Thursday, November 4, 2010

Texas II Race Preview

AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 43 Valvoline Ford Fusion

*AJ Allmendinger has made five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Texas Motor Speedway
*Allmendinger posted his best finish at the track (10th) in the fall event last season
*After 33 races, Allmendinger holds down 21st place in the NSCS driver point standings

AJ Allmendinger on Texas Motor Speedway: “I’m just glad to be out of Talladega, to be honest. That’s a track I really don’t enjoy so I’m really happy to be headed to Texas this weekend. We went through a lot in Texas in the spring and had a couple of different chances to really get frustrated, but my guys did a really good job of making quick repairs a couple of times and it was really their hard work in the pits that helped us squeak a top-15 finish out of that one.

“I think our mile and a half program is pretty good right now. I know that Mike Shiplett and the Valvoline crew have got a really good Ford Fusion for this weekend and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do. We’ve got a couple of more chances to get ourselves in Victory Lane this season and I think we’ve got a pretty good shot at it this weekend.”

Crew Chief Mike Shiplett’s Thoughts on TMS: “Texas is a big downforce track. It has a lot of speed and it doesn’t have a lot of grip so you usually fight a little loose off the corners and not turning in the middle there. We’ll concentrate on those things this weekend and see what we can do.”

Chassis History: The No. 43 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 288 for this weekend’s event at Texas Motor Speedway. This is the same car the team utilized in the most recent race at Dover (Del.) International Raceway where Allmendinger qualified on the front row and finished inside the top 10. This Ford Fusion was also run at Michigan International Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway and Pocono (Penn.) Raceway.

Notes: AJ Allmendinger will spend Thursday evening bowling for charity. Allmendinger will join several of his fellow NASCAR competitors for the AutoTrader.com Sam Hornish, Jr. Celebrity Bowling in Grapevine, Texas. This is the sixth year of the event, which raises money for the Texas Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities.

Valvoline will return to the hood of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Fusion this weekend in Texas. This is the second consecutive week that Valvoline has served as the primary sponsor for the No. 43 team. Valvoline, a division of Ashland Inc., serves more than 100 countries worldwide and is a leading marketer, distributor and producer of quality branded automotive and industrial products and services. For more information about Valvoline products, please visit http://valvoline.com.

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