TRACK – Daytona International Speedway (2.5-mile tri-oval)
DATE – Friday, July 2, 2010
TV / RADIO – ESPN (coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 7:30 p.m. EST)
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet
“This will be a special weekend for us. We got together with Richard (Childress) and Teresa (Earnhardt) and put this deal together to honor my dad and his induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. We’re bringing back this Wrangler paint scheme because it’s kind of what started his whole persona as being the tough guy that he was. We have a lot of memories of the No. 3 Wrangler car, and I think all my Dad’s fans will get a kick out of seeing it on the track again.”
“This is a one-time deal. I have no intensions of making it a habit to run special paint schemes with my dad’s number every year, and I’m pretty sure this will be the last time I drive the No. 3. It’s my dad’s number. We are borrowing it this weekend to honor him, and I hope the fans remember him when they see this blue-and-yellow car on the track. Plus, it’s cool to get together with Richard and Teresa on cool projects. So I’m looking forward to this weekend. Hope we can give it a good run.”
Greg Sacks
No. 88 Grand Touring Vodka Chevrolet
“It’s going to be good to be back behind the wheel of a racecar, I can tell you that. I participated in the new car test with the Grand Touring Vodka team earlier this month and things went well. With the type of equipment Tony [Eury] Sr. and the guys put together, I know we can be competitive. A lot of things around Daytona have changed since my last win there, but the racetrack is still the slick, bumpy track it’s always been. It’s a fun, yet challenging track.”
“I just couldn’t pass on an opportunity to race at Daytona in top equipment on the 25th anniversary of my Pepsi Firecracker 400 victory. On top of that, being the only driver in this event that actually raced with Dale [Earnhardt, Sr.] in the Wrangler No. 3 and now being teammates with Dale Jr. in that car is just awesome.”
Steve Arpin
No. 7 WOW! Foods Chevrolet
“I’m thrilled to represent WOW! Foods in the 7 car. The night race at Daytona is always an exciting race and the WOW! Foods Chevrolet is going to look awesome under the lights. They offer some great tasting products and we’re hoping to introduce them to the legions of food-loving NASCAR fans through this partnership. They also have a lot of history with the Earnhardt family, so we want to give them a finish they can be proud of this weekend.”
“I learned a lot in Talladega about the way these guys race and how they take advantage of certain situations. The biggest advantage I had by running Talladega was to watch how those guys used the air and what decisions they made at certain times of the race. I am flying in with Dale Jr. on Wednesday and I plan on asking a lot of questions and trying to learn as much as I can from him. He is about the best plate racer in the business. It’s good to have him on my side.”
JR MOTORSPORTS NOTEBOOK –
RETURN OF THE 3 – Dale Earnhardt Jr. will pay tribute to the memory of his father, Dale Earnhardt, by driving a retro No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet at Daytona this weekend. The Chevrolet will mirror the Wrangler paint scheme made famous by the elder Earnhardt through the 1981 to 1987 NASCAR Sprint Cup seasons. Earnhardt Jr.’s most recent turn behind the wheel of the No. 3 in the Nationwide Series was in 2002 at Charlotte Motor Speedway driving for Richard Childress.
WOW! FOODS DEBUTS ON THE 7 – JRM welcomes its newest partner, WOW! Foods to the No. 7 Chevrolet this weekend. WOW! Foods, based out of Hickory, N.C., offers a variety of food items that are available through the convenience store, club store and vending industries. WOW! Foods sandwiches use the highest quality ingredients and flavor profiles typically only found in restaurants. Their first line of products all carries the Dale Earnhardt Jr. signature on the package.
SACKS INFO – Sacks owns two starts at Daytona in the NNS with one top-five and two top-10 finishes. His best outing was a third-place finish in the spring of 1990 driving the City Chevrolet car for Rick Hendrick. Sacks’ last Nationwide Series race came at Dover in 2004.
FIRST OF 10 RACES FOR GT VODKA – Daytona will be the first of 10 races sponsor Grand Touring Vodka is on board the No. 88 Chevrolet. Sacks will make GT’s debut this weekend and the Vodka company will be featured on the 88 Chevrolet for races at O’Reilly Raceway Park (July 24), Watkins Glen (Aug. 7), Michigan (Aug. 14), Richmond (Sept. 10), Kansas (Oct. 2), California (Oct. 9), Texas (Nov. 6), Phoenix (Nov. 13), and Homestead-Miami (Nov. 20). Aside from Daytona, Elliott Sadler will drive all but the Watkins Glen race for GT Vodka. Road-race veteran Ron Fellows will return to the seat of the No. 88 for the race at The Glen.
SILVER ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND – This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of Greg Sacks’ monumental NASCAR Sprint Cup victory in the 1985 Pepsi Firecracker 400. Sacks made NASCAR history, taking a research-and-development car from DiGard Motorsports, qualifying ninth, and mounting a monumental upset over Bill Elliott and Darrell Waltrip. Sacks benefited from a fast race car and savvy pit strategy to lead 33 laps and claim the victory.
FAMILY REUNION – Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be reunited with cousin and fellow JRM co-owner Tony Eury Jr. this weekend, with Eury Jr. serving as crew chief of the No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet. It marks the duo’s first pairing since the spring Cup race at Charlotte in 2009.
AT DAYTONA – In 18 starts at Daytona, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has five wins, eight top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. He has led 488 laps and earned an average finish of 13.1. In his last Daytona outing in February, he started third but was victim to a crash that resulted in a 29th-place finish.
UNDER THE LIGHTS – Earnhardt Jr. led at least five laps in five of his seven career night races at Daytona, for a total of 234 laps. In 2003 he led every lap (100) en route to victory in the Winn-Dixie 250.
FIFTH RACE FOR ARPIN – Canadian Steve Arpin will make his fifth start for JRM in the No. 7 Chevrolet at Daytona with sponsorship from WOW! Foods this weekend. In Arpin’s previous four starts in the No. 7, he earned a best finish of 25th at Richmond and is averaging a finish of 28.5. Arpin owns two top-10 starting spots on the season.
DAYTONA STATS FOR 88 – No. 88 Grand Touring Vodka team has finishes of fifth and sixth in the last two summer events at Daytona.
NO. 88 ROTATION – Sacks becomes the seventh driver to wheel JRM’s flagship No. 88 Chevrolet, joining team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelly Bires, Ron Fellows, Jamie McMurray, Coleman Pressley and Elliott Sadler. The team has led 32 laps on the season and earned four top-five and six top-10 finishes.
TEAM POINTS POSITION – The No. 88 GT Vodka team remains ninth in the 2010 owner points after Loudon. The No. 7 WOW! Foods team occupies the 21st spot in owner points.
FREE JR NATION FAN CLUB – Now race fans can be part of all the JR Motorsports action with a free subscription to The JR Nation Crew Fan Club – the official fan club of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and JR Motorsports. The club has just launched a new website complete with chat rooms, forums and blogs from your favorite JRM drivers. Join today for your chance to win a custom-designed race helmet provided by Nationwide Insurance and signed by Dale Jr., and Danica Patrick. For more information visit www.dalejr.com/jrnation.
- JR Motorsports Press Release
