Catchfence

PREVIEW – Ron Fellows (No. 5 Fastenal Chevrolet)

EVENT – NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge (74 laps / 200.46 miles)

TRACK – Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (2.71-mile road course)

DATE – Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009

TV/ RADIO BROADCAST INFO – ESPN2 (coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 2:00 p.m. EST)

FELLOWS WITH JR MOTORSPORTS – Sunday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race will mark Fellows’ third start with JR Motorsports. Previously, he has a start at Montreal (2008) and Watkins Glen (2009) with JRM. He has earned one win, and his average finish in two races is 3.0.

AT Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – Fellows returns as the defending race winner of the 200-mile race. He was part of NASCAR history with his win in 2008, as he became the first Canadian to win a NASCAR event on Canadian soil. He qualified sixth, and led seven laps en route to his fourth series victory. The win was also the first road-course victory for JRM. In two starts at the 2.71-mile road course, Fellows has one win and a fourth-place finish. He has led 11 laps, earned an average finish of 2.5, and an average start of 4.5. Additionally, Fellows is ranked second with a driver rating of 121.7 at the facility and holds the distinction of being the oldest winner of the race at 48 years, 10 months, and five days old following his 2008 victory.

JRM ROAD-COURSE STATS – JR Motorsports has competed in four road-course events with the No. 5 Chevrolet since 2008. The team earned one win (Montreal), two top-fives, and two top-10s.

JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES - A longtime sports car and road-racing veteran, Fellows is credited with three class championships in the American Le Mans Series, two class wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and 19 overall victories in the Sports Car Club of America’s Trans-Am Series as a member of the Corvette Racing Team. His NASCAR credentials include six overall wins (two in the Camping World Truck Series), and two runner-up finishes in Sprint Cup competition.

NATIONWIDE SERIES STATS – Fellows’ Nationwide Series history goes back 12 years to 1997. In his 14 career races, he has scored four wins, seven top-five, and eight top-10 finishes. Fellows earned two poles, led 200 laps, and had an average finish of 15.8 with an average start of 7.4.

CHASSIS INFO – The Fastenal team will race chassis No. 389 this weekend. Fellows drove this chassis to victory at Montreal in 2008. It also finished fifth at Watkins Glen International three weeks ago.

“DALE JR’S GREAT GIVEAWAY” TO AWARD MORE THAN 60 PRIZES – JR Motorsports announced the beginning of its six-week online promotion, “Dale Jr.’s Great Giveaway”, in which fans can register at www.DaleJrsGreatGiveaway.com. to win 60 prize packages. Beginning Aug. 14th, prizes will be distributed each week for six weeks. The prizes include gift certificates, product packages, autographed merchandise, personal driver meet-n-greets, and race-weekend giveaways. 12 of JR Motorsports’ sponsorship partners donated the prizes. Registration began on Aug. 7th, and runs through Sept. 18th. For complete rules, regulations, and a list of all 60 prizes please visit www.DaleJrsGreatGiveaway.com.

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.)

FELLOWS (on the added pressure to perform well in front of the Canadian race fans) – “I certainly don’t feel any added pressure as a Canadian, or returning as the defending race winner. Being on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and on Canadian soil, I have to try not to get too pumped up. But having won the race last year, there’s less personal pressure because the JRM team and I already have one trophy! It’s likely more difficult for the Quebec-based drivers like Carpentier, Tagliani and Villeneuve. For them, the race is truly in their backyard.”

FELLOWS (on the keys to getting around the Montreal course and its 14 turns) – “You need to have excellent braking power and brake balance. You also need lots of horsepower for a couple of the long straights and have the chassis working well with great traction exiting the slow corners. Brian Campe [crew chief], Cam Strader [car chief] and the entire Fastenal crew have been working hard since Watkins Glen refining the No. 5 Fastenal Chevy. We know we need to be better than last year, just based on what we saw from the competition at Watkins Glen. The competition is a lot stronger and we feel like we have a good practice plan for Montreal. Hopefully, a few things we learned from Watkins Glen will work as well. I have really enjoyed working with the Fastenal team and despite the fact that I have more races behind me than in front of me, I feel like a kid at Christmas every time I get to work with the JRM team.”

FELLOWS (on the uniqueness of Montreal as a NASCAR venue) – “The Montreal event is a great weekend. It’s likely very different for the majority of the NASCAR teams and workers because you are able to stay in the downtown core with the track so close, and it’s on the subway line! Not that I’m particularly superstitious, but the Fellows family has always stayed at the same hotel each year, and in the same two rooms. There are endless great restaurants in Montreal and we try to sample the ones within walking distance of the hotel. Our daughter went to McGill University and the campus is in the downtown area, so she knows where to find the fine dining.”

- JR Motorsports Press Release