Join Kahne on Sunday, October 14, 2012 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame to run or walk the streets of gorgeous downtown Charlotte on a crisp fall day! What a better way to end the Fall Charlotte race weekend than with some exercise and stay afterwards for the Five Kahne post-race festival. It’s a day of fun for the whole family! For more information visit www.kaseykahnefoundation.org
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 will serve as sponsor for KKR driver Joey Saldana for the 2012 World of Outlaws season. 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 racing at RIR
“I’m looking forward to getting on the track at Richmond. I know it’s a tough track and it’s going to be a challenge, but I think my racing background is going to be an advantage there. It’s a lot of beating and banging and slide jobs and that’s my favorite type of racing. I’m excited to work with Trent Owens (crew chief) for the first time as well. He has had a lot of success working with rookies throughout his career and I feel that is really going to be a big help to me.”
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 ABF Chevrolet
Richmond International Raceway
Virginia College Savings 250
September 7, 2012
No. 30 ABF Chevrolet News and Notes
James Buescher Richmond International Raceway NNS Stats
Starts Poles Wins Top-Fives Top-10’s DNFs Avg. Start Avg. Finish
3 0 0 0 0 0 25.0 15.3
James Buescher Career NNS Stats
Starts Poles Wins Top-Fives Top-10’s DNFs Avg. Start Avg. Finish
50 2 1 3 12 9 18.0 17.5
Virginia is for (Racing) Lovers… The NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) makes its second stop of the season in Richmond, Virginia for the Virginia College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway (RIR). James Buescher will pilot the No. 30 ABF Chevrolet Impala at the 0.75-mile D-shaped oval in Friday night’s race under the lights. Buescher has three previous starts at RIR, including a visit in April of this year. Buescher has an average start of 25.0, an average finish of 15.3, and has scored a best finish of 12th in two events (spring of 2010, spring of 2012).
Welcome Back ABF… Turner Motorsports’ long-time partner ABF returns as primary sponsor of the No. 30 Chevrolet Impala this weekend at RIR. Established in 1923, ABF is best-in-class for safety, security, technology and freight-handling. InformationWeek, CIO, InfoWorld, and B to B magazines have cited ABF’s strategic use of information technology as exemplary. ABF is the only six-time winner of the American Trucking Associations President’s Trophy for Safety, the only five-time winner of the Excellence in Security Award, and the only four-time winner of the Excellence in Claims/Loss Prevention Award. ABF also is the only carrier to earn both the Excellence in Claims/Loss Prevention Award and the Excellence in Security Award in the same year, which ABF accomplished twice.
Who’s Atop the Pit Box? Mike Hillman Jr. recently took over as crew chief for the No. 30 Turner Motorsports team which this year has featured a myriad of drivers. Hillman Jr. has been an accomplished crew chief in the NCWTS since 2005, calling the shots in 185 races and earning 19 wins, 81 top-five finishes, 107 top-10 finishes, eight poles and two championships (2006 and 2010, both with Todd Bodine). Hillman Jr. has been atop the box for two NNS races in 2012: Road America with Miguel Paludo and Bristol Motor Speedway with Nelson Piquet Jr.
Previous Race Recap… Buescher and the No. 30 team overcame adversity over and over again throughout 300-mile race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, battling through handling issues and a bad set of tires, only to have their night cut short after a late-race accident. The Turner Motorsports team looked like they would salvage a top-15 finish when another competitor made contact with the Chevy Impala with only seven laps remaining, resulting in a major wreck and a 23rd-place finish in the NRA American Warrior 300.
This Week’s Impala… The No. 30 team will unload chassis TMS-319 this weekend at Richmond International Raceway. Kasey Kahne drove this Chevrolet Impala to a 10th-place finish when the series visited RIR earlier this season.
Buescher on this weekend’s NNS race at Richmond
“Richmond is a great short track and there’s always something exciting about the Friday night races under the lights. There is more than one groove, so you’re able to run side-by-side, but you have to be really careful and precise getting into the corners. There always seems to be a little beating and banging, which is one of the reasons we always have a great crowd there.”
Follow James Buescher on Twitter! Twitter.com/JamesBuescher
Follow James Buescher on Facebook! Facebook.com/JamesBuescherRacing
Follow Turner Motorsports on Twitter! Twitter.com/TurnerMotorspts
Follow Turner Motorsports on Facebook! Facebook.com/TurnerMotorsports
