Friday, August 22, 2014

Bristol Driver Chassis Selections: 2014 Irwin Tools Night Race

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is using Dover chassis this week
#2-Brad Keselowski: will drive Primary Chassis PRS-918 at Bristol, which last raced at Michigan in June, finishing 3rd. The Backup Chassis is PRS-853 which last was a backup at New Hampshire.

#3-Austin Dillon: will pilot Chassis No. 457 in the Irwin Tools Night Race. This is the same #3 Great Stuff Chevrolet Dillon drove to a 17th-place finish at Pocono in June, a 19th-place finish at Kansas in May and an 11th-place finish at Auto Club Speedway in March. In one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Bristol Motor Speedway, Dillon posted an 11th-place finish in March after starting 27th.

#4-Kevin Harvick: will pilot Chassis No. 4-850 in Saturday night's Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol. Built new for 2014, Chassis 4-850 debuted in March at Auto Club Speedway, where it started fourth but suffered two flat tires and finished 36th. Chassis 4-850 led five laps and finished second in the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte, and finished seventh at Kentucky. It has qualified in the top-five in all three races it has started for the #4 team. Saturday night's Irwin Tools Night Race will mark Harvick's 28th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Bristol. Harvick has one win, nine top-five finishes and 12 top-10s and led 462 laps at the .533-mile short track. Harvick won the Sprint Cup race at Bristol in April 2005. Harvick also has five Nationwide Series wins and one Camping World Truck Series win at Bristol. In Sprint Cup competition, Harvick has an average starting position of 18.0, an average finish of 14.3 and has completed 97.6% (13,189 of 13,516) of the laps he's contested there.


#5-Kasey Kahne: Crew chief Kenny Francis has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-809 for Saturday night's race at Bristol. Kahne drove this chassis to an eighth-place finish at Bristol in March. Most recently, he raced this chassis at Dover in June. In 21 Sprint Cup Series starts at Bristol, Kahne has one win, five top-five finishes and 10 top-10s. He also has earned one pole position and has led a total of 472 laps. In this race a year ago, Kahne earned runner-up honors at Bristol after contending for the victory at the historic short track. Most recently at the 0.533-mile track, he led 16 laps and finished eighth in March.

#10-Danica Patrick: will drive Chassis No. 10-805 which was used for the first time in July 2013 at Indianapolis, where Patrick started 33rd and finished 30th. It was then used in September at Chicago, where Patrick started 23rd and finished 20th, and in October at Charlotte, where Patrick started 35th and finished 20th. The last time it was used was in November at Texas, where she started 30th and finished 25th. Since then, it has served as a backup car in 2014 at Las Vegas and then was regulated to the primary car at Bristol in March, where she started 36th and finished 18th. It was then a backup at Kansas and for the Sprint Showdown at Charlotte. The last time it was used was in June at Dover, where she started 28th and finished 23rd.

#15-Clint Bowyer: Chassis No. 800 serves as the primary chassis for Bowyer at Bristol. This chassis raced at Kentucky in June where Bowyer finished 23rd and Dover in June where he finished 4th. Chassis No. 804 serves as the back-up chassis and finished 12th at Darlington and 15th at Bristol earlier this year. Bowyer has five top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 17 starts and completed 7,936 of 8,516 laps (93.2%) and has led 137 laps.


#16-Greg Biffle: will drive primary chassis RK-896 which last ran at Pocono and finished 5th. This will be the fourth race of the season for chassis RK-896. Biffle has secured one top five and two top-10 finishes with this chassis this year. The backup chassis is RK-879 which last ran Vegas and finished 22nd. Biffle has 23 Sprint Cup Series starts at Bristol, earning six top-five and 12 top-10 finishes. He has an average starting position of 13.9 and finishing position of 12.0 at the short track.

#17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Primary Chassis: RK- 888 which last raced at Bristol in March, finishing 2nd. Backup Chassis is RK-877 which last raced at New Hampshire in July and finished 9th. Stenhouse has three Sprint Cup career starts at the World's Fastest Half-Mile earning one top-five and one top-10 finish.

#22-Joey Logano: will drive Primary Chassis PRS-917 at Bristol, which last ran at Michigan in June, finishing 9th. The backup chassis is PRS-844 which last was a backup at Kentucky.

#24-Jeff Gordon: crew chief Alan Gustafson has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 24-819 for this Saturday night's race. This chassis has been raced once in 2014 with Gordon finishing 15th at Dover in June. In 2013, Gordon raced this chassis to finishes of 38th at Texas, seventh at Charlotte and sixth at Chicago. The 43-year old driver is tied for most wins among active drivers (5) while he is the active leader in pole positions (5), top-five finishes (16) and top-10s (24) in 43 Cup starts at the high-banked short track. Gordon is also the active leader in laps led at Bristol with 2,713, which is 1,209 more than second.

#27-Paul Menard: and the #27 Serta/Menards Chevrolet SS team will pilot chassis No. 466 in the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. This #27 Chevy was utilized earlier this year at Kansas and Dover where the Richard Childress Racing team finished 17th and 10th, respectively. Menard has 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at the high-banked 0.533-mile track. His best start of fourth and finish of fifth both came in March of 2011. The Wisconsin native has completed 6,990 of 7,012 laps attempted (99.7%) at BMS.

#31-Ryan Newman: will drive chassis No. 467 in Saturday night's 500-lap event at Bristol. This #31 Caterpillar chassis was utilized earlier this season at Charlotte where Newman qualified 42nd and finished 15th. In 25 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events at Bristol Motor Speedway, Newman owns three pole awards including the spring races in 2003 and 2004, as well as the fall event in 2011. He has earned one top-five and 13 top-10 finishes. His best result of second place came in August 2004. Newman has an average start of 10th and average finish of 17th. He's led a total of 112 laps in competition. And, in the Nationwide Series, he owns one pole (fall 2006) and a 2005 victory.

#41-Kurt Busch: will pilot Chassis No. 727 in Saturday night's Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol. Last season, Chassis No. 727 made four starts as a #39 chassis. It was for updated for the 2014 season and saw its first laps of competition at Bristol in March, when Busch finished a less-than-desired 35th following an unavoidable incident in the latter stages of the race. He then raced this Chevrolet SS to an 11th-place finish in the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte in May. Most recently, Busch scored a 12th-place finish with Chassis 727 at Kentucky in June. Saturday¡¦s Irwin Tools Night Race will mark Busch¡¦s 28th career Sprint Cup start at Bristol. Busch has five wins, one pole, seven top-fives and 14 top-10s at the .533-mile oval. Additionally, the 36-year-old driver has led 923 laps, has an average starting position of 18.3, an average finish of 14.8, and has completed 94.8 percent (12,808 of 13,516) of the laps he¡¦s contested there.

#48-Jimmie Johnson: Crew chief Chad Knaus has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 48-728 for this weekend's event. This chassis is the same Chevy SS with which Johnson finished 19th at Bristol in March. The backup car is Chassis No. 48-784, which last saw on-track action at Charlotte for the Sprint All-Star race in May.

#55-Brian Vickers: will drive primary chassis 797 which finished seventh at California, sixth at Charlotte and 26th at Kentucky. Backup chassis is 812 which finished 43rd at Dover.

#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Crew chief Steve Letarte and the #88 Diet Mountain Dew team will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-745. Earnhardt most recently raced this chassis to a ninth-place finish at Dover International Speedway in June. In 29 Sprint Cup starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, Earnhardt has scored one win, seven top-five finishes and 14 top-10s. The 39-year-old driver has an average finishing position of 12th and has completed 99.0 percent of all laps he's attempted (14,364 of 14,516 total) at the short track. He has led 790 laps at the 0.533-mile oval.

#99-Carl Edwards the #99 Fastenal Ford team will unload primary chassis RK-897 which was last run in spring of 2014 at Michigan, starting in the 22nd spot and finishing 23rd. The backup chassis RK-904 was last brought to Pocono in 2014 as the back-up car.

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