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AJ Allmendinger No. 41 BGN preview

Wednesday November 7, 2007

 

Race: Arizona Travel 200 on Saturday, November 10, 2007
Track: Phoenix International Raceway (1-mile oval)
Location: Avondale, Ariz.

CGRFS Busch Series Media Contact at Phoenix:
Heather Kincel, No.41 Imation Dodge
Kelby Krauss, No.42 Target Dodge

AJ Allmendinger and the No. 41 Imation Dodge Team Facts:

· AJ is Back: A.J. Allmendinger is returning to the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) lineup this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) to pilot the No.41 Imation Dodge in the Arizona Travel 200. Allmendinger first raced for CGRFS earlier this year at California Speedway in the No.42 Memorex Dodge. He went on to compete in four more races, totaling five NASCAR Busch Series starts altogether for CGRFS. Allmendinger is the full-time driver of the No.84 Red Bull Toyota in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series. Team Red Bull and CGRFS reached an agreement earlier this season that allowed Allmendinger to drive the No.42 car. The two teams extended the agreement earlier this week to put Allmendinger in the No.41 Dodge for the final two races of the 2007 season. Allmendinger is originally from Los Gatos, Calif. He started racing in open-wheel, in which just last year he collected five CHAMP car victories. For more information about Allmendinger go to www.ajallmendinger.com.

· Coming Home to Tucson: Todd Drakulich, the No.41 Imation front tire carrier, is originally from Tucson, Ariz. Drakulich has been working in NASCAR for the last three years, starting in 2004 at Ultra Motorsports carrying tires for the No.1 NASCAR Craftsman Truck of Ted Musgrave. Since then, he has also carried for the No.99 and No.21 Busch teams before joining CGRFS earlier this year to work on both the No.41 and No.42 Busch teams. Drakulich has been involved in racing for more than seven years. He started his motorsports career, helping out at Tucson Raceway Park on the weekends. He is a 1998 graduate of Amphitheatre High School.

· Standings Update: The No.41 CGRFS Busch team is 18th in the overall NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) owner ranks. With a current tally of 3,374 points, the team is just 88 away from the top 15.

· Chassis: Allmendinger will make his sixth NBS start this weekend in chassis #754. This is the same car that carried Reed Sorenson and the No.41 Wrigley's Juicy Fruit team to their first victory of the 2007 season this past July, which marked Sorenson's second win at Gateway International Raceway. The same car also helped Sorenson and team score a top-15 start and top-10 finish at New Hampshire International Speedway in late June.

· When to Watch: The NBS Arizona Travel 200 is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, November 10, and will broadcast LIVE on ESPN2, MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 128. Qualifying for the 200-lap competition is scheduled to start Noon EDT on Saturday and will broadcast live on SPEED (TV).

Allmendinger's Cumulative NASCAR Busch Series Stats
Starts Wins Poles Top 5s Top 10s Laps Led Winnings
5 0 0 0 0 0 $128,530

No. 41 ImationTeam 2007 Results
Date Race Start Finish Winnings Owner Points Date Race Start Finish Winnings Owner Points
17-Feb Daytona 25 38 $42,475 37th 6-Jul Daytona 10 7 $27,860 22nd
24-Feb California 20 36 $22,370 44th 14-Jul Chicago 32 15 $23,530 21st
4-Mar *Mexico 1 5 $63,825 26th 21-Jul St. Louis 2 1 $59,850 15th
10-Mar Las Vegas 3 30 $22,680 32nd 28-Jul ***Indianapolis 12 34 $14,650 18th
17-Mar Atlanta 30 39 $13,260 32nd 4-Aug *Montreal 7 14 $35,500 16th
24-Mar Bristol 24 16 $22,825 31st 11-Aug *Watkins Glen 5 18 $17,800 14th
7-Apr **Nashville 1 11 $18,150 25th 18-Aug Michigan 4 20 $18,500 15th
14-Apr Texas 36 35 $19,955 31st 24-Aug Bristol 8 33 $20,420 17th
20-Apr **Phoenix 18 11 $18,475 25th 1-Sep California 11 11 $26,225 16th
28-Apr Talladega 14 27 $18,775 26th 7-Sep Richmond 25 35 $16,635 16th
4-May Richmond 10 8 $16,845 21st 22-Sep Dover 6 5 $22,525 16th
11-May **Darlington 2 30 $14,600 26th 29-Sep Kansas 30 23 $23,700 17th
26-May Charlotte 30 42 $15,265 29th 12-Oct Charlotte 14 20 $18,875 17th
2-Jun Dover 21 27 $15,025 28th 27-Oct Memphis 22 18 $20,550 17th
9-Jun **Nashville 34 14 $16,600 27th 3-Nov Texas 10 28 $16,825 18th
16-Jun **Kentucky 27 4 $33,825 25th 10-Nov Phoenix
23-Jun ***Milwaukee 10 35 $16,165 27th 17-Nov Homestead
30-Jun Loudon 14 9 $17,175 25th *Scott Pruett races **David Stremme races ***Scott Lagasse Jr. races Bryan Clauson races AJ Allmendinger

Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10 Poles Winnings
33 1 4 7 2 $771,735

No. 41 Imation Crew
Name Crew position Hometown Name Crew position Hometown
Brad Parrott Crew Chief Harrisburg, N.C. Mark Rette Chief Mechanic Freehold, N.J.
Ross Fletcher Engineer Lincolnton, N.C. Tyler Jones Rear Mechanic South Royalton, Vt.
Tim Fedewa Spotter Holt, Mich. Dan Bormann Swing Mechanic Shingle Springs, Calif.
Jon Lucas Front Tire Changer Charlotte, N.C. Felipe Vazquez Engine Tuner Kutztown, Pa.
Todd Drakulich Front Tire Carrier Tucson, Ariz. Scott Vogelsong Shock Specialist Camp Hill, Pa.
Evan Clark Rear Tire Changer Mt. Pleasant, N.C. Bart Apple Tire Specialist Baltimore, M.D.
John Gaynor Rear Tire Carrier Vancouver, Wash. Jody Hall Pit Support Concord, N.C.
Marcus Bonicelli Gas Man/Front Mechanic Colorado Springs, Colo. Shane Bourgeois Pit Support Peachtree City, Ga.
Tony Cardamone Jack Man Cary, N.C. Jeff Neuendorf Truck Driver Watertown, S.D.
Ryan Quann Catch Can Richmond, Va. Claude Collignon Scorer Arbuckle, Calif.

Dario Franchitti and the No. 42 Target Dodge Team Facts:

· Franchitti To Race this Weekend and Next: Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) announced today driver Dario Franchitti will make his third and fourth appearances in the NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) on November 10 at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) and November 17 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This weekend's run will mark the next step in Franchitti's stock car learning curve, as he races again under the guidance of CGRFS crew chief Brian Pattie. Last month, CGRFS announced Franchitti had signed a multi-year agreement with the organization to compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) beginning in 2008. Franchitti will become the first European driver in the 59-year history of NASCAR to join the series full-time when he assumes the driving duties of No. 40 Dodge Avenger next season.

· Looking Back: Dario Franchitti's most recent stock car effort was this past Saturday's NBS race at Texas Motor Speedway, where he scored an 18th-place start and 25th-place finish. Before that, he raced at the Memphis Motorsports Park in late October, during which he qualified an impressive third on the grid in the third race of his stock car development schedule, and ran in the top 15 for over 75% of the race. His brake pedal failed on lap 192 resulting in unavoidable contact with the rear of the No.77 car. He finished the race running in the 32nd position. Prior to Memphis, Franchitti competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway and the ARCA race at Talladega Superspeedway.

· He's got talent: Franchitti joins CGRFS with impressive open-wheel credentials. The 34-year-old recently captured the 2007 Indianapolis 500 title, becoming only the second Scottish-born driver to win the race (Jim Clark in 1965), before going on to win the 2007 IndyCar Series Championship over Ganassi driver Scott Dixon in the final turn of the season. With over 180 starts under his belt between the CART and IndyCar Series resulting in 18 wins, 17 poles, 63 top-five and 95 top-10 finishes (1997-2007), Franchitti is the winningest driver in U.S. open-wheel history from Great Britain. He also captured the prestigious 12 Hours of Sebring in the LMP2 Class earlier this season in his first ever American Le Mans Series start - much like Montoya did in February at the Rolex 24 At Daytona for CGRFS in his first sports car start.

· Chassis: Crew chief Brian Pattie and his Target crew are pulling out chassis #753 to race this Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR). The car helped the No.42 team and CGRFS development driver Kevin Hamlin score their second-straight top-10 finish in late July. The team came home with a seventh-place finish from Gateway International Raceway on July 21 and then the following weekend they pulled out chassis #753 to turn a 30th-place starting position into an eighth-place finish with Hamlin at the O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, Ind.

· Standings Update: The No.42 team now stands 22nd in the overall NBS owner points, with a current tally of 3,220.

No. 42 Target Team 2007 Results
Date Race Start Finish Winnings Owner

Points Date Race Start Finish Winnings Owner

Points
17-Feb Daytona 16 40 $44,375 39th 6-Jul Daytona 17 30 $26,600 15th
24-Feb California 29 39 $24,115 46th 14-Jul Chicago 17 21 $27,245 15th
4-Mar Mexico 3 1 $125,646 19th 21-Jul *St. Louis 13 7 $33,950 13th
10-Mar Las Vegas 35 20 $29,955 20th 28-Jul *Indianapolis 30 8 $21,700 12th
17-Mar Atlanta 10 8 $26,720 11th 4-Aug **Montreal 34 21 $39,570 15th
24-Mar Bristol 34 14 $28,450 9th 11-Aug Watkins Glen 2 33 $20,505 17th
7-Apr *Nashville 28 18 $21,750 10th 18-Aug *Michigan 18 42 $23, 740 22nd
14-Apr Texas 14 30 $26,455 12th 24-Aug ***Bristol 9 15 $27,490 19th
20-Apr Phoenix 20 21 $22,150 11th 1-Sep ****California 18 36 $28,575 23rd
28-Apr Talladega 20 7 $28,000 10th 7-Sep ****Richmond 12 14 $25,550 19th
4-May Richmond 11 11 $22,850 9th 22-Sep ****Dover 14 21 $22,900 20th
11-May Darlington 19 15 $23,775 9th 29-Sep ****Kansas 8 25 $28,730 19th
26-May Charlotte 37 40 $20,815 12th 12-Oct ****Charlotte 28 26 $22,775 19th
2-Jun Dover 24 14 $21,325 12th 27-Oct Memphis 3 32 $25,940 21st
9-Jun *Nashville 28 23 $23,875 12th 3-Nov Texas 18 25 $22,825 22nd
16-Jun *Kentucky 29 21 $26,975 13th 10-Nov Phoenix
23-Jun *Milwaukee 22 16 $24,125 12th 17-Nov Homestead
30-Jun Loudon 7 34 $20,835 13th

*Kevin Hamlin races **Michael Valiante races ***David Stremme races ****A.J. Allmendinger races Dario Franchitti races

Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10 Poles Winnings
33 1 1 5 0 $960,286

No. 42 Target Crew
Name Crew position Hometown Name Crew position Hometown
Brian Pattie Crew Chief Zephyrhills, Fla. Ryan Quann Catch Can Man Richmond, Va.
Tony Glover Team Manager Kingsport, Tenn. Lucas Tucker Tire Specialist Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Lorin Ranier Spotter Prestonsburg, Ky. Bruce Jones Rear Mechanic Lakeland, Fla.
Adam Mosher Pit Coach/Support Fort Mill, S.C. Brian Taylor Front Mechanic Cuthbert, Ga.
Dan Chivari Front Tire Changer/Mechanic Erie, Pa. Tim O'Brien Engineer Lebanon, Ohio
Adam Cooke Front Tire Carrier/Shock Specialist Zephyrhills, Fla. Todd Hamm Engine Tuner Kutztown, Pa.
Daryl Lockyer Rear Tire Changer Los Angeles, Calif. Brandon Stafford Swing Mechanic Taylorsville, N.C.
Doug Riepe Rear Tire Carrier Danbury, Conn. Scott Hutchins Pit Support Thomasville, N.C.
Mark Jacobs Jack Man Ft. Walton Beach, Fla. Bill Cole Catch Can Man/Truck Driver Milan, Ill.

For more information go to: www.chipganassiracing.com

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