Wednesday, April 3, 2013

2013 STP Gas Booster 500: Martinsville Chassis Selections

Martinsville might be last track remaining for bumping and grinding 
#2-Brad Keselowski: Primary Chassis: PRS-837 New chassis. Backup Chassis: PRS-834 - Backup chassis from Bristol (not used).

#5-Kasey Kahne: Crew chief Kenny Francis will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-787 for Sunday's event at Martinsville. This is a new chassis.

#9-Marcos Ambrose: The No. 9 team has prepared chassis No. 728 for Martinsville. The team competed with this chassis at Martinsville last fall.

#10-Danica Patrick: Chassis No. 10-535: This car (formally No. 14-535) debuted in April 2009 with Tony Stewart at the wheel at Phoenix International Raceway, where Stewart used it to qualify sixth and lead once for 19 laps before finishing second. Chassis No. 10-535 returned to another flat track with Stewart in June via New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, but its time on the racetrack was short after it crashed in practice. It was repaired with new front and rear clips for its return trip to New Hampshire in September. There, Chassis No. 10-535 led four times for 52 laps before a loose axle cap forced an unscheduled pit stop, which resulted in a 14th-place finish for Stewart. The November trek to Phoenix marked the car's third career start, where it qualified eighth and went from a possible top-10 performance to a disappointing 25th-place result when Stewart was caught up in a multi-car accident on lap 171 of the 312-lap race. With a new body, Chassis No. 10-535 returned to Phoenix with Stewart in April 2010 and had a quiet outing in its fourth start, qualifying 11th and finishing 23rd. The car was quickly turned around and tested by Stewart on April 26, 2010 at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Ga. The last outing for Chassis No. 10-535 was in November 2010, when Stewart started 20th and finished 17th at Phoenix. The car was on standby for the No. 14 team throughout many race weekends in 2011 and 2012 but was never pressed into service. Since the end of the 2012 season, it was updated to the sixth-generation (Gen-6) Chevrolet SS configuration and transferred to the No. 10 GoDaddy.com team of Danica Patrick and crew chief Tony Gibson.

#14-Tony Stewart: Chassis No. 14-710: This car debuted in April 2012 in the Capital City 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. It qualified 22nd and led four times for 118 laps before a late-race caution canceled Tony Stewart's two-and-a-half second lead and forced him to settle for a third-place finish. It was then tested June 6-7 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and again during a Goodyear Tire Test June 12-13 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The Lenox Industrial Tools 301 in July at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon marked Chassis No. 14-710's second career start. There, a new tire compound from Goodyear confounded Stewart and crew chief Steve Addington, and they labored to a 12th-place finish. The car returned to Richmond in September for its third career start via the Federated Auto Parts 400, where it rallied from its 28th-place starting spot to lead 15 laps before finishing fourth. Its last start of 2012 came in October at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway where in its fourth career start, it qualified seventh and finished a disappointing 27th. With 2013 Chevrolet SS bodywork covering it, Chassis No. 14-710 returns to Martinsville for the STP Gas Booster 500.

#15-Clint Bowyer: Primary chassis No. 761 is new. The backup chassis (No. 741) led 154 laps last fall at Martinsville and finished fifth.

#16-Greg Biffle: Chassis RK-822 was brand new when it kicked off the 2012 Chase for Biffle at Richmond earning him a ninth-place finish. The team then took the same car to Loudon last fall, but had to settle for an 18th-place finish. RK-822 finished out 2012 with a 10th-place finish at Martinsville and will once again be back on track this weekend. Backup Chassis:RK-844 Last ran Phoenix finished 17th.

#17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Primary Chassis: RK- 814 2012 No. 99 chassis -last ran at Dover - finished 26th. Backup Chassis: RK-801 - 2012 No. 99 chassis

#22-Joey Logano: Primary Chassis: PRS-835 Backup chassis from Las Vegas (not used). Backup Chassis: PRS-836 Backup chassis from Phoenix (not used)

#27-Paul Menard will pilot chassis No. 419 at Martinsville Speedway. This No. 27 Chevrolet SS is a new addition to the Richard Childress Racing stable this season.

#29-Kevin Harvick: will pilot chassis No. 420 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in the STP Gas Booster 500. This Chevrolet is new to the RCR line up and will run its first competitive laps this weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

#31-Jeff Burton will race chassis No. 421 this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. This is a brand new No. 31 Chevrolet seeing its first on-track action during Friday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice session.

#39-Ryan Newman: Chassis No. 39-783: Newman will pilot Chassis No. 39-783 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Built new for 2013, Chassis 39-783 will see its first laps of competition this weekend at Martinsville.

#43-Aric Almirola: The No. 43 team has prepared chassis No. 850 for Martinsville. The team built the chassis in the off-season.

#48-Jimmie Johnson: will drive chassis No. 749, at Martinsville. Chassis No. 689 serves as the backup.

#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. Crew chief Steve Letarte will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-789 for this weekend's race at Martinsville Speedway. This is a brand new chassis that has not been raced.

#99-Carl Edwards: Primary RK- 819 last ran at Kansas and Michigan test fall 2012. RK 790 backup car for Bristol and last ran in Spring Martinsville race 2012.

- compiled by Jayski.com

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