NASCAR (BCS) - GANASSI/SABATES TEXAS PREVIEW

Reed Sorenson and the No. 41 Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit Dodge Team Facts:

· He’s on Target at Texas: After taking last weekend off, Reed Sorenson will rejoin his No. 41 Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit team to go racing in Texas Saturday. Sorenson has had much success in Busch Series competition in the Lone Star State. Two out of four Busch starts have resulted in top-five finishes, both of which came during his rookie season in 2005. He has only finished outside the top 15 once in all four starts. On his way to scoring the two top-five finishes at the 1.5-mile speedway (started 15th and finished third in April, started ninth and finished fourth in November), he also led a total of 31 laps in both events.

· Lucky Number 13?: Last year at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS), Sorenson was just getting his rookie season started in NEXTEL Cup while also working on a sophomore run in Busch Series competition. During last April’s weekend of racing at Texas, Sorenson was all about the number “13.” First, on Friday, he qualified to start 13th in Sunday’s NEXTEL Cup competition and then finished 13th in the Busch race on Saturday. The following day, on Sunday, the then-rookie drove to yet another 13th-place finish in the NEXTEL Cup competition. This weekend, Sorenson will be qualifying for Sunday’s NEXTEL Cup race on Friday the 13th [insert eerie music].

· Wrigley’s Crewman to get Taste of Texas: TUMS, the primary sponsor on Sorenson’s No. 41 Cup entry this weekend at TMS, will be hosting a campground cook-off for fans to demonstrate their culinary expertise. The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, April 14, at the TUMS “Dinermobile”, located in the Fan Concourse area at the track. All fans are encouraged to enter the event, which will be judged by an all-star panel including Doug Riepe, rear-tire carrier on the No. 41 Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit Dodge and No. 40 Coors Light Dodge, and Reed Sorenson’s mother Becky. Categories include: Dishes Most Likely to Inspire Indigestion, the Hottest Heartburn and the Most TUMS-worthy. Top prizes include a pit tour for two on Sunday morning and a meet and greet with Sorenson. For more information or to register online visit TUMS

· No. 41 Team, Please Step Up: This past weekend at Nashville Superspeedway, the No. 41 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix (CGRFS) team and David Stremme put forth an all-around great effort, practicing inside the top five all day Friday, grabbing the pole early Saturday and then racing to an 11th-place finish. The impressive performance boosted the CGRFS Busch team up six spots in the NASCAR Busch Series owner standings—into 25th place. The Wrigley’s crew is now only 126 points outside the top 10 going into this weekend’s O’Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.

· Chassis: Brian Pattie and his Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit crew are pulling out a new chassis—#753—to race this Saturday at TMS.

· When to Watch: The O’Reilly 300 is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET Saturday, April 14, and will broadcast live on ESPN2 (TV), PRN (Radio) and Sirius Satellite Radio channel 128. Qualifying for the 300-mile race will take place Thursday, April 12, starting at 7:05 p.m. ET. The NBS Texas qualifying session is not scheduled to be televised at this time.

· CGRFS Development Driver Updates: Scott Lagasse Jr. had an impressive showing in the ARCA 150 at Nashville Superspeedway this past weekend as he qualified to start the Saturday race 10th and then drove the No. 13 Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit Dodge to a fourth-place finish. While Lagasse Jr. was racing in Tennessee, Bryan Clauson and Brady Bacon went USAC midget racing in Kyle, Texas, where rain eventually caused the Thunder Hill Raceway competition to be cancelled. The two teenage development drivers did get in some practice runs earlier in the weekend that concluded with Bacon at the top of the speed chart and Clauson just behind him with the third-fastest lap. Clauson’s next stop is Anderson (Ind.) Speedway, where he will be racing in a National USAC Sprint car for Keith Kunz.

Juan Pablo Montoya and the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Team Facts:

· First Return for Juan: For the first time in his stock car racing career, Juan Pablo Montoya will not be making a track debut in NASCAR competition at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) this weekend. The Colombia native made his debut at the Ft. Worth area speedway last November, which marked his second official start in NASCAR competition. Montoya and Crew Chief Brad Parrot raced to a 28th-place finish, after scoring a second-consecutive top-10 start in his young NASCAR career. The week before that, Montoya had just made his NASCAR debut at the Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park in which he started ninth and finished 11th.

· Montoya Learning to Like the Quads: The last time Montoya competed on a 1.5-mile quad-oval track in NASCAR competition—at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March—he came away with an eight-place finish in Busch Series competition and a fifth-place in NEXTEL Cup. The 31-year-old racer also lined up inside the top 10 to start the Busch Series Atlanta race and 16th to begin his NEXTEL Cup run.

· Still Top-10 Team: Kevin Hamlin, Montoya’s driving partner of the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Busch Dodge, raced to an 18th-place finish at Nashville last Saturday and helped the No. 42 team maintain top-10 status in the NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) owner championship standings. The team is just 110 points outside the top five.

· Where’s Juan?: Montoya took this past weekend off, but will return behind the wheel of the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge for this Saturday’s O’Reilly 300. Montoya was sixth in the NBS driver standings going into last weekend’s race at Nashville. He didn’t compete in the Pepsi 300, and thus now stands 14th. He is only 41 points away from the 10th spot.

· Rookie Round-Up: Montoya is holding his own in both the NASCAR Busch Series and NEXTEL Cup Raybestos Rookie of the Year races. In Busch, he is in second place, just four points behind rookie class leader Marcos Ambrose. Montoya has grabbed rookie of the race honors two times this year in Busch Series competition—in Mexico City and then at Atlanta Motor Speedway. On the Cup side, he is 16th in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, which makes him the highest ranked rookie at this time. He stands second in the rookie class right now, just one point behind leader David Ragan. Montoya has claimed rookie of the race honors two times so far this 2007 NEXTEL Cup season—at Las Vegas and Atlanta.

· Chassis: Brad Parrot and the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline team are bringing new chassis—#557—to race at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend.