Friday, June 27, 2014

Driver Kentucky Chassis Selections: 2014 Quaker State 400

Jeff Gordon is using winning Kansas chassis this week at Kentucky

#2-Brad Keselowski: Primary Chassis: PRS-904. Last Raced: Darlington (finished 17th). Backup Chassis: PRS-840. Last Raced: Pocono backup (not raced)

#3-Austin Dillon: will pilot Chassis No. 465 in the Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway. This is the same Chevrolet SS that Dillon raced to a 16th-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May and a 21st-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway in April.

#5-Kasey Kahne: Crew chief Kenny Francis has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-820 for Saturday night's race at Kentucky. Kahne raced this car twice last year, finishing 15th at Kansas Speedway in October and then 13th at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. He also drove this chassis at the Fontana oval in March and at Charlotte Motor Speedway's All-Star Race in May.

#10-Danica Patrick: Chassis No. 10-837: Chassis No. 10-837 debuted in May at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, where Patrick had one of the best outings of her career as she started ninth and finished a career-best seventh. Kentucky 400 Backup Racecar - Chassis No. 10-794: Chassis No. 10-794 was tested in the wind tunnel May 1, 2013, before being used by Patrick in the Coca-Cola 600 later that month at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Patrick started 24th and finished 29th after being involved in a multicar accident on lap 320 of 400. After repairs, she managed to finish the race but completed only 385 laps. The next time Patrick drove this car was in June at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, where she started 29th and finished 23rd. The last time she drove it was in September at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where she started 21st and finished 21st. It was used as a backup car in fall 2013 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Charlotte and Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. It was then used in 2014 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, but she wrecked the car early in the first practice and went to a backup. Since then, it has been a backup at Texas, Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.

#14-Tony Stewart: Chassis No. 14-735:This car debuted in the 2012 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway where Stewart qualified 28th and rallied to score a top-10 finish. Chassis No. 14-735 made its second career start in October 2012 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. It was impressive as Stewart used it to overcome a 33rdplace starting spot, a botched pit stop, an incident with Jeff Burton and a lap-166 spin to finish fifth. The car made its third career start in the 2012 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. There, it rallied to a top-20 finish after starting 35th and dealing with handling issues throughout the 267- lap race. Stewart's milestone 500th career Sprint Cup start also came at Homestead in Chassis No. 14-735. With 2013 Chevrolet SS bodywork covering it, Chassis No. 14-735 returned to action in May for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. It rallied again, coming from 25th in the field to lead six laps before finishing seventh. The car's fifth career start and second of 2013 was slated to come in June at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, but a crash in the opening minutes of the weekend's first practice session sidelined the car. Rebuilt, Chassis No. 14-735 returned to Michigan in August with interim driver Austin Dillon, qualifying 27th and finishing 14th. The car sat idle until this past May when Stewart drove it at Kansas. He qualified eighth and finished 20th after giving up valuable track position for a late-race fuel stop. The Kentucky 400 will mark the car's second start of 2014 and seventh overall.

#15-Clint Bowyer: Chassis No. 800 serves as the primary chassis for Bowyer at Kentucky Speedway. He raced it to a fourth-place finish at Dover earlier this month. Chassis No. 804 serves as the back-up chassis and finished 12th at Darlington and 15th at Bristol. 

#16-Greg Biffle: Primary Chassis: RK-890 Last ran All-Star - finished 19th. Backup Chassis: RK-879 Last ran Las Vegas - finished 22nd.

#17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Chassis RK-893 is the same chassis that Stenhouse raced into the top-five in the first 20 lap segment of the Sprint Showdown. Stenhouse was forced to settle with a seventh-place finish after battling a tight Building for America's Bravest Ford in the final 20-lap shootout. Backup Chassis: RK- 888 - last raced at Bristol - finished second.

#22-Joey Logano: Primary Chassis: PRS-903. Last Raced: Darlington (finished 35th). Backup Chassis: PRS-844. Last Raced: Pocono backup (not raced).

#24-Jeff Gordon: #24 crew chief Alan Gustafson has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 24-869 for this Saturday night's race. Gordon has raced this chassis twice to a first-place finish at Kansas in May and eighth-place result at Pocono in June.

#27-Paul Menard: will race chassis No. 454. This Chevrolet SS produced one top-five and three top-10 finishes in 2014; Las Vegas Motor Speedway (third-place finish) Texas Motor Speedway (ninth-place finish) and Charlotte Motor Speedway (eighth-place finish).

#31-Ryan Newman: will drive chassis No. 441 on Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway. Chassis No. 441 has competed in three Sprint Cup Series events so far in 2014 producing two top-10 finishes (Phoenix International Raceway - seventh and Darlington Raceway - 10th). Newman also utilized the chassis in Dover where he ran in the top 10 before a mechanical issue ended the solid effort.

#41-Kurt Busch: Chassis No. 727: Busch will pilot Chassis No. 727 in Saturday night's Kentucky 400 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta. In six previous starts, four as the No. 39 for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), and most recently at the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway as the No. 41, it has two top-10s with a best finish of eighth in the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte. Chassis No. 727 finished 13th as the SHR No. 39 at the 2013 Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte, 21st at Bristol in August, eighth at Charlotte in October and ninth at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth in November. Since transitioning to the No. 41 team, Chassis 727 finished 13th at Bristol in March and 18th in the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte. Saturday night marks its third start for the No. 41 team.

#48-Jimmie Johnson: Chad Knaus has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 48-799, which Johnson drove at Kansas Speedway and the Fontana oval earlier this season. The backup car is Chassis No. 48-728, which was most recently raced at Bristol Motor Speedway in March.

#55-Brian Vickers: Primary: 797 finished sixth at Charlotte and seventh at California. Backup: 801 finished 13th at Las Vegas.

#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Crew chief Steve Letarte will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-877 for this weekend's Cup event at Kentucky. Earnhardt most recently raced this chassis to a fifth-place finish at Kansas Speedway in May.

#99-Carl Edwards: o Primary chassis RK-880 was last run in 2014 at Charlotte and started in the 22nd-postiion, finishing fourth. Backup chassis RK-904 was last run this season at Darlington and rolled off in the 22nd-spot, finishing 13th.

- compiled by Jayski.com

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