Thursday, August 28, 2014

Atlanta Driver Chassis Selection: 2014 Oral-B USA 500

Not too many chassis' with stellar resume's going this week
#2-Brad Keselowski: will drive Primary Chassis PRS-922 at Atlanta, which is a brand new chassis. The Backup Chassis is PRS-908 which last was a backup at Michigan.

#3-Austin Dillon: will pilot Chassis No. 465 in the Oral-B USA 500. This is the same DOW Chevy that Dillon raced to a 16th-place finish at Kentucky in June, a 16th-place finish at Charlotte in May and a 21st-place finish at Texas in April. In one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2013, Dillon finished 19th.

#4-Kevin Harvick: will pilot Chassis No. 4-884 in Sunday night's Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Built new for 2014, Chassis 4-884 debuted in July at Indianapolis, where it started from the pole, led 12 laps and finished eighth.

#5-Kasey Kahne: Crew chief Kenny Francis has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-820 for Sunday night's race at Atlanta. Kahne has raced with this car three times so far this year. He drove it at the Fontana, California, oval in March and at Charlotte Motor Speedway's All-Star Race in May. Most recently, he raced this chassis to an eighth-place finish at Kentucky Speedway in June. Kahne has earned a total of two wins at Atlanta, which is tied for his second-best track in career wins -- he also has two wins at Pocono. In 2006, he started from the pole position, led 85 laps and crossed the finish line as the winner. Kahne's second victory at the 1.54-mile track happened in 2009, when he led a total of 60 laps. Also worth noting is that 14 of the 106 (13.2%) Sprint Cup Series races at Atlanta have been won from the pole position, with the most recent one being Kahne in 2006.

#10-Danica Patrick: will drive Chassis No. 10-838 was a backup car in March at Auto Club Speedway and then was used for the first time in April at Texas, where Patrick started 24th and finished 27th. She was running in the top-15 with the car in June at Pocono but cut a tire, crashed and finished 37th. Backup Chassis No. 10-828 was first used at Homestead in November 2013, when Patrick started 24th and finished 20th. It was then put to use in March at Las Vegas, where she started 22nd and finished 21st. The last time it was used was in late March at Auto Club, where she started 27th and finished 14th. It was a backup car earlier this month at Pocono, Michigan and Bristol.

#15-Clint Bowyer: Chassis No. 816 serves as the primary chassis for Bowyer at Atlanta. This is a new chassis. Chassis No. 804 serves as the back-up chassis and finished 12th at Darlington and 15th at Bristol earlier this year. In 13 starts at Atlanta Bowyer has no top-five and five top-10 finishes and completed 4,027 of 4,252 laps (94.7%) and has led 114 laps. Bowyer's average start 15.7 and average finish 19.8.

#16-Greg Biffle: will drive primary chassis RK-922 which last ran at Indy and finished 13th. The backup chassis is RK-879 which last ran Vegas and finished 22nd. Biffle has 19 Sprint Cup Series starts at Atlanta, earning three top-five and nine top-10 finishes. He has an average starting position of 13.1 and finishing position of 15.9. Ortho makes its debut on the #16 car this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and will appear on the car for two more races this season before becoming the anchor partner in 2015.

#17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Primary Chassis RK-914 is the same chassis that the Stenhouse Jr. raced at Dover where the #17 Fifth Third Bank team was battling for the lucky dog position, but was caught up in a wreck on lap 131 and was unable to repair the car, forcing Stenhouse to settle for a 41st-place finish. The backup chassis, RK- 877 last ran at New Hampshire and finished ninth. Last year Stenhouse Jr. earned his first career Sprint Cup pole at Atlanta. Stenhouse has one career Sprint Cup start at Atlanta finishing16th after overcoming being one lap down.

#22-Joey Logano: will drive Primary Chassis PRS-919 at Atlanta, which is a brand new chassis. The backup chassis is PRS-907 which last was a backup at Michigan.

#24-Jeff Gordon: crew chief Alan Gustafson has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 24-861 for this Sunday night's race at Atlanta. This chassis has been raced four times previously - all in 2014 - with finishes of sixth at the first Michigan race, seventh at Charlotte and Darlington and 13th at Fontana. Gordon leads active drivers with five wins, 16 top-five finishes, 26 top-10s and 1,297 laps led in 40 Cup starts at the 1.54-mile track.

#27-Paul Menard: and the #27 Duracell/Menards Chevrolet SS team will pilot chassis No. 454 during the 325-lap event at Atlanta. This #27 Chevy was utilized earlier this year at Las Vegas, Texas Motor, Charlotte, Michigan and Kentucky. The RCR driver has amassed two top-five finishes (Las Vegas, Michigan) and four top-10 finishes (Las Vegas, Texas, Charlotte and Michigan) with this chassis. Menard has 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at the 1.5-mile track. His best start of 16th came in 2013 and best finish of fifth came in March of 2010. Menard has one top-five finish and three top-10 finishes at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He's completed 3,849 of 3,927 laps (98%) and led two laps.

#31-Ryan Newman: will drive chassis No. 441 in Sunday night's 500-mile event at Atlanta. This Caterpillar chassis was utilized earlier this season at Kentucky (Start: 7th / Finish: 3rd) and Dover (Start: 14th / Finish: 31st). In 21 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events at Atlanta, Newman owns seven pole awards, including sweeping six straight poles encompassing the 2003 to 2005 Sprint Cup seasons. He owns two top-five and seven top-10 finishes. His best result of fifth place came last season and at the spring 2004 event. Newman has an average start of eighth and average finish of 18th. He's led a total of 175 laps in competition. And in the Craftsman Trucks Series, he captured a victory in the fall 2008 race.

#33-Ty Dillon will pilot chassis No. 460 Sunday night in the Oral-B USA 500 for Circle Sport Racing. This was last raced earlier this season by Brian Scott at Auto Club Speedway. Dillon will be making his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday night. In 2012, Dillon won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race after qualifying on the pole and leading 40 laps at AMS. In addition to making his Sprint Cup Series debut this weekend, Dillon will pilot the #3 Yuengling Light Lager Chevrolet Camaro in the Nationwide Series race at AMS. When the green flag drops Sunday night at AMS, Dillon will be only the 10th driver this season to have driven in all three of NASCAR's top series. The Nationwide Series regular raced in the second annual Mudsummer Classic at Eldora Speedway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Realtree, the world's leading camouflage designer, marketer and licensor, will be on the hood of the #33 Chevy. Rheem, a leading provider of heating, cooling and water heating products such as gas furnaces, heat pumps, air conditioners and indoor air quality products, will be featured on the #33 Chevy this weekend.

#41-Kurt Busch: will pilot Chassis No. 760 in Sunday's Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta. Chassis No. 760 made its first start of the 2014 season in May at Kansas, where Busch started sixth and ran as high as fourth before a loose-handling condition saw the #41 Chevy drop to 29th when the checkered flag waved. Most recently, Busch piloted Chassis No. 760 at Indianapolis, where Busch appeared at times to be on his way to recording a solid finish, but an ill-timed caution period following a scheduled green-flag pit stop saw the #41's forward progress halted and left with a less-than-desired 28th-place finish. Sunday's Oral-B USA 500 will mark Busch's 24th career Sprint Cup start at Atlanta. Busch has three wins, five top-fives and 10 top-10s at the 1.54-mile oval. Additionally, the 36-year-old driver has led 665 laps, has an average starting position of 16.3, an average finish of 16.6, and has completed 91.5 percent (6,796 of 7,425) of the laps he's contested there.

#48-Jimmie Johnson: Crew chief Chad Knaus has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 48-797 for this weekend's event in Atlanta. This chassis is the same Lowe's/Kobalt Tools Chevy SS with which Johnson finished ninth at Michigan two weeks ago. The backup car is Chassis No. 48-799, which last saw on-track action at Kansas Speedway, finishing ninth in May. In 22 starts at Atlanta, Johnson has recorded three wins, 11 top-five finishes and 13 top-10s. He has an average start of 8.6 and an average finish of 11.9. Johnson has led 440 laps around the 1.54-mile track.

#55-Brian Vickers: will drive primary chassis 815 which has not raced. Backup chassis is 801 which finished 13th at Las Vegas.

#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Crew chief Steve Letarte and the #88 National Guard team will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-901. This is a brand new chassis that has not been raced. In 26 Cup starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Earnhardt has one win, two pole positions, eight top-five finishes and 12 top-10s. He has an average start of 15.9, and his average finish of 12.3 is his best at a track. He has completed 99.5 percent of all the laps he's attempted (8,359 of 8,400 total) there and has led 632 laps, his fourth-best at a track.

#99-Carl Edwards the #99 Subway Ford team will unload primary chassis RK-880 which was last run in 2014 at Kentucky, starting in the 14th spot and finishing 17th. The backup chassis RK-904 was last brought to Fall Bristol in 2014 as the back-up car. Edwards had his first Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series wins sweeping the weekend in 2005. He also won the second race there in 2005, sweeping the season. He won the fall race in 2008. Edwards has 16 Sprint Cup starts at the 1.5-mile track with an average start of 9.8 and an average finish of 15.2.

- compiled by Jayski.com

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