Charlotte II Race Preview

AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 43 WIX Ford Fusion

• AJ Allmendinger has made seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway
• Allmendinger posted his best finish at the track (14th) this spring
• After 30 races, Allmendinger holds down 21st place in the NSCS driver point standings

AJ Allmendinger on Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway: “I think Charlotte Motor Speedway is one of the most temperature-sensitive tracks that we go to, When it’s hot out, the track is very slick and you fight grip issues, but when it’s a little cooler, like I expect it will be this weekend, the track can get really tight and you’ll struggle trying to get your car to turn. It also seems like the corners are really short. It’s really important that you can get your car to turn in and off the corners because you need to have as much momentum as possible to get down the straightaways.

“We’ve got a new paint scheme on the No. 43 Ford this weekend. WIX has been around the sport for a long time and been a long-time partner with Richard Petty and they’ve come on board this weekend to serve as primary sponsor. The car’s got a bunch of Petty Blue and looks great. I’m really excited to be behind the wheel and to be representing WIX Filters this weekend.”

Crew Chief Mike Shiplett’s Thoughts on Charlotte: “We practice during the day and then we qualify at night, so we have to work on getting the balance right for nighttime qualifying and then the next day we practice during the day and have to get the balance right for the night race, so this one always keeps us on our toes.

“Racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway is always special because it’s so close to home. This is usually one that is really important to our partners and sponsors and they typically attend this race. It’s also one of the only times during the year the crew guys’ friends and families can see them in action, so running well at CMS is important from a competition standpoint, but it has a certain pride factor involved with it too.”

Chassis History: The No. 43 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 265 for this weekend’s event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This chassis has been utilized on several occasions this season including the most recent event at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and the spring race at Atlanta Motor Speedway where Allmendinger drove to a sixth-place finish.

Notes: The No. 43 Ford Fusion will showcase the familiar Petty Blue color this weekend as WIX Filters hops on board the car to serve as primary sponsor. WIX Filter’s history in racing started with NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty, who began using the product to protect his stock car engines in 1967. WIX partnered with Petty to win his second NASCAR championship that season, and WIX filtration technology went on to help him win five more throughout his illustrious career.

Credit - Richard Petty Motorsports PR