Las Vegas Preview

AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 43 Valvoline Ford Fusion

• This weekend’s event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will mark this first time this season for Valvoline as primary sponsor of the No. 43 Ford Fusion
• Sunday will be Allmendinger’s second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Las Vegas
• Allmendinger finished last week’s race in the 25th position

Allmendinger Ready For Vegas: “Last year was my first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas. I had to qualify my way in and that was nerve wracking, but we made it solidly into the field. We didn’t have the best run of the season there, but at least I can go in this weekend knowing I’m locked in to the field and having the knowledge of last year’s race under my belt.

“Valvoline is on board as primary sponsor of this No. 43 Ford Fusion for the first time this season. The company has such a rich history in NASCAR and with Richard Petty and I’m thankful and honored to have them on my Richard Petty Motorsports Ford. Everyone on this No. 43 team and at RPM as a whole has been working really hard. Daytona and California were a little rough and we didn’t have the finishes that I know we’re capable of, but we’re not worried. Vegas is a fun city, the track is great, and the fans are awesome, so this will be a great weekend to get ourselves back on track with a top-15 performance or even to return the No. 43 to Victory Lane.”

Crew Chief Mike Shiplett’s Thoughts On Vegas: “Vegas is a very fast 1.5-mile track. You can get very loose going into the turns so we’re going to focus on finding the balance between being loose in and tight in the middle of the corners. Then there are the bumps going into Turns 1 and 2 to deal with. We’ll have to make sure the No. 43 Ford’s shocks and springs are right for that situation and make sure the handling on the car is where AJ needs it to be.

“We had to fight pretty hard throughout the race in Fontana for the finish this No. 43 team came out of there with last Sunday, but Fontana is over and we’re looking ahead to this weekend. The No. 43 Valvoline Ford Fusion we’ve decided to take to Vegas is the same chassis we ran with AJ last November at Texas Motor Speedway. We had a really strong run there and finished 10th. Vegas and Texas are similar tracks, so I’m really optimistic this will be the weekend we can showcase what this Richard Petty Motorsports team can do.”

Chassis History: Chassis No. 289 has been prepared by crew chief Mike Shiplett and the No. 43 Valvoline Ford Fusion team for this weekend’s Shelby American at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. This Ford Fusion was run as the No. 44 Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports last November at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. The No. 44 Ford finished 10th in that race.