Thursday, September 26, 2013

Driver Chassis Selections for 2013 Dover AAA 400

Kasey Kahne is using winning Bristol chassis this week at Dover

#2-Brad Keselowski: Primary Chassis for Dover is PRS-866 which is a brand new chassis. The Backup Chassis is PRS-838 which last raced at Darlington and finished 32.

#5-Kasey Kahne: Crew chief Kenny Francis has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-769 for Sunday s Dover race. Kahne has raced this car six times this season, notably reaching Victory Lane at Bristol on March 17. During those six starts, he has averaged a 5.67 starting spot on the strength of outside pole positions at Phoenix and Bristol and a fourth-place start at Richmond. Kahne also lined up eighth in this car on July 14 at New Hampshire. Most recently, he finished second driving this car at Bristol in August. Kahne has one top-five finish, five top-10s and has led 90 laps in 19 Sprint Cup starts at Dover. He earned his best finish of fourth at the track in October 2011. Kahne has eight starts inside the top 10 at the one-mile concrete oval.

#9-Marcos Ambrose: The #9 Stanley team will bring chassis No. 848 this weekend. The team raced this chassis at Phoenix earlier this year.

#14-Mark Martin: Chassis No. 14-722 debuted in June 2012 at Pocono as Tony Stewart took Chassis No. 14-722 from its 22nd-place starting spot to finish third in the Pocono 400. It returned to Pocono in August for the series second visit to the quirky, 2.5-mile triangle where it had a similar outing, as Stewart rallied it from its 28th-place starting spot to finish fifth in the rain-shortened race. While Chassis No. 14-722 didn t race again in 2012, it was tested extensively in the wind tunnel and on the track. It tested at Nashville Superspeedway Sept. 25-26 and at Kansas Oct. 17-18. With 2013 Chevrolet SS bodywork covering it, Chassis No. 14-722 returned to racing in March at Bristol for the Food City 500. After qualifying eighth and practicing well, Stewart declared he had the best car he d had in years at Bristol. But just nine laps into the 500-lap race around the .533-mile oval, Stewart s left-rear tire deflated. Stewart spun and impacted the SAFER Barrier on the outside of turn one with the left side of his racecar. Stewart was OK, but his racecar was not. After lengthy repairs, Stewart returned to the track and finished 31st. Chassis No. 14-722 was rebuilt and saw track time at Dover during a test May 14-15. That test paid off when the car returned to Dover in June, where in its fourth career start and second of 2013, Chassis No. 14-722 won after rallying from its 22nd-place starting spot. The car returned to the concrete for a third straight time when it raced at Bristol in August. There, Mark Martin began his interim driving duties with the #14 team, qualifying 11th and finishing 20th. Martin and Chassis No. 14-722 are together on the concrete again with this weekend s race at Dover.

#15-Clint Bowyer: Primary chassis 777 made it s MWR debut at Indianapolis and finished 20th. It also ran at Atlanta where it led 48 laps before an engine issue ended the night prematurely. In 15 Sprint Cup starts at Dover, Bowyer has one top-five and eight top-10s. He has an average start of 17th and average finish of 13th. He has led 34 laps. He has five consecutive top 10 finishes, including one top-five, at the Monster Mile.

#16-Greg Biffle: and the Matt Puccia led #16 3M Filtrete Ford Fusion team will bring primary chassis RK-844 which last ran at Atlanta and finished 15th. Backup chassis RK-859 last ran at Indy and finished 24th. In his 22 Sprint Cup career starts at Dover, Biffle has earned two wins, six top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. Filtrete was on board the #16 in Texas last year when Biffle picked up his first win of the 2012 season. This is the second race this season with Filtrete on Biffle s Ford, the first was the All-Star race in Charlotte.

#17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: and the #17 Ford EcoBoost team will be using primary chassis RK-815 which last ran at Darlington finishing 18th. The backup Chassis RK-827 last ran at Charlotte and finished 14th in May. Stenhouse Jr. has two Sprint Cup starts at the Monster Mile, both of which he has finished 13th or better.

#22-Joey Logano: Primary Chassis is PRS-865 which is a brand new chassis. The Backup Chassis is PRS-839 which has been a backup at several races but never raced

#27-Paul Menard will pilot chassis No. 414 at Dover International Speedway this weekend. This #27 CertainTeed/Menards Chevrolet SS previously ran this season at Auto Club, Darlington, Kentucky and Bristol, with a best finish of sixth coming at Bristol. Menard has 12 starts at Dover International Speedway. His best start of third came in 2011 and best finish of seventh came in 2010. The Wisconsin native has completed 4,742 of 4,800 laps attempted (98.8 percent) at the Delaware track.

#29-Kevin Harvick: will pilot chassis No. 425 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in the AAA 400. Harvick drove this Budweiser Chevrolet to Victory Lane after the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, and most recently picked up a 10th-place result with the RCR-prepared machine at Kentucky Speedway in June. Since the 2001 season, Harvick has made 25 Sprint Cup Series starts at Dover International Speedway. Throughout the years, the California native has collected three top-five and 11 top-10 finishes. He has an average starting position of 19.7, an average finishing position of 15.6, has completed 98.6 percent (9,861 of 10,004) of the laps contested and has 145 laps led to his credit.

#31-Jeff Burton will race chassis No. 429 this weekend at Dover International Speedway. This #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet SS is a new addition to the Richard Childress Racing stable and will turn its first laps this weekend at the one-mile facility. This weekend's 400-mile event marks Burton's 40th start at the Dover, Del. facility and 684th-career Sprint Cup Series entry. Burton has garnered one win, eight top-five and 15 top-10 finishes at the one-mile track and has led 136 laps. Foley CAT and Cleveland Brothers will be featured on the deck lid of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet SS for Dover International Speedway's weekend event.

#39-Ryan Newman will pilot Chassis No. 39-682 at Dover. This chassis last raced at Darlington in May 2012, when Newman fought an ill-handling racecar for much of the evening but was still in pursuit of a top-15 result with five laps to go. However, a late-race incident pushed Newman back to 23rd once the checkered flag fell. Since then, Chassis No. 39-682 was outfitted with a new front clip and a Chevrolet SS body, and then was utilized for a test session at Texas in April. Chassis 39-682 will see its first laps of the season this weekend at Dover. Sunday s AAA 400 will mark Newman s 24th Sprint Cup start at Dover. Newman has three wins (June 2003, September 2003 and 2004), six top-five finishes and 11 top-10s at the Monster Mile. Additionally, the 35-year-old driver has led 842 laps, has an average starting position of 9.3 and an average finish of 13.1 at the high-banked, concrete mile oval..

#43-Aric Almirola:: The #43 Smithfield team has prepared chassis No. 855 for Dover. The team competed with this chassis at Kentucky Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway this season.

#48-Jimmie Johnson: will drive chassis No. 797 at Dover, which last raced at Michigan in August finishing 40th and at Dover in June finishing 17th. Chassis No. 784 serves as the backup.

#55-Brian Vickers: Primary chassis is 778, which has not raced. Vickers owns one top-five and two top-10 finishes in 14 starts. He has led seven laps on the mile oval. His highest finish came in May 2011 when he started 15th and finished fifth..

#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr.: crew chief Steve Letarte and the #88 team will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-745 this weekend at Dover. Earnhardt has averaged an 8.75 finish running this chassis this season. Most recently, he recorded 10th-place results at Bristol in August and Dover in June. Prior to that, he raced this car to a ninth-place finish at Darlington in May and a sixth-place finish at Bristol in March. In 27 Cup starts at Dover, Earnhardt has one win, five top-five finishes and nine top-10s. He has led 368 laps and completed 99.1 percent of all laps he's attempted (10,705 of 10,804 total) at the Monster Mile.

#99-Carl Edwards the #99 Fastenal blue team will bring RK 808 to Dover, which last ran in Pocono in August where it came to an 11th-place finish. The backup chassis is RK-821, which last ran at Atlanta. In 18 starts at Dover, Edwards has one win, eight top-five and 12 top-10 finishes. Edwards scored his only Cup win there in Sept. 07. He has an average start of 15.2 and an average finish of 8.6. Fastenal returns to the track with supplier brands BlackStone, WIDIA, Fluke and Holo-Krome on the hood, TV panel, deck lid and B-post.

- compiled by Jayski.com

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