Thursday
Michael McDowell & Terry Labonte, 2010 NSCS Kobalt Tools 500 Race Previews
Press Release
Michael McDowell, No. 46 Cash America Chevrolet Impala
This is a big weekend for you racing in front of your hometown crowd; what are some of the off-track things you have planned for this week? “It’s always nice to be able to go and race at home. This week I’ll have a chance to go and visit with my family, which is nice because we’re so busy we don’t get to see one another as often as we’d like to. And while we’re out there my wife and I are going to go out to Las Vegas for a couple of days and celebrate our anniversary at the Monte Carlo. It’s definitely nice to have a sponsor that lets us enjoy a few extra perks!”
Did you ever attend the NASCAR races at PIR when you were growing up? “I actually went to a lot of the Indy car races there because it was a lot easier to get a ticket! The NASCAR races were always sold out way in advance and it was really hard to get a ticket back then. The first NASCAR race I ever saw at Phoenix is the first one I was ever in when I was with MWR in 2007.”
What is the key to a fast lap at Phoenix? “Phoenix is a really technical racetrack and it’s totally different at each end. The dogleg down the backstretch is different than what we have at any other racetrack too. It’s a handling racetrack so the key to it is to get a car that can hug the white line all the way around.”
Michael McDowell at Phoenix: Michael has three previous Sprint Cup starts at Phoenix, with a best start of 12th earlier this season with PRISM Motorsports; his best finish was 34th in April, 2008 while driving for MWR. He has four previous Nationwide Series starts at PIR with three top-20 results; his best finish was 11th in April, 2009.
Gene Nead Filling in at PIR: Veteran NASCAR crew chief Gene Nead will fill in as crew chief for Whitney Motorsports at Phoenix this weekend. Nead led Ted Musgrave to the 2005 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship; he has also worked in the Nationwide Series with Phil Parsons and most recently in the Sprint Cup Series with driver Robby Gordon.
Cash America back aboard in Phoenix: Cash America will once again sponsor the No. 46 team this weekend in Phoenix. The southwest is an important market for Cash America and it’s recently acquired Super Pawn division has numerous locations in the area. Cash America will have a large contingent on hand throughout the weekend as it will sponsor a team in all three nationally touring series this weekend. They will be with David Starr and the No. 81 SS Green Light Racing team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Friday, then on with Starr and the Day Enterprises No. 05 team in the Nationwide Series event on Saturday before capping the weekend with Michael McDowell and the Whitney Motorsports team on Sunday.
Sands Chevrolet on as Associate Sponsor in Phoenix: Sands Chevrolet will be on for the ride this weekend as they’ve joined Whitney Motorsports as an associate sponsor on Michael McDowell’s No. 46 Cash America Chevrolet. “Our dealership is a huge supporter of the community here in Glendale. It’s family-owned and operated and been in business for 77 years and the fact that Michael is a Glendale guy and now that he’s driving a Chevrolet, well the stars have finally aligned,” said Bill McDowell, xxx at Sands Chevrolet, and Michael’s older brother. “We will have about 100 to 150 customers out there. Usually we invite a lot of past customers, especially in our fleet program. We’ve been here so long that most of our customer base is repeaters and referrals, and we get a lot of that business because we go above and beyond that some of the other local dealers are doing. Anyone that shows interest in NASCAR, we try to take care of them.” Sands Chevrolet is located at 5450 NW Grand Avenue, Glendale, Ariz. 85301; they can be found online at www.sandsglendale.com.
About Cash America: Cash America International, Inc. provides specialty financial services to individuals in over 1,000 locations in the United States and Mexico and over the Internet in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. Cash America is the largest provider of secured non-recourse loans (commonly referred to as pawn loans) in the United States and currently operates under the brand names Cash America Pawn and SuperPawn in the United States and under the brand name Prenda Fácil in Mexico. The company also offers short-term cash advances in many of its locations in the United States, including close to 250 stores that offer this service under the brand names Cash America Payday Advance and Cashland. The company also offers check cashing services in many of its lending locations and in its company-owned and franchised check cashing facilities operating under the Mr. Payroll trade name. The company also offers short-term consumer loan products over the Internet in the United States at http://www.cashnetusa.com, in the United Kingdom at http://www.quickquid.co.uk, in Australia at http://www.dollarsdirect.com.au, and in Canada at http://www.dollarsdirect.ca. The company also owns a card services business that processes cash advances on behalf of a third-party lender with balances outstanding in all 50 states and four other United States jurisdictions. The company’s corporate offices are located in Fort Worth, Texas.
What are your goals for this weekend with Whitney Motorsports? “Since it been a long while since I’ve run at PIR the first goal is to get out there and make some laps and get comfortable in the car. With the current rules in NASCAR limiting testing we really need to get as many laps as we can. There are still plenty of tracks on the schedule that I’ve not been to with the COT chassis so any laps I can get will be a huge benefit for what we’re trying to do with our own team next year.”
This is your first attempt at PIR in the new car; how do you anticipate the ‘COT’ chassis will handle versus the old-style car? “It’s been so long since I’ve been in any kind of racecar at PIR that any car would be a new car to me. If you drove a few laps in the old car and then drove a few laps in the COT car you would definitely feel a difference because the new car is not near as forgiving. Even for someone who’s won out there before and has a lot of laps out there over the years it’s going to be a big learning experience this weekend.”
Is your limited schedule comeback like golf or fishing is to some people or is there still that burning desire to compete and win? “We are working hard to put a program together for next year that will be competitive. I do get a degree of relaxation in the car, however we are in an extremely competitive sport competing against the best there is so the ‘fishing and relaxing’ side comes to a screeching halt and the competitive side kicks in. Because our plan is to run competitively weather that will be on a limited schedule or a full schedule will depend on how successful we are off the track at obtaining sponsorship.”
Terry Labonte at Phoenix: Terry has one win (1994), four top-five and five top-ten finishes in 17 previous starts at PIR. He is attempting to make his first start at the one-mile oval since 2004. His average start is 24.9 and his average finish is 14.7. He has completed 5,236 of a possible 5,252 competition laps (99.7%) and has led 177 laps in four races at PIR.
Phoenix On-track:
Friday Nov 12 2:00 – 3:30 PM ET NSCS Practice
5:45 PM ET NSCS Qualifying
Saturday Nov 13 1:30 – 2:15 PM ET NSCS Practice
2:50 – 3:50 PM ET NSCS Final Practice
Sunday Nov 14 3:00 PM ET NSCS Kobalt Tools 500 (312 laps/312 miles/500 km; Live, ESPN/MRN Radio/Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128)
- Linkous Enterprises, Inc., for Whitney Motorsports, Press Release
Article Tags: Chevrolet Impala SS, Chevy Impala SS, Dodge Charger, Dodge Motorsports, Kobalt Tools 500, Michael McDowell, NASCAR, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, No. 46 Cash America Dodge Charger, No. 81 Whitney Motorsports Dodge Charger, NSCS, Phoenix International Raceway, PIR, Team Chevy, Terry Labonte, Whitney Motorsports
