Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Phoenix Driver Chassis Selections: 2014 Quicken Loans 500

 Bowyer using chassis that ran well at similar PIR tracks like RIR & NHMS

#2-Brad Keselowski: will drive Primary Chassis PRS-922 at Phoenix, which last ran at Atlanta in August and finished 39th. The backup chassis is PRS-910 which was last used as a backup at Martinsville in Oct.

#3-Austin Dillon will pilot Chassis No. 465 in the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. This is the same Cheerios Chevy that Dillon raced to an 11th-place finish at New Hampshire in September, a 24th-place finish at Atlanta in August, 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. Dillon has one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Phoenix International Raceway to his credit, earning a 24th-place finish in March.

#4-Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No. 843 in Sunday's race at Phoenix. Harvick has raced this car on several occasions this year, including: Las Vegas in March (42nd - hub issue); Darlington in April (won); Pocono in June (14th); and Dover in September (13th - flat tire). Harvick has 23 starts at PIR and has raced his way to Victory Lane five times at the 1-mile track, including three of the last four races. He has earned eight top fives and 12 top 10s, and has an average start of 17.8 and an average finish of 11.8 at PIR.

#10-Danica Patrick: will drive primary chassis No. 10-727 debuted in May 2012 at Charlotte with former Stewart-Haas Racing driver Ryan Newman at the controls and Tony Gibson as crew chief. Newman started 16th and finished 14th at Charlotte, and then started fifth and finished 15th at Michigan in June. Newman and crew chief Matt Borland took the car to Homestead in November 2012 and started 19th, led three laps and finished third. Newman and Borland used it four times in 2013 and earned top-10 finishes at Texas and Charlotte. In 2014, Kurt Busch and crew chief Daniel Knost raced it five times with three top-12 finishes. Backup bhassis 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. 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, where she started 29th and finished 23rd. The last time she raced it was in September 2013 at Atlanta, where she started 21st and finished 21st. It was used as a backup car in the fall 2013 races at Kansas, Charlotte and Texas. It also was used in 2014 at Bristol, but Patrick wrecked the car early in the first practice and went to a backup. Since then, it has been a backup at Texas, Darlington, Dover, Pocono, Michigan and Kentucky. It was tested in the 2015 NASCAR rules test Aug. 18 at Michigan, and then in a Goodyear tire test Sept. 9 at Homestead. It was then a backup in Kansas and Charlotte in October.

#14-Tony Stewart: Chassis No. 14-735 debuted in the 2012 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis 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. It was impressive as Stewart used it to overcome a 33rd place 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. 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. 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, 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. Its next start came in late June at Kentucky, where Stewart rallied it to an 11th-place finish after having to start 42nd due to a transmission change prior to the race. It then tested Sept. 2-3 at New Hampshire in preparation for the series' race there on Sept. 21. However, it was a rocky run for Chassis No. 14-735 in the Granite State, as it qualified 28th and finished 30th. The car returns to a flat track with this weekend's race at Phoenix, where it will make its ninth career start and fourth this season.

#15-Clint Bowyer: Chassis No. 798 serves as the primary chassis for Bowyer at Phoenix. This chassis raced at Phoenix in February (13th), California in March (16th), Richmond in April (43rd), Loudon in July (6th) and Richmond in September (3rd). Chassis No. 809 serves as the back-up chassis . This chassis raced at New Hampshire in September (14th), Kansas in May (23rd), Pocono in June (11th) as well as Pocono in August (4th). Bowyer has two top-five and six top-10 finishes in 18 starts at the one-mile oval. Bowyer also has completed 5,619 of 5,694 laps (98.7%) and has led 22 laps at PIR.

#16-Greg Biffle: the primary chassis is RK-908 which last ran at Chicago finishing 23rd The backup chassis is RK-876 which last ran at Phoenix in March, finishing 17th. Biffle has 21 Sprint Cup Series starts at Phoenix, earning five top-five and seven top-10 finishes. He has led a total of 389 laps and has an average finishing position of 14.0 from an average starting position of 14.1.

#17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: primary chassis RK-882 is the same chassis that the team raced at New Hampshire Motor Speedway when Stenhouse got caught in the middle of four wide racing resulting in a left front fender rub that eventually blew the tire sending the Ford to the garage. With 40 laps remaining, the crew was unable to repair the mangled machine forcing Stenhouse to settle for a 39th-place finish. The backup chassis is RK- 877 which last raced at Loudon and finished ninth. Stenhouse has three career starts at PIR, completing 940 of 940 laps (100%) with an average starting position of 20.0 and average finishing position of 15.3.

#22-Joey Logano: will drive Primary Chassis PRS-919 at Phoenix, which last ran at Atlanta in August and finished 14th. The backup chassis is PRS-901 which was last used as a backup at Martinsville in Oct.

#24-Jeff Gordon: crew chief Alan Gustafson has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 24-912 for this Sunday's race at Phoenix. This chassis is brand new and has never been raced. Gordon has two wins, three poles, 11 top-five finishes and 21 top-10s in 31 starts at the Arizona track while he has an 11.3 average finishing position and a 10.9 average starting position.

#27-Paul Menard will utilize chassis No. 485 during Sunday's Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix. This is the same Richmond/Menards Chevy he raced to an 18th-place finish at Richmond in September and a 15th-place finish at New Hampshire in September. Menard has 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at the Phoenix, Ariz. facility. He has three top-10 starts, as well as two top-10 finishes. He has completed 99.5 percent of laps in competition. Menard also has 10 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts, which includes three top-five and six top-10 starts as well as one top-10 finish.

#31-Ryan Newman will drive chassis No. 479 in Sunday's Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500. This Caterpillar Global Mining chassis was utilized earlier this season at Charlotte (Start: 5th / Finish: 7th), Chicago (Start: 2nd / Finish: 15th), Michigan (Start: 12th / Finish: 11th) and Indianapolis (Start: 4th / Finish: 11th). In 24 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, Newman owns one victory at PIR winning the spring event in 2010. He also owns four pole awards, eight top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. His average start is 12.7, average finish is 18.2 and he's led 213 laps in competition.

#33-Ty Dillon will pilot chassis No. 460 for this weekend's Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. This Chevrolet SS made its debut earlier this season at Auto Club Speedway where Brian Scott drove it to a 16th-place finish.

#41-Kurt Busch: will pilot Chassis No. 823 in Phoenix. Formerly a #10 chassis for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) teammate Danica Patrick, Chassis No. 823 debuted in September 2013 at New Hampshire, where Patrick finished 27th. The #10 team then raced Chassis No. 823 at Phoenix in November, where Patrick finished 33rd after a midrace accident not of her making caused her to finish 10 laps down. Chassis No. 823 was utilized again at Phoenix in March, where Patrick finished 36th. Most recently, Chassis No. 823 was raced at Richmond, where Patrick finished 16th. The race will mark Busch's 24th career Sprint Cup start at Phoenix. Busch has one win, five top-five finishes and 12 top-10s at the mile oval. Additionally, the 36-year-old driver has led 750 laps, has an average starting position of 13.2, an average finish of 14.6, and has completed 99.5 percent (7,218 of 7,257) of the laps he's contested there.

#48-Jimmie Johnson: Crew chief Chad Knaus has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 48-906 for this weekend's event in Phoenix. This car most recently finished fifth at New Hampshire in September. The backup car is Chassis No. 48-904, which was last raced at Richmond in September when Johnson finished eighth. In 22 starts at Phoenix, Johnson has four wins, 14 top five-finishes and 18 top 10s. He has led 933 circuits around the track in the desert. Johnson has started from the pole position twice and has a series-leading average finish of 6.3. He is the only active driver with an average finish inside the top 10.

#55-Brian Vickers: will drive primary chassis 805 finished ninth at Bristol in March, 14th at Kansas in May, 21st and 10th at NHMS. Backup: 797 finished 43rd at Dover in June.

#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr.: This weekend, crew chief Steve Letarte and the #88 crew will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-905 at Phoenix International Raceway. This chassis was first raced to a ninth-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September. In 24 NASCAR Sprint Cup starts at Phoenix, Earnhardt has earned two wins, seven top-five finishes and 11 top-10s. He also has led 509 laps at the one-mile track. He scored his two wins there back-to-back, going to Victory Lane in November 2003 and November 2004 when Phoenix hosted one Cup event per season.

#99-Carl Edwards the #99 Fastenal team will unload primary chassis RK-921 which was last run in 2014 at the second Dover race, starting in the 18th spot and finishing 11th. The backup chassis RK-874 was last run in 2014 at the second Loudon race, starting 8th and finishing 17th. Edwards has won two times at Phoenix in the Sprint Cup Series in 20 Sprint Cup starts at the one-mile oval with an average start of 13.0 and an average finish of 12.1.

- compiled by Jayski.com

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