Thursday, September 29, 2011

Driver Chassis Selections for Dover AAA 400

Note: Not all teams list their chassis in PR releases

Keselowski is using 9th-place Brickyard car (Getty)
#1-Jamie McMurray: Crew Chief Kevin "Bono" Manion and the No.1 McDonald's team will bring chassis #1104 to Dover this weekend. This chassis has already been used four times this season, including both races at Michigan International Speedway, both events (The All-Star Race and Coca-Cola 600) at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

#2-Brad Keselowski: and the #2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team will race chassis PRS-748 during Sunday's AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway. Keselowski last raced this chassis to a ninth-place finish in the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July.

#5-Mark Martin: crew chief Lance McGrew has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-672 for Sunday's race at Dover. This is the same chassis that Martin has driven four times this season to an average 12th-place finish. Notably, Martin piloted the car twice at Michigan International Speedway, finishing ninth in June and fourth in August.

#6-David Ragan: Primary: RK-744 last ran Bristol and finished 20th. Backup chassis RK-711 last ran Darlington and finished 21st.

#9-Marcos Ambrose: The #9 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 754 for the 400-mile event at Dover International Speedway. This Stanley Ford Fusion has been run previously this season at Martinsville Speedway the Dover spring race and both Pocono events. Australian Word of the Week: Tea = Supper.

#14-Tony Stewart: Chassis No. 14-564 debuted at Texas in November 2009, where it qualified fourth and finishing sixth. The 2009 season finale at Homestead marked the car's second career start. There, it qualified fifth and led twice for 43 laps before two separate on-track incidents with Juan Pablo Montoya relegated it to a 22nd-place finish. It saw action during the offseason when it was used for a Goodyear tire test at Texas Jan. 19-20. It returned to competition in February at Auto Club Speedway, where it started 16th and finished ninth. It returned to Texas in April where it qualified on the pole and led five times for 74 laps before a late-race accident relegated it to an undeserved 32nd-place finish. It was repaired and fitted with a new body for the series' June stop at Michigan, where it qualified 17th and finished a solid fifth. It sat idle until it returned to Michigan in August, qualifying fourth and leading three times for 36 laps before finishing sixth. The October race at Auto Club marked its seventh career start and second at Fontana, and there it delivered Stewart's 39th career Sprint Cup win and his first at Fontana. The same car returned to action in November at Texas, where it qualified 11th and finished 11th. With a new body honed in the wind tunnel, Chassis No. 14-564 got its first start of 2011 and the ninth of its career at Fontana where it qualifying fifth and leading four times for 11 laps. In the waning laps, however, it dropped from third to 13th after a late-race restart. Its next start came in May at Charlotte in the All-Star Race, where it started sixth and finished fourth. It action in June at Michigan, where it qualified sixth and finishing seventh. Chassis No. 14-564 returned to Michigan in August rallying to ninth after starting 18th. Now the car makes its 13th career start, but first on a track only a mile in length when it rolls off for the AAA 400 this weekend at Dover.

Kenseth is using his winning car from May's Dover race
#17-Matt Kenseth: will run primary chassis RK-763 which last run at Pocono, this chassis won the Dover spring race. This weekend, Kenseth will pilot the #17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion.

#18-Kyle Busch: Chassis No. 308 will make its fourth-ever start in Sunday's AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway. No. 308 made its debut in June at Kansas Speedway, where Busch started third and finished 12th. In its most recent start, Busch drove No. 308 to victory lane after starting first in July at the Inaugural Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway. Most recently, this chassis was brought three races ago to Richmond International Raceway, where Busch started 13th and finished a solid sixth.

#22-Kurt Busch and his Steve Addington-led Penske Racing "Double-Deuce" team will be racing their "PRS-758" Shell-Pennzoil Dodge this weekend at Dover. This chassis has been raced only once before; in the August 7 race at Pocono. In that race, Busch qualified fifth and led four times for a total of 38 laps en route to a third-place finish. The race will be remembered most, perhaps, for the exciting last-lap battle for third between Busch and defending series champion Jimmie Johnson. The "PRS-746" (last raced in May's Sprint "All Star" Race at Charlotte) will serve as the backup Dodge Charger this weekend at Dover.

#27-Paul Menard will pilot Chassis No. 351 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This #27 Menards/Pittsburh Paints Chevy was a brand new addition to the RCR fleet for the 2011 season and was last seen in competition at Kansas Speedway (June) where he started ninth and finished 19th. Menard also raced this Chevrolet at Texas Motor Speedway in April where he brought home a fifth-place result after starting from the 19th position.

#29-Kevin Harvick: will race chassis No. 353 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. Prior to this weekend the team utilized this #29 Chevy twice in 2011 to score a win in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May and a seventh-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway in early September.

#31-Jeff Burton will race chassis No. 359 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. Built new for 2011, this is the same Caterpillar Chevy Burton qualified fifth and drove to a 21st-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May and qualified 22nd and drove to a 19th-place effort at Kentucky Speedway in July.

#33-Clint Bowyer: will pilot chassis No. 350 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable this weekend at "The Monster Mile." This Chevy, built new in 2011, has seen action three times this season, posting top-15 efforts at Texas Motor Speedway (started-third, finished-second), at the Coca-Cola 600 in May (started-10th, finished-15th) and Michigan International Speedway in June (started-27th, finished-eighth).

#42-Juan Pablo Montoya: crew chief Jim Pohlman and the #42 Target team has selected chassis #1003 for the AAA 400 at Dover. This will be the fourth race of 2011 for this chassis, after it was used in both races at Bristol and in the Spring race at Dover. This car also ran five times last year (Charlotte-May, Chicago-July, Atlanta-September, Fontana-October and Texas-November).

#43-A.J. Allmendinger: The #43 RPM team has prepared chassis No.752 for this weekend's event at Dover International Speedway. This Best Buy Ford has been run previously this season at Texas, Charlotte, Indianapolis and Atlanta.

#48-Jimmie Johnson: will drive chassis No. 669 in Sunday's event. He finished second in that car at Michigan International Speedway in August. Johnson finished second in backup chassis No. 650 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in September.

#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Crew chief Steve Letarte and the #88 team will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-657 this weekend at Dover. Earnhardt most recently raced this chassis to a 16th-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. Earnhardt also raced this chassis to a second-place finish at Kansas Speedway in June. The car also saw action at Darlington Raceway and Kentucky Speedway.


#99-Carl Edwards: The #99 team will be unloading chassis RK-788 this weekend. This car last raced at Chicago where Edwards finished fourth.

- compiled by Jayski.com

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