No. 38 Great Clips Impala
Texas Motor Speedway
O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge
November 5, 2011
No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet News and Notes
Where it all began…
Turner Motorsports calls Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) their home track, winning their first championship at the track with Steve Turner’s youngest daughter, Kris, driving a Bandolero in 2004. The organization was headquartered in Hallettsville, Texas until making the move into NASCAR and to Mooresville, N.C. in 2009.Testing the NASCAR waters in 2009, the organization made their NCWTS debut at their home track. In 2010, the team went full time NCWTS racing, fielding entries for Ricky Carmichael and Buescher. In late 2010, the organization made the announcement from the TMS media center that they had acquired Braun Racing and would run three NCWTS and four NNS entries in 2011. That same weekend, Buescher grabbed Turner Motorsports’ first-ever pole award.In one year, Turner Motorsports has collected four poles, 12 top-five and 29 top-10 finishes in the NCWTS and notched three wins, 21 top-five and 60 top-10 finishes in Nationwide Series competition. Buescher is currently second in the NCWTS points battle, while Justin Allgaier and Jason Leffler are fifth and sixth, respectively, in the NNS point standings.
Texas Motor Speedway: by the numbers… In 14 starts at the Ft. Worth-based track, Leffler has one top-five and five top-10 finishes. He is credited with one pole award and five laps led. He has an average starting spot of 15.8 and an average finishing position of 14.0.
This week’s No. 38 Impala… The Great Clips team will unload chassis TMS-127 this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. This is the team’s “go-to” chassis as it has more seen more track time than any other car in rotation. Leffler has driven TMS-127 at Kentucky Speedway (13th), Michigan Int’l Speedway (10th), Dover Int’l Speedway (11th), Charlotte Motor Speedway (21st) and Darlington Raceway (9th), Atlanta Motor Speedway (9th), Chicagoland Speedway (12th), Kansas Speedway (13th) and in the series’ last event at Charlotte (11th).
Happy 10-Year Anniversary, Great Clips… This season marks Great Clips’ 10-year anniversary as a primary sponsor in the NNS. The Minneapolis-based Great Clips, Inc., which is currently the longest-running primary sponsor in the series, came onto the scene in 2001 as a primary sponsor of Akins Motorsports No. 38 entry, then driven by Christian Elder.
Leffler on SIRIUS’ Morning Drive every Wednesday… Don’t forget to tune in to SIRIUS Radio’s “Morning Drive” with Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone every Wednesday at 10:30am to hear Leffler’s take on recent events in the Nationwide Series and what you can expect from the week’s upcoming race.
“Texas is a really fun track to race! It’s fast and slick with a wide racing surface. You can pretty much run anywhere on the track you want to based on how your car is handling. Turn two is the trouble spot there. The banking holds you really good and then, at the last second, the banking falls off. If you aren’t careful you can get caught out there and pick up a bad push at the very end or, if you’re pushing before that, it can snap you loose. It definitely has its own unique characteristics but it is a great track and the racing is always really good. Since this is the Turner family’s home track we all really want to win. It’s really important to put on a good show for the Turner Motorsports hometown fans and get this Great Clips Chevrolet back into victory lane!”
- Turner Motorsports Press Release
