Friday, November 4, 2011

Driver Chassis Selections for Texas

Note: Not all teams their their chassis selections in PR release

Busch is using a great car this week
#1-Jamie McMurray: Crew chief Kevin "Bono" Manion and the #1 Bass Pro Shops/ Tracker Boats team will be bringing chassis #1104 to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. This chassis was previously used at Dover in October, Michigan (June and August), and Charlotte (Coke 600, and All-star).

#2-Brad Keselowski: will race chassis PRS-805 during Sunday's AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. This is a new chassis to the #2 fleet.

#6-David Ragan: Primary: RK-777 Last ran Chicago - finished 11th; Backup: RK-711 Last ran Darlington - finished 21st

#5-Mark Martin: Crew chief Lance McGrew has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-625 for Sunday's race in Texas. This is the same chassis Martin drove to a 12th-place finish at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in March, a runner-up finish at Dover (Del.) International Speedway in May and 18th-place result at Pocono Raceway in June.

#9-Marcos Ambrose: The #9 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 735 for the 500-mile event at Texas Motor Speedway. This DEWALT Ford Fusion was run previously this season at Texas, Charlotte and Atlanta.

#14-Tony Stewart: Chassis No. 14-591: This car debuted in May 2010 in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. It qualified 26th and finished 15th in its maiden race. It saw extensive wind-tunnel time before returning to action in late July for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. There, it qualified 15th and ran most of the race at the lower end of the top-10. But a savvy two-tire pit call on the team's final stop allowed it to rally to a fifth-place finish. Chassis No. 14-591 spent the rest of the 2010 season as a backup and, in the offseason, it received a new body and logged many hours in the wind tunnel. The Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was its third career start and first of 2011. It was impressive as Stewart dominated, leading four times for a race-high 163 laps. He opened up a four-second advantage until a pit road miscue derailed the perfect outing and left him second when the checkered flag dropped. Its next start came in May's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, where it was poised to finish in the top-10 until engine woes late in the race dropped it to a 17th-place finish. Chassis No. 14-591's next outing came in a test July 9 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta. It returned to racing Labor Day weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway where, after starting 20th, rallied to an impressive third-place finish, gaining 8.5 seconds on eventual winner Jeff Gordon in the final 10 laps. The September stop at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City marked Chassis No. 14-591's sixth career start. It had a strong race, running second to eventual winner Jimmie Johnson for much of the 272-lap contest, but a series of late-race issues conspired for a disappointing 15th-place finish. The car returns to action this weekend at Texas, where it will make its fifth start this season and second in the Chase.

#17-Matt Kenseth: Primary: RK-741 (last run at Charlotte)

#18-Kyle Busch: Chassis No. 322: This is a brand new chassis that will make its on track debut in Sunday's AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

#22-Kurt Busch: will be racing "Monster Masher" at Texas this weekend. The "PRS-758" AAA Dodge Charger has an impeccable record. Busch debuted the car in the August race at Pocono, where he started fifth and finished third. In its last time at the track, Busch started on the outside pole and won the Oct. 2 AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway. "Monster Masher" came from the suggestion of Busch's girlfriend Patricia Driscoll's six-year-old son, Houston.

#27-Paul Menard: will pilot chassis No. 379 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This No. 27 Chevrolet Impala was a brand new addition to the RCR fleet for the 2011 season and was last seen on track at Kansas Speedway in October, where Menard started sixth and finished 12th.

#29-Kevin Harvick: will race chassis No. 381 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This is a brand new racer that will see its first on-track activity this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

#31-Jeff Burton: will pilot chassis No. 372 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in Sunday's AAA Texas 500. This Caterpillar Chevrolet Impala is a recent addition to the fleet, posting an 18th-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway last month in its lone on-track appearance.

#33-Clint Bowyer: will pilot chassis No. 371 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable this weekend. This Chevrolet Impala, built new in September, has been utilized twice during this season's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The first time it saw action was at Chicagoland Speedway in September when Bowyer drove it to a top-10 finish of seventh after starting 21st and the second time was last month as Bowyer brought home another seventh-place finish after starting 24th at Kansas Speedway.

#35-Dave Blaney: will compete in the No. 297 chassis this weekend. TBR purchased the chassis from Richard Childress Racing this season. Paul Menard drove the chassis prior to TBR.

#39-Ryan Newman: Chassis No. 39-686: This will be just the second start for Chassis No. 39-686 as it made its debut three weeks ago in the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. In that race, Newman started sixth, led six laps and finished a solid 10th.

#42-Juan Pablo Montoya: Jim Pohlman and the #42 Target team are bringing chassis # 1119 to Texas this weekend. This chassis was previously run at Charlotte (October), where he started 32nd and rallied to a 14th place finish.

#43-A.J. Allmendinger: The #43 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 710 for this weekend's event at Texas Motor Speedway. This Immortals/ Best Buy Ford has been previously run this season at Texas, Charlotte, Atlanta, Indianapolis and Dover.

Johnson is using his winning Kansas car this week (Getty)
#48-Jimmie Johnson: last drove primary chassis No. 681 to victory lane at Kansas Speedway earlier this month. Backup chassis No. 669 finished second at Michigan International Speedway in August and at Dover International Speedway in October.

#56-Martin Truex, Jr.: The #56 team will debut a new chassis Sunday at Texas.

#88-Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: This weekend at Texas, crew chief Steve Letarte will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-668. Earnhardt last raced this chassis to a third-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway in September.

#99-Carl Edwards: RK-739 Last ran at Charlotte, finished third

- compiled by Jayski.com

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