Friday, October 4, 2013

Driver Chassis Selections: 2013 Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas

Joey Logano brought his winning Michigan car
#2-Brad Keselowski: Primary Chassis for Kansas is PRS-866, which is a brand new chassis. The backup chassis is PRS-838 which last raced at Darlington and finished 32nd.

#5-Kasey Kahne: Crew chief Kenny Francis has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-820 for Sunday s race at Kansas. This is a brand new car. However, Kahne will test this new chassis at Kansas on Thursday, Oct. 3 with his Hendrick Motorsports teammates in preparation for this weekend s race at the 1.5-mile track. Sunday s event marks the fourth race of the Chase. In 12 Sprint Cup Series starts at Kansas, Kahne has earned three pole positions, three top-five finishes, six top-10s and has led a total of 78 laps there. Kahne has qualified in the top 10 in eight of his 12 races there. Most recently, he crossed the finish line second at Kansas in April and scored a fourth-place result in this race one year ago. Kahne, Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Newman are tied for the most runner-up finishes at Kansas with two each.

#9-Marcos Ambrose: The #9 Mac Tools team will bring chassis No. 840 this weekend. The team raced this chassis to a sixth-place finish at Michigan International Speedway in August.

#10-Danica Patrick will pilot Chassis No. 10-781 was first used by Patrick in March at Auto Club Speedway, where she started 40th and finished 26th. She then drove this car in April at Kansas, where she started 25th and finished 25th. Patrick then used the car during the Sprint Showdown and the Sprint All-Star Race in May, where she finished ninth in the Showdown and 10th in the All-Star race. The next time this car was used was in June at Michigan, where Patrick started 37th and finished 13th. The last time Chassis No. 10-781 was used was in August at Michigan, where she started 28th and finished 23rd.

#14-Mark Martin: Chassis No. 14-736 debuted in 2012 in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup opener at Chicago, where Tony Stewart qualified 29th and rallied to lead three laps before finishing sixth. Chassis No. 14-736 made its second career start in October at Charlotte and it had to rally again. After starting 32nd, a lap-16 run-in with Brad Keselowski necessitated numerous pit stops that dropped Stewart all the way to 36th in the 43-car field. But Stewart used Chassis No. 14-736 to claw his way back to a respectable 13th-place finish. The car made its third career start last November at Texas where it rallied yet again, overcoming its 21st-place starting spot to finish fifth. With a 2013 Chevrolet SS body honed in the wind tunnel, Chassis No. 14-736 visited Kansas in April for its fourth career start. It was a quiet outing, with Stewart qualifying 18th and finishing 21st. Its second start of 2013 came in June at Kentucky. Finding the right handling package at the bumpy 1.5-mile oval proved elusive, as Chassis No. 14-736 qualified 25th and finished 20th. It endured another low-key outing during the Labor Day weekend race at Atlanta, qualifying 27th and finishing 25th with interim driver Mark Martin after an early-race accident damaged the nose of the car. Chassis No. 14-736 is back in action at Kansas for its sixth career start, its fourth of the year and its second with Martin at the wheel.

#15-Clint Bowyer: Primary chassis No. 790 is a brand new chassis making it s debut at Kansas. Backup chassis No. 738 finished 27th at Las Vegas, 11th at Darlington and third at Kentucky. It also served as a backup at Chicago and Dover, but did not see the racetrack. In 10 Sprint Cup starts at Kansas, Bowyer has two top-five and five top-10s. He has an average start of 15th and average finish of 13th. He has led 48 laps. He has two consecutive top 10 finishes, including a top-five in the spring.

#16-Greg Biffle: and the Matt Puccia led #16 Sherwin Williams Ford Fusion team will bring primary chassis RK-863 finished ninth at Michigan in August after suffering some damage to the nose after contact on pit road. The backup chassis is RK-822 which last ran Bristol and finished 9th. Kansas is the track where Biffle holds his best average finish of 10.1 from an average starting position of 14.9. In his 14 career Cup Series starts at the 1.5-mile track, Biffle has two wins, seven top-five and nine top-10 finishes.

#22-Joey Logano: Primary Chassis is PRS-857 for Kansas, which last ran at Michigan and won. The Backup Chassis is PRS-862 which last races at Atlanta and finished 2nd.

#27-Paul Menard will pilot chassis No. 427 at Kansas Speedway. This #27 SPLASH/Menards Chevy SS was previously run this season at Michigan and Pocono. Menard has nine NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Kansas. His best start of second came in 2010 and best finish of third came in 2012. The Wisconsin native has completed 2,346 of 2,351 laps attempted (99.8 percent) at the Kansas track, leading 17 of them. SPLASH Products Inc., a national provider of seasonal safety products based in Eagan, Minn., manufactures and distributes a comprehensive assortment of windshield washer fluids, RV and marine antifreeze, gas line antifreeze and winter deicers.

#29-Kevin Harvick: will pilot chassis No. 431 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable at Kansas. This is a new car that will make its first laps at the 1.5-mile track this weekend. In 15 starts at Kansas, Harvick has earned one top five and six top 10s. He has completed 97.2 percent of the laps run in NSCS competition (3,843 of 3,953) and has led 83 laps there as well. Harvick's average start at the track is 19.7 and his average finish is 12.8.

#31-Jeff Burton will race chassis No. 416 this weekend at Kansas Speedway. This #31 Chevy has been utilized five times this season at Auto Club Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway and both events at Pocono Raceway. Burton has 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at the Kansas City, Kan.-based facility with one top-five and two top-10 finishes. His best start of 10th and best finish of fifth both came in the 2006 event. The South Boston, Va., native has completed 3,837 of 3,953 laps attempted (97.1 percent) at the 1.5-mile oval, leading seven of them. NMC and Foley Equipment will be featured on the #31 Caterpillar Chevy this weekend at Kansas.

#43-Aric Almirola:: The #43 Farmland team has prepared chassis No. 843, which they finished seventh with at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year.

#47-AJ Allmendinger says The car we are racing is a good car and that showed at Atlanta (Motor Speedway), Allmendinger said. It is all about getting the setup right at Kansas Speedway. We had a nice balance at Atlanta and this should be one of our better cars.
We are really looking forward to Kansas Speedway and we are bringing the same car AJ raced at Atlanta Motor Speedway, crew chief Brian Burns said. We feel like this is our best car to date. AJ really liked how the car handled at Atlanta. It was one of our best finishes for an intermediate track.

#48-Jimmie Johnson: will drive chassis No. 824 at Kansas, which last raced at Michigan in June finishing 28th, and before that winning the All-Star race, 3rd at Kansas in April and 12th at Auto Club. Chassis No. 784 serves as the backup.

#55-Brian Vickers: Primary chassis is 780, which raced at Atlanta and Michigan. Vickers owns one top-10 finish in eight starts. He has an average start of 13th and average finish of 20th. His highest finish came in Oct. 2006 when he started fourth and finished eighth.

#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr.: crew chief Steve Letarte and the #88 crew will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-822. This is a brand new chassis that has not been raced. In 14 Cup starts at Kansas, Earnhardt has recorded one pole position, one top-five finish and six top-10s. He has completed 97.9 percent of all the laps he's attempted (3,609 laps of 3,686 total) at the 1.5-mile racetrack. The 38-year-old driver has led a total of 82 laps there. Time Warner Cable will adorn the hood of Earnhardt s #88 Chevrolet SS this weekend at Kansas and will be the primary sponsor on the car for one more NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race this year, at Charlotte.

#99-Carl Edwards the #99 Fastenal blue team will unload RK 861 which last ran at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The backup chassis is RK 821 which last ran at Atlanta. Edwards will make his 13th Cup start at Kansas Speedway this weekend. In his previous starts, Edwards has four top-five and eight top-10 finishes. His average start is 17.2 and his average finish is 11.3. His best finish (second) came in 2008. Fastenal returns to the track with supplier brands Wypall, Metabo, Blackstone and Holo-Krome on the hood, TV panel, deck lid and B-post.

- compiled by Jayski.com

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