Catchfence

No. 29 Holiday Inn / Holiday Inn Express Impala SS

Event: Lipton Tea 250 – May 1, 2009

Venue: Richmond (Va.) International Raceway

· This Week’s Holiday Inn/Holiday Inn Express Chevrolet Impala SS at Richmond International Raceway… Jeff Burton will pilot Chassis No. 060 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Nationwide Series Stable. This is the same No. 29 Holiday Inn/Holiday Inn Express Chevrolet Impala SS Burton drove to a 20th-place finish two weeks ago at Phoenix International Raceway.

· Richmond’s Best … The South Boston, Va., native has led 745 laps at RIR, the most of any driver in the NNS at the 0.75-mile Virginia short-track. In fact, Burton led the most laps in three NNS events, including his most recent third-place finish in May 2007.

· Past Winner … Burton earned three Richmond victories while driving for team owner Jack Roush in both the NNS and Sprint Cup Series. Burton’s first NNS win came in June 1998, and he followed that victory with a Sprint Cup Series win that September. His most recent NNS victory came in September 2000 in where he led 197 of the event’s 250 laps.

· Burton in May at RIR … Burton has a 12th-place average finishing position in four spring NNS starts at Richmond. Additionally, 27-time NNS winner has only one finish outside the top-three, a 41st-place result after his engine expired in 2000.

· RCR at Richmond … In 41 NNS starts, RCR boasts five wins, 15 top-five and 23 top-10 finishes, and a 13th-place average finishing position. RCR is one lap shy of leading a milestone 1,000 total NNS laps around the “Action Track.”

· Richmond’s May Flowers for RCR … Since the NNS schedule changed in 2005 with Richmond’s May event following Talladega Superspeedway’s April race, RCR-owned Chevrolets have a combined finishing position of sixth at Richmond, including one win and no finish worse than 12th.

· Holiday Inn Racing at RIR … The Holiday Inn Racing team has a 7.5 average starting spot in six starts at Richmond, including their first NNS career pole during their 2006 season. The No. 29 team has earned an average finishing position of 10.8 with only one finish outside the top-10 at RIR.

· Rearview Mirror … Last weekend, Clint Bowyer was collected in a two-car accident during the middle stages of the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega, causing heavy damage to the front end of the green and blue No. 29 Chevrolet. Bowyer and the Holiday Inn Racing team soldiered on to finish 31st.

· Down But Not Out … In their quest for a second NNS owners’ championship in three years, the RCR-owned No. 29 Chevrolet is 152 markers outside the owners’ point lead, currently held by the Kevin Harvick Inc.-owned No. 33. In 2007, the No. 29 Holiday Inn Racing team came back from a 277-point deficit to defeat Jack Roush’s No. 60 entry for the owners’ title.

· ‘Three Wide for the Name on the Ride’ … The internal wager among the three Holiday Inn Racing drivers, Burton, Bowyer, and Stephen Leicht, is in high gear. The driver with the most wins, or best average finishing position, following the July Daytona event will have their signature above the door of the No. 29 Holiday Inn/Holiday Inn Express Chevrolet for the remainder of the 2009 season, no matter who is driving the car. Following the first eight races this season, here is how they ‘stack up:’

o Burton – 11.0 average finish

o Leicht – 11.0 average finish

o Bowyer – 12.3 average finish

· Double Duty Wheeling … In addition to his NNS duties, Burton will pilot the No. 31 Prilosec OTC-Walmart Chevrolet in the Crown Royal presents the Russ Freidman 400 on Saturday evening. The race will air live on FOX beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time and will be broadcast on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio beginning at 6:45 p.m. EDT.

· Holiday Inn Racing’s Virginia Natives … In addition to Burton, two members of the No. 29 Holiday Inn/Holiday Inn Express team were born in Virginia. P.J. Bryant, shock specialist for RCR’s NNS entry, hails from Dale City, Va., approximately 83 miles north of RIR. Tommy Wallace was born in Richmond, Va., and serves as a back-up tire changer for the Holiday Inn Racing over-the-wall pit crew.

· Car Chief’s Birthday … Jeff Stankiewicz, car chief for the No. 29 Holiday Inn Racing Chevrolet, will celebrate his 26th birthday on Saturday. Stankiewicz has been an RCR employee since 2006 and this marks his second year serving as car chief for the No. 29 Holiday Inn Racing team.

· Race Broadcast Information … ESPN2 will air live coverage of the Lipton Tea 250 on Friday, May 1 beginning at 7 p.m. EST. MRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio will also air lap-by-lap coverage beginning at 7:15 p.m. EDT. Qualifying for the ninth event of the 2009 NNS series will air on SPEED at 4 p.m. EDT. MRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio will also broadcast live updates of time trials from Richmond.

JEFF BURTON QUOTES:

What are the keys to getting around Richmond?

“The key to Richmond is getting a good starting position and staying up front and out of trouble. If you have a car that can handle through the corners and off, you’re in good shape. You need to have a good brake package, but it has to be balanced with good horsepower to get off the corners and accelerate quickly.”

You gave Holiday Inn Racing their first ever pole award at Richmond in 2006. What was that like?

“Holiday Inn is a great sponsor of ours at RCR and to get them their first win and pole in their first year (2006) was incredible. We followed that up with the 2007 Nationwide Series owners’ title and that’s our goal this year. With having Clint (Bowyer) and Stephen (Leicht) all driving the No. 29, our hope is to further build on the successful relationship we’ve already built with Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express.”

DAN DEERINGHOFF (CREW CHIEF) QUOTE:

You’re coming off a less-than-desired finish at Talladega, but you’re heading to a track where RCR has had success. What are you looking to get out of the car this weekend?

“We’ll try to qualify up front because track position is pretty important at Richmond. For the race set up, we need to have a car that can handle through the corners. Our focus for race trim will be getting the car to roll through the center of the turns and be able to get up off the corners quickly. We have the same short-track car we just ran at Phoenix a couple weeks ago and it handled to Burton’s liking. He was able to really move through the field until we had that hole that cut down the left-front tire.”

- Richard Childress Racing Press Release