Michael Annett Watkins Glen News and Notes
Michael Annett Watkins Glen News and Notes
The Headlines:
Road Course Return: Saturday’s Zippo 200 at the Glen marks the Nationwide Series’ second of three road course races in 2011. The No. 62 Pilot Flying J team’s first road course attempt of the season gave them a top-10 finish. Michael Annett’s seventh place effort at Road America is one of five top-10 finishes for the 25-year-old Rusty Wallace Racing driver this year. The Zippo 200 at the Glen will be his third ever start on Watkins Glen’s 11 turn 2.45 mile course.
RWR Crew Gets Turned Around: Annett will be modifying his on-track technique this weekend by not only steering left, but making right hand turns as well. The driver won’t be the only team member altering his routine; the No. 62 Pilot Flying J pit crew will have to make an unfamiliar change on pit road. With cars entering pit road from the left side rather than the normal right side, crew members have used daily pit practices to rehearse pitting on the opposite side. Watkins Glen is one of two races this season where the pit stop is reversed, with the other being Road America.
Hometown Helmet Raffle A Success: Annett and Iowa Team in Training, Team WillyK, completed their third annual helmet raffle during Iowa Speedway race week. A cause that hits close to home for the Des Moines native, Annett’s support of family friend Will Krueger, who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2008, started the annual fundraiser. Tickets for the raffle were sold at Iowa Speedway last week and all proceeds were donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
For more information on Michael Annett, please visit www.michaelannett.com.
From the Cockpit:
Michael Annett on Road Course Racing:
“Our top-10 finish at Road America in June definitely gives me more confidence for this weekend’s Watkins Glen race than I’ve had going into any other road course race I’ve ever competed in. I’m not by any means a road course racer, but I’m going to go into the race with the same mentality I had for Road America – be patient, stay on the track, keep all the fenders on the car, and take care of the transmission. We all know what tends to happen at the end of these road course races, and putting yourself at in the right position towards the end is key. Being patient and being where you need to be for a strong finish in the end is very important, and we proved that at Road America and that’s what earned our seventh place finish.”
The Machines:
Team 62 Primary: RWR-055 – Reconfigured as a road course car, RWR’s No. 62 team raced at Phoenix International Raceway, Richmond International Raceway and Iowa Speedway in May with this chassis. The team’s most recently notched a seventh place road course finish with this car at Road America in June.
Team 62 Back-Up: RWR-051 – The No. 62 Pilot Flying J team’s last race competing with this chassis was at Bristol Motor Speedway in March.
Pilot Flying J Locations on your Way:
Pilot Flying J provides six convenient Pilot Travel Center and Flying J locations along the highways of New York. For more information on Pilot Flying J and to map their nearest locations along your route, please visit www.pilotflyingj.com.
Pilot Travel Center
I-86 Exit 37
7767 State Route 53
Bath, NY 14810
Pilot Travel Center
I-81/90 Exit 25
107 Seventh North Street
Liverpool, NY 13088
Flying J
I-90 Exit 48A
8484 Allegheny Road
Pembroke, NY 14036
Pilot Travel Center
I-84 Exit 6
239 Route 17K
Newburgh, NY 12550
Pilot Travel Center
I-88 Exit 25, I-90 Exit 25A
1128 Duanesburg Rd.
Rotterdam, NY 12306
Pilot Travel Center
I-90 Exit 12
995 US Route 9
Schodack Landing, NY 12033
About Pilot Flying J:
Pilot Flying J is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, and has more than 550 locations in North America. The company employs more than 20,000 people and is the largest retail operator of travel centers in North America. Follow Pilot Flying J on Twitter at @pilottravel.
Broadcast Info:
Final Practice
Friday, August 12, 2 p.m. ET
SPEED
Qualifying
Saturday, August 13, 9:30 a.m. ET
SPEED
Zippo 200 at the Glen
Saturday, August 13, 2 p.m. ET
ESPN
Tomas Scheckter To Fill In For Justin Wilson at New Hampshire
Dreyer and Reinbold Racing General Manager Larry Curry announced that Tomas Scheckter will be filling in for Justin Wilson, behind the No. 22, in the MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225 this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Scheckter has 116 IndyCar Series starts, including two victories and 44 top 10 finishes, most recently the Indianapolis 500 this year. He has made 14 starts in the past with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing.
“Even though we get that extra run time there Thursday (practice day), we have to cut to the chase fast,” Curry said. “We know him and he knows us, and it will take him only two or three laps to know what he needs out of the car and how we can adjust it.
“It was more of a choice based on who was available and who we had a relationship with. That was pretty simple actually.”
Wilson will miss New Hampshire after suffering a stable burst fracture of the fifth thoracic vertebra during practice at Mid-Ohio on August 6th. Wilson was release from an Indianapolis hospital on August 9th.
“Obviously, I have a little bit of a backache, but I’m just frustrated to not be at the racetrack,” Wilson said. “I think that we just started to get our season turned around and the car was really good at Mid-Ohio and I’m disappointed about that. I know that I’m going to miss the ovals and I think we’ve found some good stuff that was going to help our oval performance.
“So I’m just disappointed to not be the car, but my back is the most important thing. I’m going to try and get that to heal and get back to 100 percent as soon as possible and get back in the car. Also, the response has been incredible and it’s really nice to see that rather it’s on Twitter from the fans, or drivers and ex-drivers. Everyone has been really supportive, so thank you to all of them.”
IndyCar medical director Dr. Michael Oliger says Wilson will be treated with a back brace and be out for at least three months. Curry said that team co-owners Dennis Reinbold and Robbie Buhl haven’t selected a driver for the races past New Hampshire. The schedule includes three road/street courses and two ovals after New Hampshire.
“We are talking about a lot of things on how we want to approach the rest of the year with the three road courses,” Curry said. “The next time we see our trucks in Indy will be after Labor Day, and then we only have four days to have the stuff ready for Japan. So we have to make some decisions quickly for the Infineon test.”
