NASCAR O'Reilly Series

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the No. 6 Cargill Beef Ford Mustang , comes into this weekend nine points behind Elliott Sadler for first-place in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Stenhouse participated in a press conference at Charlotte Motor Speedway to talk about the championship race and his hopes for making it two straight.

Ryan Blaney will return to Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS). He will be making his NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) CMS debut in the No. 36 SealWrap Chevrolet. This weekend’s start will mark the rookie’s 10th start in the series.

Today, Turner Motorsports' marketing partner and sponsor of the No. 31 Chevrolet driven by Justin Allgaier, BRANDT, announced the formation of The BRANDT Foundation to organize the company's charitable giving. The launch of the Foundation will be celebrated this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway with Allgaier driving a pink No. 31 Chevy in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Friday night.

For many race car drivers, being patient goes against every fiber of their being. Who can blame them as they live in a world where thousandths of a second can make or break their day. For Nur Ali, being patient has finally paid off. After years of trying, the 37-year-old Fort Worth, Texas resident will make his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut on October 20 in the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. He will also compete in the series at Texas Motor Speedway on November 3 and Phoenix International Raceway on November 10.

Michael Annett on Having a New Branding Partner in Charlotte: “We’re excited to have Cheez-It on the Pilot Flying J Ford this weekend for the Charlotte night race. We’ve had some really cool branding partners on the car this season and I‘m honored to add Cheez-It to the list. I enjoy eating Cheez-It snacks and I know we’ll have plenty on the hauler this weekend for me and the crew. It’s going to be a special weekend, with a special paint scheme, and I’d like nothing more than to showcase our new branding partner in Victory Lane.”

DODGE DRIVER QUOTE: “You just continue to pick up so much speed at Charlotte that you have to stay ahead of the track as far as having enough travel on the front of the car to not be on the splitter by the end of the race. As the outside temperature cools down, you get a little bit more downforce and you get a little bit more horsepower with the engine. I want to do well at Charlotte because I like that track and it’s one of my favorite places. The fact that I get to sleep in my own bed is nice on top of all that other stuff. Charlotte, Indianapolis and Daytona are the races that a lot of people really want to run well at.” --Sam Hornish Jr.

DG GOES PINK IN SUPPORT OF BREAST CANCER AWARENESS: For the second year in a row, Dollar General and Charlotte Motor Speedway are going pink for the Dollar General 300. For Friday’s 300 mile race, the discount retailer is changing the colors of the annual race to pink in support of breast cancer awareness month. Their efforts include a pink Dollar General 300 pace car, pink grandstand tickets and a pink start/finish line.

This weekend, the No. 31 Chevy will feature a bright pink paint scheme, temporarily replacing the famous BRANDT red seen on a weekly basis. Not only is the team supporting a sport-wide effort to bring attention to Breast Cancer Awareness month, but the scheme also marks the creation of The BRANDT Foundation, which launches on Friday.

Thrush & Son Complete Home Improvement and HI-Technologies return to the No. 81 of Jason Bowles for the second time this season Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Once again marketing their C.H.I.P. (Complete Home Improvement Program) web-based software, the car will look just as it did a few weeks back in Kentucky, but with Pink numbers to show support of women suffering from breast cancer.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) will make its second of two trips to NASCAR's backyard track of Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS). After a couple weeks off from the NNS, James Buescher will return behind the wheel of a pink No. 30 Great Clips / AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet Impala for Friday evening's race under the lights. Buescher has two previous starts at the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway, where this past May, Buescher posted a solid seventh-place finish. Buescher's career average starting position is 18.0 with his average finish bettering that at 17.3.