TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
AAA TEXAS 500
NOVEMBER 2, 2014
TEXAS TWO-STEP AHEAD FOR THREE REMAINING CHEVY CHASE DRIVERS
Chevrolet Drivers Look to Shine Bright in the Lone Star State
DETROIT – (October 28, 2014) – The quest for the NASCAR Sprint Cup title continues at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. The fast 1.5-mile track offers high speeds, high banks and 500 miles of non-stop action. After last weekend’s race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Chevrolet Chase drivers Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman sit 1-2 atop the point standings.
Both Gordon and Newman have visited Victory Lane in the Lone Star state, with one win each to their credit. Fellow Team Chevy Chase driver Kevin Harvick has yet to earn a win at Texas Motor Speedway and is looking for a strong run following his 33rd-place finish at Martinsville.
Harvick and the No. 4 Chevrolet SS team were fast at the 1.5-mile Ft. Worth, Texas track in the spring race; but an early engine issue ended his day and any hope of making his first trip to Winner’s Circle. This is an important weekend for Harvick as far as the Chase is concerned and a big weekend in his career when the 38-year-old driver will make his 500th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start.
There is a saying ‘everything is bigger in Texas’ – that certainly reins true at the track. Texas is known for some of the biggest and most epic side-by-side battles to the finish. In-race drama and championship deciding wins and losses are typical in the third-to-last race of the season.
Despite being knocked out of the Chase at the end of the ‘Contender’ round, Jimmie Johnson has the potential to repeat what his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. did last weekend and upset the apple cart by becoming the second non-Chase driver to earn a win during the playoffs. Johnson is in prime position to earn his fourth win of the season and fourth at Texas Motor Speedway, which would make him the winningest active Chevrolet driver at the 1.5-mile venue.
While fans await all the on-track action to begin, they can take a trip through the Team Chevy display located in the midway area. Fans can get an up-close look at a wide array of production Chevrolet vehicles and ask questions of product specialist on site. Sonic RS, Cruze Diesel, Malibu LT, Impala LT, Camaro Coupe, Corvette Coupe, Equinox LT, Camaro Z/28, Chevy SS and Silverado Rally are just a few of the many vehicles fans can learn more about while on site. This weekend they will also have the opportunity to test drive select Chevrolet products on a test track behind the Team Chevy display. Those vehicles include: Corvette Stingray, Camaro Convertible, Silverado Crew LD, Silverado HD, Tahoe, Suburban and Impala.
After taking a new Chevrolet for a spin, fans can take advantage of the numerous opportunities to see and ask questions of their favorite Team Chevy drivers. Mason Mingus, Joey Coulter, Max Gresham, Dylan Kwasniewski, Ty Dillon, Chad Boat, Austin Dillon, Justin Allgaier, Kyle Larson, Danica Patrick, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will all make appearances at the Team Chevy stage throughout the race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
The AAA Texas 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway is scheduled to begin Sunday November 2nd at 3:00 p.m. ET. Live coverage will be available on ESPN, PRN, Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90 and NASCAR.com.
TEAM CHEVY IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (NSCS) COMPETITION:
· Chevrolet has won 37 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Manufacturers’ Championships
· Team Chevy drivers have scored 735 wins and 664 poles in NSCS competition
CHEVROLET ON THE TRACK—TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
Chevrolet drivers have won nine (9) of 27 races at Texas Motor Speedway. Victories by current Team Chevy drivers are:
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Red Vest Chevrolet SS, has three (3) victories at Texas Motor Speedway (’07, ’12 & ‘13)
Tony Stewart, No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, has two (2) wins at Texas Motor Speedway (’06 & ’11)
Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS, has made one (1) trip to Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway (’09)
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet SS, has one (1) trophy from Texas Motor Speedway (’00)
Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet SS, has one (1) win at Texas Motor Speedway (’09)
Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet SS, has one (1) victory at Texas Motor Speedway (’06)
Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet SS, has one (1) cowboy hat from Texas Motor Speedway (’03)
A Chevrolet driver has won two (2) of the last four (4) races at Texas Motor Speedway
A Chevrolet driver has sat on the pole at Texas Motor Speedway 13 times
Team Chevy drivers have scored 48 top-five and 115 top-10 finishes at Texas Motor Speedway
A Chevrolet has led 3,450 laps (37.9% of possible 9,095 laps) at Texas Motor Speedway
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TEAM CHEVY FOR THE FANS AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
· Fans can check out great Chevrolet vehicles including: Sonic RS, Cruze Diesel, Malibu LT, Impala LT, Camaro Coupe, Corvette Coupe and Equinox LT
· At the display fans can see a variety of show cars and specialty vehicles including: the Camaro Z/28, Silverado Rally, Chevrolet SS, the No. 14 Chevrolet SS show car and the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro show car
Fans can see a sample of engines, parts and accessories in the Team Chevy Display available for purchase from Chevrolet at their local Chevrolet dealer
· Other activities at the Team Chevy Racing Display include a variety of interactive games for adults and kids
DRIVER FAN Q/A APPEARANCES:
· Friday, Oct. 31st – Mason Mingus will kick things off at the Team Chevy display with an appearance at 10:30 a.m. GMS Racing teammates Joey Coulter and Max Gresham will be on the stage at 1:00 p.m. followed by Dylan Kwasniewski at 1:30 p.m. Ty Dillon will be on stage for a question and answer session at 1:45 p.m. Chad Boat will make an appearance at 2:00 p.m.
· Sunday, Nov. 2nd – Austin Dillon and Justin Allgaier will make an appearance at the Team Chevy stage at 9:45 a.m. followed by Kyle Larson at 10:00 a.m. and Danica Patrick at 10:15 a.m. Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon will stop by the Team Chevy stage at 11:00 a.m. followed by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at 11:35 p.m.
· Hours of operation: Fri. Oct. 31st – 10:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.; Sat. Nov. 1st – 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Sun. Nov. 2nd – 7:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
TEAM CHEVY FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT – CHASE CONTENDERS:
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – POINTS LEADER
“The track has a lot of speed and you can be aggressive. But what I like about the track – and why it seems to be a good one for this Drive to End Hunger team – are the multiple grooves. The tires give up and the track ‘widens’ out, and you can start searching the track for a line that might work better for your car.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET SS – 2ND IN STANDINGS
“There is no defining goal on consistency. Our job is to go out there and do the best job we possibly can based on how we work together as a team. We have to outperform all those guys and, so far, it has provided us with consistency. We have been one of the most consistent teams out there when it comes to the Chase. For the longest time we were a seventh to 11th-place car. Over the second half of the season, we have made improvements that have allowed us to be championship contenders. With that said, we definitely need to win as a team. That’s what we need to do to improve. That’s our goal. We just have to keep our nose to the grind stone and keep digging and digging. We need a win.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – 8TH IN STANDINGS
*Making 500th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Start at Texas
“Well, it ranks pretty high right now, just for the fact that I’ve never been to Victory Lane on the Cup side. I’ve won a ton of races there in the Nationwide and Truck series as a driver and an owner. We had a really, really fast car there in the spring and had a crazy, freak motor problem. Our mile-and-a-half stuff has really been our bread and butter this year, so I’m looking forward to getting back there and trying to get to Victory Lane. That would really be the best spot to end up.”
TEAM CHEVY FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT – NON-CHASE CONTENDERS:
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 CLOROX CHEVROLET SS – 10TH IN STANDINGS
“I’m looking forward to Texas Motor Speedway just more so based on how we have ran at the last couple mile-and-a-half race tracks. Texas has probably become one of the slicker race tracks when it comes to the mile-and-a-half race tracks. It’s a fun place to race the No. 47 Clorox Chevrolet SS. It’s fast in qualifying and when the race gets going the car gets really slick and you use the tires up a lot. I feel like we have a couple of good mile-and-a-half race cars that the guys have worked hard on downforce, etc. Again, I’m really looking forward to this one. I feel like we have got a little momentum going into this race after our top-10 finish at Martinsville Speedway. We have got to keep doing the things we’ve been doing.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 DIET MOUNTAIN DEW CHEVROLET SS – 11TH IN STANDINGS
“We have had a lot of good runs at Texas. The surface is real wide and gives you a lot of options as a driver to find speed. The guys have given me some really fast cars at Texas. One thing or another led to us not winning, but we have had top-three cars there so we are excited about this weekend and hopefully put a good car on the grid for Sunday’s race.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S RED VEST CHEVROLET SS – 12TH IN STANDINGS
“Our goal this season is to get the best possible points finish we can. Martinsville was a tough race for us and we put ourselves in that position. Texas has been a good track to us in the past so we are hoping for a good result.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – 15TH IN STANDINGS
“I’m looking forward to Texas first off because it’s a track I’m very comfortable with. It’s a bread-and-butter type track for me, it fits my driving style. I go to Texas every race looking for a top-10 finish. But now I’m jumping in with Tony Gibson and making the crew change, so we’ll have to be patient with things. We’ll have to look at each of the sessions that we’re out on the racetrack and really move forward as a group with those first few steps being important, and not trying to go for that all-out win on the first weekend out of the box together. I’m looking forward to using what has been a good track for me towards working with a new team.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – 17TH IN STANDINGS
“I’m looking forward to getting back to a track they suits me a little better than some of the places we’ve raced recently. We raced really well at Texas earlier in the season, and I think all the advances we’ve made since then will make our Target Chevy fast there and ensure a strong race. I’m hoping to close out the season on a high, so hopefully that can start this weekend at Texas.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS – 19TH IN STANDINGS
“I’ve been to Texas Motor Speedway a few times, and I really like the track. I can’t wait to get there. Texas Motor Speedway reminds me a little bit of Las Vegas Motor Speedway in how you carry a ton of speed and turns three and four are similar. We had a really good run this week at Martinsville Speedway, so it has our whole team pumped up and ready for Texas.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS – 20TH IN STANDINGS
“I feel like our mile-and-a-half (1.5-mile) program has been really good and we’ve had recent strong runs on that type of track, so heading to Texas this weekend I look for that to continue. Track position is key at Texas. This is a track that we seem to always have long green-flag runs, and passing is pretty tough. The track gives up a lot of grip, which makes it fun when your car is handling good. Our team has been really strong this year, it would be great to close-out the season with a win for all of our partners.”
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 RICHMOND/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS – 21ST IN STANDINGS
“Texas is a cool track. It’s an older surface which makes for great racing. Obviously, we have really fast qualifying times then the pace really slows down during the race. The tires wear out, which makes the car slide around and you’re always looking for grip by moving around and changing your line.”
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW CHEVROLET SS – 24TH IN STANDINGS
“The past two weeks have been really tough on our Furniture Row team. At Talladega and Martinsville we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. We need to get our mojo back for the final three races of the season and Texas couldn’t come at a better time. I’ve had some success at Texas and feel that our No. 78 Chevrolet can run with the leaders. Since Texas is a very fast track you’re going to need plenty of speed there. It’s a busy week for our team –we’ll be at Auto Club Speedway (in Fontana) testing for two days and then head to Texas. We are a committed team and feel that we have made some positive gains recently. It’s all about getting ready for 2015.”
CASEY MEARS, NO. 13 GEICO CHEVROLET SS – 26TH IN STANDINGS
“We had a really strong run going at Martinsville this past weekend before we ran into Keselowski’s stopped car towards the end of the race. The good thing was that our No. 13 GEICO Chevy was strong all day. Bootie [Barker, crew chief] made good calls throughout the race and we were right where we wanted to be as the race was coming down to the end. I am proud of all the guys on this GEICO team, and now we are looking forward to going to Texas this week and continue to finish the season on a strong note.”
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – 28TH IN STANDINGS
(ON NEW CREW CHIEF AT TEXAS) “With NASCAR changing some rules and letting us know at this point what they are going to be for next year, we know that we are not going to get a lot of on-track time before next season. So if the team wants changes made or has ideas, it’s probably in everybody’s best interest to make moves now so that things can start off on the right foot for 2015 instead of starting from scratch and trying to develop an accurate dialogue and relationship on the radio. I know Daniel (Knost). He was my race engineer when I did eight races with (Greg) Zipadelli for Stewart-Haas in 2012. Really nice guy, very smart, and he is definitely a lot like the kind of engineers – and, in fact, in IndyCar it is called an engineer instead of a crew chief – that I was used to dealing with. We have gotten along, anyway, regardless of whether he has been on my car or not. I’m definitely open minded and looking forward to the opportunity to see how it will go with him.”
JUSTIN ALLGAIER, NO. 51 DALLAS CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU CHEVROLET SS – 29TH IN STANDINGS
“I’m ready to get to Texas [Motor Speedway] because we tested there last week. We learned a lot for the race this weekend. It looks like a lot of the variables such as weather should be pretty similar to our testing conditions. We also have a different paint scheme this weekend with Visit Dallas coming on board for the race. They were on the No. 51 for the fall race at Texas last year, and it’s good to have them back. We had a good weekend at Martinsville [Speedway], and I think we will have another one this weekend.”
MICHAEL ANNETT, NO. 7 CYPRUS HQ CHEVROLET SS – 33RD IN STANDINGS
“We’ve had good runs lately at this type of track, which is really encouraging. If we can have a good run while conserving fuel, which was big at Texas in the spring race, we’ll be in decent shape. We have two more intermediates this year, including this one, so I’m hoping we can bring home the results that this TBR team deserves. We’ve improved a lot on them since the start of the season.”
Chevrolet NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturers Championships
Total (1949 – 2013): 37
First title for Chevrolet: 1958
Highest number of consecutive titles: 11 (2003-2013)
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, 2012, 2013
Drivers Championships
Total (1949 – 2013): 29
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, 2013
Event Victories
Record for total race wins in single season: 26 – (in 2007)
2014 STATISTICS:
Wins: 17
Poles: 17
Laps led: 5380
Top-five finishes: 85
Top-10 finishes: 178
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 735 (1949 – to date); (2,421 possible = 30.0%)
Poles Won to Date: 664
Laps Lead to Date: 219,040
Top-Five Finishes to Date: 3,700
Top-10 Finishes to Date: 7,560
Total NASCAR Cup wins by Corporation, 1949 – To-Date
GM: 1,070
Chevrolet: 735
Pontiac: 155
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 732
Ford: 632
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Chrysler: 466
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 190
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 65
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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 4.9 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.
