NASCAR BCS (CHICAGO) - GANASSI RACE PREVIEW

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

· Take Me Out to the Ball Game: After they are done racing at Chicagoland Speedway this weekend, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) drivers Reed Sorenson, David Stremme and Juan Pablo Montoya will head out to Wrigley Field to take in the Chicago Cubs baseball game Monday night. Sorenson, Stremme and Montoya will roll up to the game in the No. 41 Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit® Dodge, the No. 40 Wrigley’s Winterfresh® Dodge and the No. 42 Wrigley’s Big Red® Dodge that they will drive from the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company headquarters on Michigan Avenue. Sorenson is scheduled to throw out the first pitch and then Stremme and Montoya will join him in leading the baseball crowd to the seventh inning stretch song, “Take me out to the ball game.” Game time for the Cubs is 7 p.m. ET Monday, July 16. The game will broadcast live on ESPN.

· Did you know? The song, “Take me out to the ball game”, is the third most-often-played song in the United States, after "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "Happy Birthday to You".

· Sweet Victory: Crew chief Brad Parrott is returning to Chicagoland Speedway this weekend with some pretty good memories from his last Busch run at the 1.5-mile Illinois track. His last effort at the Chicago area speedway, in July 2006, resulted in a victory with Casey Mears. The win marked Mears’ career first NASCAR win and Parrott’s 16th Busch win as a crew chief.

· Happy Birthday, Brad: Brad Parrott will be celebrating his 40th birthday this Friday, July 13. Happy Birthday, Brad!

· Wrigley’s Backyard: This weekend, the No. 41 Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit team will be racing in its sponsor’s backyard. The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company is headquartered in Chicago, Ill. It is the world’s largest manufacturer and marketer of chewing gum. The company was founded in 1891 and has been led by four generations of the Wrigley family, each of which has made their mark on the organization. Today, Wrigley brands are sold in more than 180 countries, with production facilities in 13 countries, offices in nearly three dozen countries and more than 14,000 employees worldwide. Quality, innovation and integrity. That is the Wrigley Way.

· Meet Reed in Joliet: Sorenson will stop by the Jewel grocery store located at 1537 N. Larkin in Joliet, Ill., to meet area race fans and to sign autographs Thursday, July 12, from 5 to 7 p.m. ET. For more information call 815-725-4407.

· CGRFS Extends Fan Apparel Contest Deadline: Earlier this year, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) invited NASCAR fans to turn their ideas into reality with the “Drive For Design Contest,” encouraging motorsports enthusiasts to create their own unique fan gear, from which one talented winner’s creation will be produced in partnership with Motorsports Authentics and sold this fall at the CGRFS Concord, N.C., gift shop. The original entry deadline was June 30, but the team just announced it would accept submissions through the month of July. The items involved in the contest include two fan favorites and essentials—a t-shirt and cap. The goal is for participants to create a CGRFS t-shirt and cap by incorporating one of the team’s drivers and sponsors. Drivers Juan Pablo Montoya, Reed Sorenson and David Stremme will take part in the selection process. In addition to watching their t-shirt and hat designs come to life, the grand prize winner of the contest will also receive a Charlotte race weekend trip for two this upcoming October. To learn more about the contest details and updates, go to www.chipganassiracing.com and click on the “Drive for Design Contest” button.

· Racing Close to Home: Bill Cole, the No. 41 Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit team truck driver, hails from Milan, Ill. He has been working in NASCAR for seven years and just came on board at CGRFS this past December to serve as a Busch Series team truck driver.

· Chassis: The No. 41 Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit team is bringing chassis #652 to Chicago this weekend. The car most recently raced at Bristol Motor Speedway where Brad Parrott and team scored a 14th-place effort in Juan Pablo Montoya’s debut at the notorious short track. Before that, the team also raced the chassis at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March, wheeling their way to a 20th-place finish.

· Standings Update: Sorenson’s seventh-place finish at Daytona this past Saturday marked his second-consecutive top 10 and also gave the No. 41 Wrigley’s team a nice boost up in the NASCAR Busch Series owner standings where the team is now listed 22nd overall with a current tally of 1,865. The team is just two points outside of the top 20 and 168 out of 10th place.

· When to Watch: The USG Durock 300 is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET Saturday, July 14, and will broadcast live on ABC, MRN radio and Sirius Satellite Radio channel 128. Qualifying for the 200-lap competition is scheduled to start at 11:05 a.m. ET Saturday and will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

· Watch Clauson’s ARCA Run on SPEED: CGRFS development driver and future pilot of the No. 41 Busch car Bryan Clauson is preparing to make his third ARCA/REMAX start of the 2007 season this Friday, July 13, at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky. Clauson is scheduled to race the No. 40 Memorex Dodge in this weekend’s WLWT Channel 5-150. His first start came at USA International Speedway in Lakeland, Fla., this past March when he made an impressive debut, scoring a top-five start and finish. Clauson, led by crew chief Steve Boyer, qualified to start the race in third place, and then led a total of 61 laps in the No. 40 Memorex Dodge en route to a second-place finish. He then raced at Iowa Speedway in early June, just one day after his high school graduation. The teenager scored another top-five finish after lining up in 11th-place on the starting grid. This weekend’s 100-lap competition is scheduled to go green at 8 p.m. ET Friday and will broadcast live on SPEED. Clauson visited Kentucky Speedway last month on his 18th birthday (June 15) to hang out with his future teammates. The CGRFS Busch teams were racing at Kentucky for the weekend so Clauson stopped to visit before heading to Indiana to go USAC Sprint car racing. The 18th birth date not only made it legal for the teenager to vote in the United States, but it also made Clauson officially eligible to compete in NASCAR, which he is scheduled to do this upcoming September at Richmond International Raceway. During his visit, he was greeted with a surprise birthday celebration that included a nice group of well wishers and a No. 41 Memorex Dodge cake, of course.

· Congratulations, Clauson!: Clauson is coming off of a USAC National Midget race victory this past Friday, July 6. Clauson scored the win at Toledo (Ohio) Speedway, after leading the entire 30-lap competition. He entered four USAC events total over the weekend. Two races at Toledo Speedway and then two at the Mansfield (Ohio) Motorsports Park, and scored top-five finishes in all four. Congrats, Clauson!