Catchfence

PREVIEW – Scott Wimmer (No. 5 Fastenal Chevrolet)

EVENT – Kroger 200 (200 laps / 137 miles)

TRACK – O’Reilly Raceway Park (.686-mile tri-oval)

DATE – Saturday, July 25th, 2009

TV / RADIO – ESPN2 (coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 7:30 p.m. EST)

HISTORY WITH JRM – This weekend’s Kroger 200 marks Wimmer’s third race with Fastenal and JR Motorsports. His previous two starts for the team were at Darlington and Milwaukee this season. Wimmer’s ninth-place finish at Darlington was his season best.

WIMMER AT ORP – Wimmer has five starts at the .686-mile oval. He earned two top-five and three top-10 finishes, with an average finish of 11.4. Over the past two races there, his average finish is 5.5.

QUALIFYING SUCCESSES – The No. 5 Chevrolet qualified in the top 10 in each of the past four races with Fastenal as the primary sponsor. The Fastenal Chevrolet has an average start of sixth in those races.

FAST FACT – The No. 5 Chevy has only one start at ORP under the JRM banner. It came in 2008, when Landon Cassill drove to a seventh-place finish.

WORKING TOWARD THE FRONT – According to NASCAR Statistical Services, Wimmer is ranked first in quality passes (passes made under green flag conditions on a car running in the top 15) with 45 over the last four races at ORP.

UPCOMING RACES FOR THE 5 TEAM - O’Reilly Raceway Park marks the start of eight consecutive races for the No. 5 team. Seven of those eight races have Fastenal as the primary sponsor, and three of them will have Scott Wimmer behind the wheel.

CHASSIS INFO – The No. 5 Fastenal team will run chassis 470. Mark Martin drove it to a seventh-place finish at Richmond in the spring.

EDUCATION FOR ELI: With the effort and support of the entire NASCAR community, a college fund has been set up for Eli Ross, the 2-year-old grandson of late motorsports journalist David Poole, who passed away on April 28. Anyone interested in contributing to the “Education for Eli” fund can do so by sending donations to the following address:

Eli Samuel Ross
Bank of Stanly
Attn: Misty Nordan
P.O. Box 539
Oakboro, NC 28129
(Please make checks payable to “Eli Ross Account” at Bank of Stanly.)

For more information, please call the Bank of Stanly at 704.485.3435.

DEGREE V12 CHALLENGE – NASCAR fans can now team up with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski in the Degree V12 Challenge. The Degree V12 Driving Challenge features five road races that give players a unique and exciting online race experience. Players compete against each other for a chance to win a variety of prizes including a trip to the Degree V12 300 in Atlanta on September 6, 2009 and a chance to meet Dale Jr. Visit www.DegreeRacing.com to register for the Degree V12 Challenge and begin racing to win. (No purchase necessary. Must be 18 to enter. Void where prohibited. Ends 12/27/09. Visit www.DegreeRacing.com for complete rules.)

IN SEARCH OF REAL FANS: The search continues for the Hellmann’s NASCAR Real Fan of the Year! Three contest winners have been chosen so far, but there are still four more spots on the car and fans can log on to www.RealFanOfTheYear.com to enter for their chance to win. Finalists will get to meet Dale Jr. and have their face on the hood of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Nationwide Chevrolet this October for the Dollar General 300 race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. (No purchase necessary. Must be 18 to enter. Void where prohibited. Ends 8/31/09. Go to www.RealFanOfTheYear.com for complete rules.)

WIMMER (on his expectations heading to ORP) – “I’m really excited to get back in the Fastenal Chevrolet this weekend. This is my third race with JR Motorsports and we’ve been improving every time I’ve raced thiscar. We had a strong top-10 finish at Darlington and at Milwaukee, we ran up front all night. ORP has been one of my better tracks over the years. Short-track racing is something I grew up doing. I can’t think of a better car to race there than the Fastenal Chevy. We’ve been working on some stuff, trying to get the team better and a little more consistent. Hopefully, we can get some strong runs over the next few races I’m in the car.”

WIMMER (on what it takes to succeed at ORP) – “You really need to have your car right and play the pit strategy game properly at ORP. It’s really important to be out front there. If you can put yourself in a position to be out front, and stay out front, that’s really the key to running well. I’ve been fortunate the last few years to have real good cars and we were able to stay out front. We didn’t have to worry about getting back in traffic and tearing up a fender or things like that. We’ll work real hard in practice and get the car to drive well. I think we’ll go in there with a good strategy for the race to keep ourselves out front.

WIMMER (on the challenges of joining a new team) – “I’ve enjoyed working with Brian [Campe, crew chief]. It’s a bit of a change when you first come into a new team. I came from driving at RCR and I knew that organization and how they approached things. When you come into a new organization, it takes a little time to learn the people. In the short time I’ve worked with Brian and the team, I can see they do a great job setting up the cars. Brian always has real great ideas when we go to the racetrack. I’m confident we can get a solid finish with the Fastenal Chevy this weekend.”