Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Advance Notes
RACE SETUP
Race: Auto Club 400, March 24
Drivers: @jamiemcmurray @jpmontoya
Cars: No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet SS, No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS
Track: Auto Club Speedway (2.0-mile oval) in Fontana, Calif.
TV: FOX Sports (3 pm ET)
Social: @EGRTeams #TeamGanassi #TeamTarget
BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW THAT
The Century Mark: With his 10th-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway last weekend, Jamie McMurray reached his 100th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) career top-10 finish.
New on the Menu: Sure every racetrack has the essential food favorites for fans to feast on during race weekend. But only Auto Club Speedway has signature dishes created by NASCAR drivers for fans. Juan Pablo Montoya’s “Fajita Lettuce Wraps” will be available at the “Driver’s Cuisine Cantina” located in the FanZone all weekend. The Fajita includes: grilled skirt steak, a blend of cheddar and jack cheeses, pico de gallo all wrapped in butter leaf lettuce.
Hitting the Books: Jamie McMurray will visit Lefty’s Kids Club at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday, from 8:45 – 9:00am, to read stories to children who participated in Lefty’s Reading Challenge. More than 115,000 students participated, reading nearly 700,000 books as Auto Club Speedway continued its commitment to education by encouraging area students to take part in Lefty’s Reading Challenge. Held in more than 180 schools in San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles counties, the challenge, named after Auto Club Speedway mascot Lefty, is part of Auto Club Speedway’s heralded youth initiative. $27,000 will be distributed to the libraries of the winning schools. Students at winning schools will also receive a school-wide pizza party and all teachers and support staff
#TEAMGANASSI
Follow EGR on Twitter: Continue to follow Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (EGR) on their official team Twitter page. Find in-race updates and weekly news on the No.1 and No.42 teams throughout the 2013 season by following “@EGRTeams”.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
@jamiemcmurray – “Good finish for our @fly_cessna team today. I am in the drive thru @McDonalds getting dinner to take home to the family.”
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
Jamie McMurray and No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Team
Bristol Recap: The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) headed to Eastern Tennessee for the first short-track race of the 2013 season at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS). The No. 1 Cessna team rolled off from the sixth-place starting spot on the grid and overcame an early spin to cap off a productive weekend with a 10th-place finish.
McMurray at Auto Club Speedway: McMurray has a total of 17 starts at Auto Club Speedway accumulating two pole awards, three top-fives and five top-10 finishes. McMurray has completed a total of 3872 laps out of 4034 (96.0%) with an average starting position of 19.8 and an average finishing position of 17.8 at the two-mile Southern California track. McMurray has no DNF’s (did not finish) at Auto Club Speedway.
Gone Fishin’: Bass Pro Shops will make their first appearance of the 2013 season as the primary sponsor on the No. 1 Chevy SS. The Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats paint scheme on the No. 1 at Auto Club Speedway will be the first of two races in 2013. McMurray will also make an appearance at 6:00 pm Thursday at the Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Bass Pro Shops store located just six miles from Auto Club Speedway at 7777 Victoria Gardens Lane Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. 91739.
Juan Pablo Montoya and No. 42 Target Team
Bristol Rewind: The fourth race of the 2013 season brought teams to Bristol Motor Speedway over the weekend. Team Target qualified in the 17th position and was heading toward the front when a fuel pressure issue struck near lap 60. Juan Pablo Montoya was forced to the garage for repairs and returned for a 30th-place finish.
99 Wins and Counting …: The Target Racing program, which began with Target and Chip Ganassi Racing in 1990, is just one win shy of the 100-win plateau. The first win for the program came in 1994 with Michael Andretti’s Indy car victory at Surfers Paradise, Australia when the team was just a two-car open wheel program. The partnership between Target and Chip Ganassi Racing is one of the longest consecutive team partnerships in motor racing history.
Montoya at Fontana: In 10 starts at Auto Club Speedway, Montoya has one pole award, one top-five and two top-10 finishes. His average starting and finishing positions are 14.5 and 19.1, respectively. The Target driver has led 118 laps and has completed 2163 laps out of a possible 2279 (94.9%).
Getting Revved Up: Montoya will take part in a question and answer session on Sunday, March 24 from 8:45 – 9:00 am (PST) on the Chevy stage located in the FanZone at Auto Club Speedway.
ONE TEAM, SIX CARS, THREE SERIES
Chip Ganassi has been a fixture in the auto racing industry for over 25 years and is considered one of the most successful as well as innovative owners the sport has anywhere in the world. Today his teams include three cars in the IZOD IndyCar Series, two cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and one Daytona Prototype in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. Overall his teams have 15 championships and over 150 victories, including four Indianapolis 500s, a Daytona 500, a Brickyard 400 and five Rolex 24 At Daytonas. Ganassi boasts state-of-the-art race shop facilities in Indianapolis and Brownsburg, Ind. and Concord, N.C., with a corporate office in Pittsburgh, Penn.
For more information log onto: www.earnhardtganassi.com
