No. 88 GT Vodka Chevrolet / No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
EVENT –
O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge (200 laps / 300 miles)TRACK – Texas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile tri-oval)
DATE – Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010
TV / RADIO – ESPN2 (coverage begins at 12 p.m. EST) / PRN (broadcast begins at 12:15 p.m. EST)
Aric Almirola
No. 88 GT Vodka Chevrolet
“It’s been a busy couple of weeks for me. I’ve been running trucks and Cup for the past couple weeks, and now I get to climb back in the GT Vodka Chevrolet at Texas. It was good to see the 88 team run well at Gateway. Josh (Wise) did a great job for them. They had a solid qualifying effort and ran well for the bulk of the race.
“It’s going to be triple duty for me at Texas this weekend. Doing double duty the past couple weeks has been a good experience, but running all three series will be a blast. I’ve raced at Texas in truck and Cup car before, but this will be my first in the Nationwide Series. At the very least, I’m really hoping to continue the GT Vodka team’s streak of top-10 finishes. If things go right, we’ll be able to contend for a top-five.”
Danica Patrick
No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
“Everything’s getting a little better as the season goes on. I’ve learned that things can change very quickly in the car, and they’re very finicky. It’s tough to judge myself, or give myself some sort of grade on the season because I didn’t know what to expect. I can tell you that top 15’s are the goals for our Go Daddy team through the end of the year. It’s something I feel we can do. I think we’ve had some chances this year, especially at Fontana. I know that I’ve learned as I’ve gone along. I feel a little more under control. Not everything is happening as fast for me as it was in the beginning.
“Heading into the weekend it’s important to talk about the track a little bit and its tendencies. T.J. (Majors, spotter) gives me some tips on places that are new to me, and so does (crew chief) Tony Jr. He always has a good idea of the setup in the car and what I need. I know I go slow to start in practice, but after I get some repetition it comes a little easier. I still feel so new to all this. While I definitely think with enough experience I can win, but at this point in time, it’s best to keep realistic expectations. A top-15 finish is realistic.”
JR MOTORSPORTS NOTEBOOK –
DANICA AT TEXAS – Patrick’s last trip to Texas Motor Speedway in open wheel was an eventful one. Patrick ran head-to-head against eventual race winner Ryan Briscoe, and earned a second-place finish. At the time, it marked her best finish of the year. In six IndyCar starts at Texas, she’s led three laps and earned two podium finishes (third in 2007; second in 2010). Her average finish is 7.7.
GT VODKA SQUAD – JRM’s No. 88 team has notched one win, seven top-five and 15 top-10 finishes on the year. They’ve also led a total of 113 laps, and are coming off three consecutive top-10 finishes. Aric Almirola, Steve Arpin, Kelly Bires, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ron Fellows, Jamie McMurray, Greg Sacks, Elliott Sadler and Josh Wise are all racers that have shared driving duties in the 88.
ALMIROLA AT TEXAS – Almirola has seven truck starts and one start at the Sprint Cup level at Texas, but none in the Nationwide Series. His best finish at the facility was a 12th-place showing this season in the No. 51 truck.
ALMIROLA WITH JRM - Almirola has notched one top-five and three top-10 finishes driving for JRM in 2010. He has led laps in all but one of his five starts, totaling eight laps led. His average finish is 10.0.
GO DADDY TEAM TO DATE – The No. 7 team has secured six top-10 finishes and led 42 laps with seven different drivers in 2010, including Aric Almirola, Steve Arpin, Landon Cassill, J.R. Fitzpatrick, Danica Patrick, Scott Wimmer and Josh Wise. The GoDaddy.com team is ranked 16th in 2010 owner points.
DANICA’S SEASON – Patrick embarks on her 11th race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this weekend at Texas. In her previous 10 starts, she’s earned a career-best finish of 21st at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Her season-best qualifying effort of 14th came at Auto Club Speedway in October.
88 TEAM POINTS POSITION – The No. 88 GT Vodka team is ranked eighth in the 2010 owner points after Gateway.
MEDIA AVAILABILITY – Patrick will be available to members of the NASCAR media on Friday, Nov. 5, at 12:15 p.m. in the Texas Motor Speedway media center.
2011 PLANS UNVEILVED – Patrick will compete in the first four races of the 2011 Nationwide Series schedule with the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, including Daytona International Speedway (Feb. 19), Phoenix International Raceway (Feb. 26), Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March 5) and Bristol Motor Speedway (March 19). The races beyond that have not been determined, although Patrick will take on a schedule similar to that of her 13-race rookie campaign.
FREE JR NATION CREW FAN CLUB – Dale Jr. and JR Motorsports encourage fans to join the JR Nation Crew Fan Club for free. The official fan club provides members with exclusive ticket and merchandise offers, in addition to JRM blogs, forums, and chat rooms to interact with other members of JR Nation. For more information, visit www.jrnation.com
- JR Motorsports Press Release
