No. 29 Holiday Inn/Holiday Inn Express Chevrolet Impala SS
Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event:
Degree V12 300 – September 5, 2009Venue: Atlanta Motor Speedway – Hampton, Ga.
NOTES:
· This Week’s Holiday Inn/Holiday Inn Express Chevrolet Impala SS at Atlanta Motor Speedway … Jeff Burton will pilot Chassis No. 080 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Nationwide Series stable in this Saturday’s Degree V12 300. Built new in 2009, this is the same Impala SS Austin Dillon practiced and qualified last month at Michigan International Speedway. The car was damaged during the second lap of qualifying, forcing the No. 2 team to go to a back-up car for the race. Since then, this Chevrolet has been repaired and painted with Holiday Inn Racing’s colors.
Statistically Speaking …
o Burton’s RCR Success at Atlanta … In the last three NNS races at the 1.54-mile oval, Burton has driven a RCR-prepared Chevrolet to back-to-back wins in 2006 and 2007 and finished third in last season’s event. He led 117 laps of competition and boasts an average finish of 1.7 in those events.
o Wins … The 27-time NNS winner is one of three drivers with more than one NNS win at the Hampton, Ga. speedway. Burton is tied for second all-time at AMS with Matt Kenseth with two career NNS victories each. They trail Mark Martin, who has visited Atlanta’s Victory Lane three times in NNS competition.
o Consistently Running … In his last three NNS starts at Atlanta, Burton ran inside the top 15 for 97.45 percent (573 of 588) of the laps contested. His average running position of 3.8 is best among all drivers over the previous four races there.
o Driver Rating … Based on NASCAR’s loop data statistics over the last four NNS races at AMS, Burton’s driver rating of 129.5 is the best of any other driver. The Driver Rating is a formula that combines the following categories: wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum points a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The Driver Rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator.
o RCR at Atlanta … In 20 NNS races at Atlanta, RCR has two wins (Burton– 2006, 2007), five top-five and nine top-10 finishes. RCR-prepared Chevrolets have earned a 13.5 average finish and completed 97 percent of the laps (4,097 of the 4,223) contested.
· Rearview Mirror … Last weekend, Stephen Leicht finished eighth in the caution-plagued NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Leicht picked up three spots in the green-white-checkered finish to score the No. 29 team’s 10th consecutive top-15 finish.
· Points Check … The Richard Childress-owned team gained valuable championship points last weekend and maintain seventh in the NNS owners’ point standings. With 10 races remaining this season, the No. 29 team sits 28 markers outside of sixth place, 36 points behind fifth position, and 71 markers outside of fourth.
· Double Duty at AMS … In addition to his NNS duties, Burton will pilot the No. 31 CAT Financial Chevrolet Impala SS in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta. ESPN’s live coverage of the Pep Boys Auto 500 will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Sunday, September 6. The race will also be broadcast on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius/XM Satellite Radio beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT. Qualifying for the 25th points-paying event of the 2009 NSCS season will air live on Saturday, September 5 beginning at 4:30 EDT on SPEED. PRN and Sirius/XM Satellite Radio will also provide live updates of time trials.
· Holiday Inn’s Hometown … Intercontinental Hotel Group, the parent company of Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, is headquartered in Atlanta, Ga. Holiday Inn became the primary sponsor for RCR’ No. 29 Nationwide Series entry for 10 races with Jeff Burton in 2006. In 2007, Burton and Scott Wimmer won the NNS owners’ point championship. In 105 career NNS starts, the No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet has earned eight wins, 35 top-five and 70 top-10 finishes. Collectively, the four drivers of Clint Bowyer, Burton, Leicht and Wimmer recorded an 11.3 average start and an 11th-place finishing average in the No. 29 Chevrolet.
· Happy Birthday … Brandon Lee, rear-tire changer on the Holiday Inn Racing’s over-the-wall crew, will celebrate a birthday on Thursday, September 4. During the week, Lee works as a mechanic during the week at RCR’s Sprint Cup Series shop.
· Stay Updated … For behind-the-scenes information about the No. 29 team and updates throughout each race weekend, visit www.twitter.com/HolidayInnRacin.
· Race Broadcast Information … The Degree V12 300 will be televised live on ESPN2 on Saturday, September 5 beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT. The race will also be broadcast on PRN and Sirius/XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 26th event of the 2009 NNS season will air on the same day beginning at 2:30 p.m. EDT on SPEED. PRN and Sirius/XM Satellite Radio will also broadcast live updates of time trials.
· Mark Your Calendars … In honor of its 40th anniversary, RCR will host a Fan Day at the Welcome, N.C. complex on Thursday, October 22 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Activities include driver and pit crew autograph sessions, self-guided tours of RCR’s Sprint Cup and Nationwide shops as well as ECR’s engine shop, radio remotes, musical entertainment, pit crew competition, viewing of the DALE movie, question-and-answer session with team owner Richard Childress and much more. General admission to RCR’s Fan Day is just $5, which will benefit the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma.
· Online With the Times … To keep up with the latest news and information about Richard Childress Racing and to view exclusive online content, visit the team’s official website at www.RCRRacing.com. For qualifying and race results, check us out at www.twitter.com/RCRRacing.
How much of a difference, in terms of speed, is there between the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series cars at Atlanta?
“It’s a huge difference. Atlanta is a really fast race track in both series, but the Nationwide cars carry more speed through the center of the corners because they have more downforce. These cars are slower down the straight-aways, which makes you go faster in the corners compared to the Cup cars. There are a lot of things you can do to a Nationwide car from the body to the chassis that you can give you an advantage. You drive these cars much more aggressively than you do the Cup cars.”
Do the speeds change during a race? How do you think night racing will play a role in the speeds?
“Atlanta, to me, has duel personalities. As fast as it is on lap three, it really gets slow on lap 35. The speeds fall off as the track slickens up. But, we’ve never raced at night before at Atlanta. During the Nationwide Series night race, there are going to be times when we are going to be close to being, if not, wide open, in race trim, which is always fast.”
DOUG RANDOLPH QUOTES:
The No. 29 team has been running consistently well these past 10 weekends. How do you feel about the progress you’re making?
“We’re definitely hitting our stride, but we’re not exactly where we want to be. Our hope is to be contending for top fives and wins before too long and we’re just about there. We’ve tried some new things with the cars over the past few weeks and are making gains with the overall handling. Our goal each race is to have a better finish than the previous weekend.”
What are your goals for Atlanta’s first night race in the Nationwide Series?
“To be successful at Atlanta, you need a car that can enter the corners carrying a lot of speed. The biggest challenge is going to be night racing for the first time. I think we’re going to see faster speeds for sure, but it will be interesting to see how the speeds fall off. We’re trying some new things that we learned from our test at Rockingham last week. We think we have a good set up for the race and hope, with Burton’s previous success there, we’ll have a solid run.”
- Atlanta Motor Speedway Press Release