KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY RACE PREVIEW
Michael Annett• No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang
Annett has four career starts in the Nationwide Series at Kentucky Speedway
Annett enters this weekend’s event in sixth-place in the Nationwide point standings
Annett’s first career top-five finish (fourth) came earlier this season at Kentucky
Michael Annett on Going to Kentucky: “I’m excited to be going back to Kentucky Speedway for the second time this year. I got my first career top-five finish at Kentucky back in June, so it’s a special place for me. It’s a fast 1.5-mile track and I typically run well there. We’ve been on a pretty good roll here lately with four-consecutive top-10 finishes, and it’s time we step it up a notch and bring home a win. We’ve got a few races left to try and gain some points, and we are really trying to snag that fifth spot. A victory this weekend in our Pilot flying J Ford would go a long way in helping us to achieve that goal.”
Crew Chief Philippe Lopez’s Thoughts on Kentucky: “Michael ran well at Kentucky earlier this season finishing fourth, and we are looking to improve on that this weekend. We aren’t expecting any major changes from the race in June. We know the track is still going to be bumpy just like earlier in the year. It’s just one of those tracks that has some character to it, which can often times make for some interesting racing. The only change we are expecting this weekend is to improve our finishing position from June and try to bring home a win.
“Track position is going to be key and we are going to have to have clean air for our Pilot flying J Ford to be fast this weekend. Clean air is very important on high-speed-intermediate race tracks like Kentucky, so it will be crucial for us to go out and make a good qualifying run. We had our best qualifying effort of the season (eighth) last weekend in Chicago and we are looking for another good run this weekend at Kentucky.”
Chassis History: The No. 43 RPM NASCAR Nationwide Series team has prepared chassis No. 613 for the 200-lap race in Sparta, Ky. This Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang has been run previously this season at Las Vegas, Darlington and most recently at Kentucky earlier in the summer.
Notes: Annett has three top-10 finishes in just four career NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at Kentucky Speedway. His best finish (fourth) came earlier this season. His best starting position (fourth) at the 1.5-mile track came in 2009. Annett heads to Sparta, Ky., in the sixth position in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver point standings. The Iowa native has completed 756 of 800 laps attempted at the track, leading three of them. His average start is 15.0 and his average finish is 13.0.
Don’t miss out on your chance to meet Michael. The driver of the No. 43 Ford will participate in the NASCAR Nationwide Series autograph session on Saturday from 11-11:45 p.m. ET. The session is located in the Infield Fan Zone.
Looking for a Pilot or Flying J store near Kentucky? There are 28 Pilot or Flying J stores within 100 miles of Kentucky Speedway. The nearest store is 23 miles away from the race track. (Flying J (I-75 Exit 171) 13019 Walton Verona Rd., Walton, KY 41094.) There are 114 stores within 250 miles of the track. Go to http://www.pilotflyingj.com/locations to find the nearest locations.
Race Information
Track: Kentucky Speedway
Laps: 200 Laps/300 Miles
Track Size: 1.5-Miles
TV Information: 4 p.m. ET on ESPN
Radio Information: 4 p.m. ET on PRN
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