Carl Edwards – NSCS MARTINSVILLE ADVANCE

Team: No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion

Crew Chief: Bob Osborne

Chassis: RK-647 This car last raced at Loudon in Sept. ’10,

Finished 11th

Edwards, NSCS at Martinsville Speedway:

Date Event S F Laps Led Status Money

3-29-10 Goody’s Pain Relief 500 13 8 508/508 0 Running $118,723

10-25-09 Tums Fast Relief 500 29 20 501/501 0 Running $122,256

3-29-09 Goody’s Pain Relief 500 5 26 498/500 0 Running $120,856

10-19-08 Tums Quickpak 500 4 3 504/504 0 Running $145,850

3-30-08 Goody’s 500 27 9 500/500 0 Running $123,775

10-21-07 Subway 500 20 11 506/506 0 Running $82,275

4-1-07 Goody’s 500 9 17 500/500 0 Running $82,050

10-22-06 Subway 500 27 12 500/500 0 Running $90,250

4-2-06 Direct TV 500 15 16 500/500 0 Running $89,100

10-23-05 Subway 500 18 26 499/500 0 Running $82,650

4-10-05 Advance Auto Parts 500 36 38 321/500 0 Running $81,875

10-24-04 Subway 500 22 24 500/500 0 Running $92,042

Races Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Led Money

Cumulative 12 0 1 3 0 0 $1,231,702

QUOTES

Carl Edwards on racing at Martinsville Speedway:

“Martinsville is so tough, especially with the double-file restarts. It’s kind of a chaotic moment when you go down into turn one and it really depends who is over-aggressive, who bumps who, how things shake out. If everybody runs like they should, it’s really hard to pass people two-wide at Martinsville already. It’s when people are over-aggressive that you can take advantage. Hopefully, we can do that. Matt (Kenseth) almost won the thing the last time we were there, so I feel like we can run well enough, we just have to make the right calls.”

Crew chief Bob Osborne on racing at Martinsville Speedway:

“Martinsville is a demanding track, both physically and mentally. It’s a difficult place to get the car handling just right and the driver has to be patient in traffic to save the brakes. It’s a very long race so you can’t wear out your brakes in the first half of the race. Martinsville is a good track for Denny (Hamlin) and Jimmie (Johnson) so we will need to be on top of our game there, on the track and in the pits, if we hope to gain any ground on them in the points.”

FAST FACTS

Carl Edwards enters Martinsville seventh in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase point standings, 200 markers behind point leader Jimmie Johnson. He has earned seven top-five, 16 top-10 finishes and two poles this season.

FOR THE RECORD… In 12 starts at the 0.526-mile track, Edwards has one top-five and three top-10 finishes. His average start is 18.8, and his average finish is 17.5. Edwards has completed 97 percent (5837 of 6019) of laps in Cup competition attempted at Martinsville Speedway.

Edwards’ best career finish at Martinsville came back in 2003, when he finished second in the Camping World Truck Series race. He started that race from the pole.

IN THE LOOP… According to NASCAR’s Loop Statistics compiled over the last 12 races at Martinsville, Edwards has turned 99 of the track’s fastest laps (11thmost), spent 3,026 laps in the top 15, but has not led a lap there. Martinsville and Watkins Glen are the only two tracks on the NSCS circuit that he has failed to lead a lap.

ON THE TRACK… The No. 99 crew will unload RK-647 for the weekend. Edwards raced this car at Loudon last month where he finished 11th.

REWIND, MARTINSVILLE, OCTOBER 2009… Edwards put together a solid run at Martinsville, but bad luck on the final lap left him in 20th place. He was in 12th place for a green-white-checker finish but his driveshaft gave up on the final lap which caused him to brush the wall in the last turn to finish 20th.

Matt Kenseth – NSCS ADVANCE

Team: No. 17 Crown Royal Black Ford Fusion

Crew Chief: Jimmy Fennig

Chassis: Primary: RK-704 (last run at New Hampshire)

Kenseth NSCS record at Martinsville Speedway:

Date Event S F Laps Status Earnings

04/09/00 Goody’s 500 31 21 498/500 Running $38,625

10/01/00 NAPA Autocare 500 37 34 447/500 Running $32,700

04/08/01 Virginia 500 25 6 500/500 Running $57,750

10/15/01 Old Dominion 500 22 36 459/500 Rear End $37,725

04/14/02 Virginia 500 26 2 500/500 Running $97,165

10/20/02 Old Dominion 500 17 19 499/500 Running $55,875

04/13/03 Virginia 500 34 22 499/500 Running $66,725

10/19/03 Subway 500 14 13 500/500 Running $68,400

04/18/04 Advance Auto Parts 500 29 8 500/500 Running $113,728

10/24/04 Subway 500 25 16 500/500 Running $108,203

04/10/05 Advance Auto Parts 500 18 11 500/500 Running $118,186

10/23/05 Subway 500 25 12 500/500 Running $116,461

04/02/06 DirecTV 500 16 24 493/500 Accident $113,491

10/22/06 Subway 500 20 11 500/500 Running $118,716

04/01/07 Goody’s 500 33 10 500/500 Running $130,266

10/21/07 Subway 500 24 5 506/506 Running $147,916

03/30/08 Goody’s 500 28 30 496/500 Running $117,066

10/19/08 Tums 500 11 8 504/504 Running $123,416

03/29/09 Goody’s 500 10 23 499/500 Running $119,715

10/25/09 Tums 500 32 14 501/501 Running $120,290

03/29/10 Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 2 18 508/508 Running $118,951

Races Wins Top 5s Top 10s Poles Earnings

Cumulative 21 0 2 6 0 $2,021,370

Kenseth on racing at Martinsville Speedway:

“It’s really hard to be patient at Martinsville because it always seems like you’re getting run into or you’re running into somebody. We’re always racing for the little bit of room we have on the track, so it can easily become a frustrating place. It’s not a tricky racetrack to get around, but a lot of times, it gets tough to be able to tell my crew what we need to change on the car in order to have it handle exactly how I need it to. It’s a place where you race hard all day long in order to get good track position, but you have to be patient as well in order to get a solid finish.”

Crew chief Jimmy Fennig on racing at Martinsville Speedway:

“Martinsville Speedway is your typical short track racing because it’s always a place where there’s a lot of rubbing and racing for position during the race. Qualifying is really important at short tracks, as well as having a car that drives well in the turns. We’ll make sure that our No. 17 Ford turns well in the center of the turns for Matt, but it also needs to have good speed and grip off the turns in order to race down the short straightaways.”

FAST FACTS:

• Kenseth has an average starting position of 22.8 and an average finishing position of 16.3 at Martinsville

• In 21 starts, Kenseth has achieved two top-five’s, and six top-10’s at Martinsville in the Cup series

• Kenseth has completed 10,409 of 10,519 (99.0 percent) laps at Martinsville and led for a total of 68 laps

• This weekend at Martinsville, Kenseth will pilot the No. 17 Crown Royal Black Ford Fusion

• Entering this weekend, Kenseth is currently eleventh in the NSCS driver point standings

Mobil 1 Team News and Notes

Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the Penske Racing No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger, has a total of five Cup Series career starts at Martinsville Speedway with one top-15 result. Hornish has an average finish of 29th at the paperclip-shaped half-mile oval with a best effort of 13th (March, 2010). In addition, Hornish has one Camping World Truck Series start at the Virginia short track, where he finished ninth overall (October, 2008).

Hornish has 17 starts at NASCAR short-track venues, with a total of two top-10 and three top-15 finishes in Cup Series competition. He has an average start of 29.5 at venues less than one mile in length, and an average finish of 27.8 with a top result of sixth, which came at Richmond International Raceway (September, 2009).

Mobil 1 crew chief Travis Geisler offers fans a glimpse into car setup for each racetrack on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit at washingtonpost.com. Geisler reports that at Martinsville, turns are tight and cornering is difficult. There will be a lot of bumping and banging in the race and drivers ideally pit for fuel only, because it’s very tough to pass.

Hornish will appear at the Speed Channel stage for MRN’s “At Full Speed” program on Sunday, October 24 from 9:20 – 9:30 a.m. EDT.

Sam Hornish Jr. Quote

Martinsville Speedway is one of the toughest tracks on the NASCAR circuit. What have you learned about racing there?

“At Martinsville, you just have to stay out of trouble, try to keep your nose clean and keep the brakes on the car as much as you can. It’s definitely a tough track, but I feel like I am learning more and more of what I need to do each time we go there.

“I’ve been to all the tracks enough now that there have been good points that we’ve had during a race. I try to tell myself that if I run well like I have before, and don’t do some of the things that didn’t work out, we’re going to run inside the top 10, if not better.”

What do you feel is a key factor to success at Martinsville Speedway?

“It’s really about not overdriving at Martinsville. Especially during qualifying, the track seems to bait you to drive in that extra 10 feet. When you do that, it may not feel bad, but it shows up on the stopwatch. That 10 feet can be the difference between starting 10th and starting 20th so you have to be aware of what you’re doing at all times.”

Crew Chief Travis Geisler Quote

What are your thoughts on this weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway?

“Martinsville is one of the most demanding races on the schedule from all aspects. The car is asked to do a lot of things in a short amount of time on the flat half-mile track. That puts a lot of stress on the brakes, the drivetrain and the driver. We had a top-15 finish at Martinsville in the spring and we look forward to another strong result there this weekend with the Mobil 1 Dodge.”

4th Tissot win of season ties Gordon’s No. 24 crew

It was another double win for the No. 1 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team with driver Jamie McMurray taking the race victory and his crew winning the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award in Saturday night’s Sprint Cup event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

It was the fourth pit road victory of the season for the No. 1 crew, which moved into a tie for first place in the Tissot season standings with Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 crew. Three crews – Matt Kenseth’s, Kyle Busch’s and Clint Bowyer’s — are one win behind with three victories each. There are five Cup races remaining in the 2010 season.

Along with $5,000 going to the weekly winning pit crew, the team with the most Tissot Pit Road Precision Award wins at the completion of the 36-race schedule will receive a $105,000 bonus plus Tissot watches for the over-the-wall crew members and driver.

In the event there is a tie at the end of the season for the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award championship, the tiebreaker goes to the team whose driver finishes the highest in the Sprint Cup point standings.

McMurray’s No. 1 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet spent the least amount of time on Charlotte’s pit road during the Bank of America 500 — 284.026 seconds.

McMurray’s over-the-wall crew consists of: Cory DeMarco (front-tire changer), Doug Riepe (front-tire carrier), Chris Taylor (rear-tire changer), Adam Mosher (rear-tire carrier), Tracy Duncan (jackman), Benjy Grubbs (gasman) and Eric Hoyle (catch can). The team’s crew chief is Kevin “Bono” Manion.

“I can’t say enough about these guys this year,” said Mosher, No. 1 pit crew coach and rear-tire changer. “It has not only been a great year for the No.1 team as a pit crew, but just a great year for our entire team and organization. Most importantly we are really having fun at the race track and that is what it is all about. We work hard each week to build on the things that we see at the race track this weekend, and hopefully we come to the race track better for it each weekend. This has just been an awesome year, and we certainly hope to have many more weekends like the one at Charlotte.”

Crew chief Manion added, “The guys were great this past weekend at Charlotte! We didn’t have a whole lot of big changes to make to the car during our stops, but their speed and precision was still unbelievable. It was just a good, consistent night for those guys and I’m very proud of them for winning yet another Tissot award.”

2010 Tissot Pit Road Precision Award Standings

Pos Team No. Pit Crew For Wins Prize Money

T1 24 Jeff Gordon 4 $20,000

T1 1 Jamie McMurray 4 20,000

T3 18 Kyle Busch 3 15,000

T3 17 Matt Kenseth 3 15,000

T3 33 Clint Bowyer 3 15,000

T6 56 Martin Truex Jr. 2 10,000

T6 00 David Reutimann 2 10,000

T6 14 Tony Stewart 2 10,000

T9 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 1 5,000

T9 12 Brad Keselowski 1 5,000

T9 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1 5,000

T9 39 Ryan Newman 1 5,000

T9 2 Kurt Busch 1 5,000

T9 26 Boris Said 1 5,000

T9 16 Greg Biffle 1 5,000

T9 29 Kevin Harvick 1 5,000

2010 Tissot Pit Road Precision Award Winners

Daytona, 2/14 Juan Pablo Montoya Team

Fontana, 2/21 Jeff Gordon Team

Las Vegas, 2/28 Martin Truex Jr. Team

Atlanta, 3/7 Martin Truex Jr. Team

Bristol, 3/21 Brad Keselowski Team

Martinsville, 3/29 Clint Bowyer Team

Phoenix, 4/10 Matt Kenseth Team

Texas, 4/19 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team

Talladega 4/25 David Reutimann Team

Richmond, 5/1 Ryan Newman Team

Darlington, 5/8 Jamie McMurray Team

Dover, 5/16 Matt Kenseth Team

Charlotte, 5/30 Jeff Gordon Team

Pocono, 6/6 Kyle Busch Team

Michigan, 6/13 Kurt Busch Team

Sonoma, 6/20 Boris Said Team

Loudon, 6/27 Jeff Gordon Team

Daytona, 7/3 Jeff Gordon Team

Chicago, 7/10 Jamie McMurray Team

Indianapolis, 7/25 Jamie McMurray Team

Pocono, 8/1 Greg Biffle Team

Watkins Glen, 8/8 Kyle Busch Team

Michigan, 8/15 Tony Stewart Team

Bristol, 8/21 David Reutimann Team

Atlanta, 9/5 Tony Stewart Team

Richmond, 9/11 Matt Kenseth Team

Loudon, 9/19 Clint Bowyer Team

Dover, 9/26 Kyle Busch Team

Kansas, 10/3 Kevin Harvick Team

Fontana, 10/10 Clint Bowyer Team

Charlotte, 10/16 Jamie McMurray Team

About Tissot

For Tissot, “In touch with your time” is far more than an advertising claim. This phrase expresses the brand’s DNA; its proven dedication to being perfectly in tune with the technology and tastes of each era. Tissot has been growing and developing its tradition of innovation since 1853. From the early days to the present, in its home in Le Locle in the Swiss Jura mountains, Tissot has translated craftsmanship and precision into stylish timepieces now sold in over 150 countries around the world. Special materials, advanced functionality and meticulous design detail join forces to create the luxury of accessibility. Today Tissot is a member of the Swatch Group, the world’s largest watch producer and distributor of Swiss watches, as well as official timekeeper and partner of NASCAR®, International Basketball Federation (FIBA), Australian Football League (AFL), Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), MotoGP and the World Championships of Cycling, Fencing and Ice hockey. The tradition of innovation lives on, keeping closely in touch with the times.

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (October 19, 2010) – In this Sunday’s TUMS Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway, can Jeff Gordon continue a streak of top-five finishes at the 0.526-mile track that began with one of his most memorable “drives” in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car?

AN EVEN DOZEN FOR GORDON AT MARTINSVILLE? Gordon, who will drive a specially-painted No. 24 DuPont/National Guard Chevrolet Impala this weekend, has posted 11 consecutive top-five finishes at the Virginia track. To put that in perspective, Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson was a no-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion when the streak began, and ESPN analysts Dale Jarrett and Rusty Wallace did not call the action that day – they were part of it. It all began with a win – a hard-earned win – in April of 2005.

Gordon, who started 16th that day, reported a vibration in the car less than 50 laps into the 500-lap race. The 82-time winner lost three laps to the leaders while repairs were made to damaged right-front wheel studs. While NASCAR’s “free pass” rule allows the first car scored one lap down back onto the lead lap if a caution waves, Gordon benefited from that rule only once. On two occasions, he “unlapped” himself by passing the leader of the race. Just past halfway, Gordon was back on the lead lap.

On lap 464, he maneuvered into the lead and paced the field the remaining distance.

“That was one of my more memorable drives in NASCAR,” said Gordon. “To be down that many laps, and then race our way back onto the lead lap and back into the lead is something I’ll never forget.

“And the ‘free pass’ may have been the hardest thing to earn. The leader kept lapping cars, so they kept telling me someone new that I had to go pass to stay in position to earn it.”

In 35 starts at the short track, Gordon has seven wins, seven poles, 23 top-fives and 29 top-10’s. In fact, he has finished outside the top-12 only three times – in the spring of 1994 and both events in 2002.

“I always love going to Martinsville – the track seems like a natural fit for my driving style,” said Gordon, who is fourth in the point standings and 156 behind leader Johnson.

“I just love the challenges of this race track and what it presents to a driver— how hard to drive into the corner without over driving the corner, what you have to tell the team to get the car to work through the corner and off the corner to try to go out there and win the race. It’s a fun track to tune the car on.

“Our race cars always seem to be fast here, so this is a track we carry a lot of confidence into.”

And confidence could help Gordon secure a dozen consecutive top-fives at Martinsville – and his 12th of the 2010 campaign.