Alex Bowman, No. 99 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Toyota Camry, Indianapolis Preview

Event/Date:          Indiana 250 – July 27, 2013
Venue:                  Indianapolis Motor Speedway

News & Notes:

• This Week’s Toyota … Alex Bowman will pilot RAB Racing Chassis No. 41 in Saturday’s Indiana 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This chassis last saw action at Iowa Speedway last month and has been completely reconfigured for The Brickyard.
• Welcome Aboard … Nationwide Children’s Hospital joins RAB Racing this weekend as primary sponsor of the No. 99 Toyota Camry.  Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of America’s largest pediatric hospitals and research centers with more than 1,000 physician specialists providing care for a million-plus patient visits annually.  The hospital has been ranked as one the best hospitals in the United States by US News & World Report. Last year, Nationwide Children’s Hospital cared for children from every US state and 27 foreign countries.
• First Timers… Though Bowman has recorded laps at many of the tracks on the Nationwide Series circuit throughout his seasons in the K&N Pro Series and the ARCA Racing Series, he has not      yet competed at the Brickyard. As he heads out on the 2.5-mile oval for Nationwide Series practice this Friday afternoon, these will truly be his first laps here. Additionally, crew chief of the No. 99 Toyota Camry, Chris Rice, will be sitting atop the pit box at the Indiana track for the first time.
• RAB Racing at Indianapolis … RAB Racing with Brack Maggard has competed in one Nationwide Series events      at Indianapolis Speedway since the track’s inaugural year of Nationwide Series competition last year. With Travis Pastrana behind the wheel, the RAB Racing team finished in the 13th position in 2012’s Indiana 250.
• Get to the Points … As we head into the 19th race of the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series season, Bowman currently occupies the 11th position in the drivers’ point standings, only 76 points out of the top 10. Robby Benton continued to hold down the 15th position in the Nationwide Series owners’ point standings.
• Rookie Battle… Following his 31st place finish at Chicagoland Speedway, Bowman remains in the second position of the Rookie of the Year point standings, 58 points behind leader Kyle Larson.
• Catch the Action … Saturday’s Indiana 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be televised live Saturday, July 27th beginning at 4:30 p.m. EST on ESPN.
• Get Social … Don’t miss any updates from Bowman and RAB Racing. Follow them on Twitter @AlexBRacing and @RAB_Racing.

Alex Bowman Quotes:

“What an exciting weekend it will be at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I feel like Indy is a place that I’ve been around so much growing up in the sprint car and midget world, I raced there in quarter midgets in the infield back in the day.  It’s a cool place.  It’s one of those places that just has a ton of history and really looking forward to getting out on the race track.  We’ll have a great car as well in chassis No. 41, its first ever race was at Iowa Speedway in June where we ran in the top 10 all day, so this will be its second ever race and I’m sure we’ll be racing towards the front of the field.”

Chris Rice Quotes:

“Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of the fastest and most challenging races on the schedule. It’s a track that you need a good balance between raw speed down the long straightaways and handling and downforce in the flat corners. The straightaways are so long that you need to be able to roll the corners well and carry a lot of speed out of the turns and onto the straights. All these factors put together, make Indianapolis one of the most unique tracks on the schedule and I’m excited to be sitting on the pitbox for the very first time as a crew chief at the famed 2.5 mile Brickyard.”