Earnhardt Ganassi Racing/ Texas Motor Speedway Advance Notes
NEWS RELEASE Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates 8500 Westmoreland Drive * Concord, NC 28027 USA Phone (704) 662-9642 www.earnhardtganassi.com <http://www.earnhardtganassi.com> Texas Motor Speedway Advance Notes Race: Samsung Mobile 500 on Sunday, April 18 Track: Texas Motor Speedway (1.5 miles) Location: Fort Worth, Texas Earnhardt Ganassi Media Contacts at Texas Motor Speedway NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Jarrod England No. 1 Bass Pro Shops(r)/Tracker Boats Chevrolet Shayna Keller No. 42 Target Chevrolet NOTES Jamie McMurray and No. 1 Bass Pro Shops(r)/Tracker Boats Team McMurray at Texas: McMurray will be making his 13th start at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) where he has three top-five and six top-10 finishes. McMurray's best start at the track came in November of 2008 when he started fourth. He went on to finish third in that event, his second career best finish after finishing second in the spring of 2005. Last Weekend: McMurray made several comebacks during Saturday night's event at Phoenix International Raceway after he was involved in early-race contact from behind, sending him spinning. The contact forced McMurray down pit road for service. The No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet would drop as far as 40th position by lap 24, but battle back to 12th by lap 256. Late race contact while entering pit road in the 12th position would force McMurray to spend more time on pit road, dropping him to 26th position on exit. McMurray would gain two positions in route to a 24th-place finish. Compete with McMurray: Attention Race Fans- During the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend at TMS the Bass Pro Shops located at 2501 Bass Pro Drive in Grapevine, Texas is hosting a fan event (ages 18 and over only) on Thursday April 15th. Beginning Saturday, April 10 and continuing through 2pm Thursday, April 15, fans (ages 18 and over only) wanting to compete will be able to register at the Bass Pro Shops Grapevine store location. At 2pm Thursday, April 15 registration will be closed and on-line and in-store registered names will be merged. A total of 75 names will be randomly selected from the list. Those wishing to participate need to be present at the store when their name is selected. Contestants will have their choice of the three areas of competition (limit 25 per discipline). Competitions begin at 4pm. Final top scorers in the putting, casting and Air Rifle challenges will compete against McMurray beginning at 6pm. The lucky winners will be treated to a VIP Weekend by Jamie, Bass Pro Shops and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with two (2) full-access credentials apiece. Members of the media are invited to participate in the competition or serve as judges. If interested in participating or judging please contact Katie Mitchell at kamitchell@basspro.com to register. For more details visit www.earnhardtganassi.com. Stop In and Say Hello: Bass Pro Shops has two locations in the Dallas/Fort-Worth Area, Grapevine and Garland. The Grapevine store is located at 2501 Bass Pro Drive in Grapevine (about 30 minutes from Texas Motor Speedway) and can be reached at 972-724-2018. The Garland location is 5001 Bass Pro Drive (about an hour from Texas Motor Speedway) and phone number 469-221-2600. Juan Pablo Montoya and No. 42 Target Team MEDIA ALERT: Juan Pablo Montoya will be available at the No. 42 Target hauler for a Hispanic media Q&A session on Saturday, April 17th at 10:45 a.m. (CST) followed by an open media Q&A session at the hauler at 11:00 a.m. (CST). Texas NSCS History: Montoya will be making his sixth NSCS start at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. Montoya's best start of third came in fall of 2007 and a best finish of seventh was last spring. Last Weekend: Juan Pablo Montoya piloted his No. 42 Target Chevrolet to a fifth-place finish after racing in or near the top-five the entire evening last Saturday night at Phoenix International Raceway. The finish was his second top-five finish of the season and third top-10 of 2010. Award Winning: Both Montoya and crew chief Brian Pattie received post-race awards after the strong performance at Phoenix. Montoya received the "Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race" Award which is provided to the highest- finishing team that carries the Mobil 1 decal. Pattie was the recipient of his second "DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Race" Award this season. This award is given to the crew chief who demonstrates best qualifying and race effort as determined by the average of qualifying result and race finish. Oreo Presence in Texas: This weekend the No. 42 Target Chevrolet will carry the Oreo brand on its quarter panels. Oreo is manufactured by the Nabisco Division of Kraft Foods and can be purchased at local Target stores. Qualifying Consistency: Juan Pablo Montoya continued his streak of top-10 starting positions last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway. Montoya has started in the top-10 for every 2010 event where qualifying was held. A rained out qualifying session at Martinsville Speedway is the only event the No. 42 has started outside of the top-10. Talk with Montoya: Visit the Chevrolet display stage located outside TMS on souvenir row where Juan Pablo Montoya will participate in a question and answer session this Sunday, April 18 at 10:30 a.m. (CST). Meet the Team: Come to the Chevrolet Hospitality Chalet located outside TMS where the No. 42 Target pit crew will be signing autographs this Sunday, April 18 from 12:00 p.m. to 12:15 p.m. (CST). Eye on the Bullseye: Target's bullseye logo is considered to be one of the most recognizable company logos in the U.S. CHASSIS INFO No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet (NSCS): Chassis #1004. Kevin "Bono" Manion decided to bring chassis #1004. This is a brand new chassis and was tested in the recent Charlotte Motor Speedway test in March of 2010. No. 42 Target Chevrolet (NSCS): Chassis #819. Brian Pattie and the No. 42 team will bring chassis #819 this weekend. This is a veteran chassis that was used in Atlanta earlier this season where Montoya started and qualified third. It also ran six times in the 2009 season finishing in the top-five three times at Pocono (August), Atlanta (September), and California (October). This is also the chassis used in the Brickyard where Montoya dominated, leading 116 laps before finishing 11th. The other two races ran were Michigan (August) and Texas (November) where it finished 19th and 37th. 2010 STATS NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Starts Wins Poles Top 5s Top 10s Ave Start Ave Finish Pts. Pos./(Prev) Jamie McMurray 7 1 1 1 2 15.3 20.4 20/19 Juan Pablo Montoya 7 0 0 2 3 8.3 22.0 21/25 CAREER STATS NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Starts Wins Poles Top 5s Top 10s Ave Start Ave Finish Jamie McMurray 265 4 4 31 82 20.3 19.4 Juan Pablo Montoya 116 1 2 14 30 18.6 20.5 TEAM ROSTERS Tony Glover - Team Manager Steve Hmiel - Director of Competition No. 1 (NSCS) Hometown Hometown Crew Chief: Kevin Manion Boylston, MA Rear Tire Changer: Chris Taylor West Plains, MO Chief Mechanic: Gary Putnam Vernon, CT Rear Tire Carrier: Adam Mosher Fort Mill, SC Front Tire Changer: Cory DeMarco St. Louis, MO Gas Man: Benjy Grubbs Richmond, VA Front Tire Carrier: Doug Riepe Danbury, CT Catch Can: Eric Hoyle Asheville, NC Jack Man: Tracy Duncan Lincolnton, NC Spotter: Keith Barnwell Hudson, NC No. 42 (NSCS) Hometown Hometown Crew Chief: Brian Pattie Zephyrhills, FL Rear Tire Changer: Chris McMullen Troutman, NC Chief Mechanic: Heath Silver Asheville, NC Rear Tire Carrier: Chip Goode Statesville, NC Front Tire Changer: Trevor Lysne Fergus Falls, MN Gas Man: Mike Bodick Norwalk, CT Front Tire Carrier: Eric Bilyeu Waterford, MI Catch Can: Heath Silver Asheville, NC Jack Man: TJ Ford Charlotte, NC Spotter: Tab Boyd Pensacola, FL For more information log onto: www.earnhardtganassi.com <http://www.earnhardtganassi.com/>