Catchfence

CHINA GROVE, N.C. (October 11, 2011) – When the NASCAR Nationwide Series activities begin this weekend at the 1.5-mile oval of Charlotte Motor Speedway, Robert Richardson, Jr. will be back in the seat of the No. 23 North Texas Pipe Chevrolet.

While it’s a home “game” for most everyone in NASCAR, Richardson will be making the trek from his home in Texas. The family-owned team of R3 Motorsports has entered and made every race this year with the No. 23 entry.

The 29-year old native of McKinney, Texas used the recent off-weeks from racing to take an extensive tour of Colorado and New Mexico utilizing his minor in photography from Southern Methodist University. To see some of his photos, he has them on is Facebook for viewing.

Fast Facts: This will be Richardson’s 20th start of the 2011 season and 89th of his NNS career. Throughout this year, he’s completed 2,946 of 3,740 laps contested and led one lap, at Talladega. His best finish took place at Richmond in May where he was 20th.

Track Facts: In his five previous starts at CMS, the former quarterback has a best start of 28th in 2008 and finish of 23rd in the spring race last year. He’s completed 617 of 975 laps during his handful of starts.

Where’s Robert? The NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers have a scheduled autograph session from 1 p.m. ET until 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon at the track.

Tune in for the Win: This will be an easy one for the TV fans this weekend; just lock into ESPN2 and keep there. There will be two practices on Thursday afternoon from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. for the first practice, then 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. for the final one. On Friday, qualifying takes place at 3 p.m. and race action starts at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2, PRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90.

NEXT! The NNS will have two weeks off before racing at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, November 5.

Robert Richardson, Jr. Quotes: “This 1.5-mile track is pretty much like the others when it comes to the layout. But, this one is a lot faster than a Chicagoland or Kansas when it comes to how you handle in the turns.

“We need to get ourselves dialed in real good during the two practices sessions so we know what we have to deal with during the race. If we start to get in some of those long, green-flag runs like we have been lately, then we need to know what to expect.

“I’m liking this race for our guys because they get to spend some time at home instead of traveling a long distance to go to work. They will have a lot of family and friends at the track, so we want to put on a good show for them.”

- R3 Motorsports Press Release