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Pepsi 500 NASCAR HotPass Lineup

Tuesday August 26, 2008

 

Ride Along with Edwards, Earnhardt, J. Gordon and Johnson at Fontana on DIRECTV

Event: Pepsi 500
Previous Winner: Jimmie Johnson (beat Carl Edwards by 1.868 seconds on Sept. 2, 2007)
Date / Time: Sunday, Aug. 31 at 8 p.m. EDT
Track: Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.
Configuration: 2-mile D-shaped oval (250 laps = 500 miles)
Banking in Corners: 14 degrees
Banking on Frontstretch: 11 degrees
Banking on Backstretch: 3 degrees
Frontstretch: 3,100 feet
Backstretch: 2,500 feet
First Sprint Cup Series Race: June 22, 1997 – California 500 presented by NAPA (Winner – Jeff Gordon)
Grandstand Seating Capacity: 92,100

In 2007, DIRECTV and NASCAR took the race-day television experience to new heights with the cutting-edge interactive television service, NASCAR HOTPASS™ only on DIRECTV. The new service featured dedicated driver channels offering viewers multiple camera angles, real-time statistics and announcer teams in addition to live communications between the drivers and their pit crews.

In addition to the four dedicated driver channels, DIRECTV is raising the bar even further in 2008, offering NASCAR HOTPASS in high-definition and upgrading it to include additional live audio feeds of driver/pit crew communications for 13 different teams.

DIRECTV Channel 795:
Carl Edwards & the No. 99 AFLAC Ford team of Roush Fenway Racing

Carl Edwards will make his 146th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his ninth Sprint Cup start at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.,… The 29-year-old Columbia, Mo., native has scored 13 wins and 76 top-10 finishes in 145 Sprint Cup starts… Won spring 2008 race at Fontana and enters this weekend’s event having won the last two Sprint Cup races at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn and Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway…Has one win and six top-five finishes in eight Sprint Cup starts at Fontana… In seven NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at Fontana, Edwards has one win (September 2005), one pole (February 2006) and five top-10 finishes…Also has three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts at the 2-mile oval, with three top-10 finishes and one pole (February 2007)… 2008 marks Edwards’ fourth full season of Sprint Cup competition and he finished a career-best third in points in 2005…Ranks second in 2008 Sprint Cup points with six wins and 18 top-10 finishes.

Play-by-Play: Pat Patterson
Pit Road Reporter: Tony Rizzuti
Producer: Tony Marshall

DIRECTV Channel 796:
Dale Earnhardt Jr., & the No. 88 AMP Energy / National Guard Chevrolet team of Hendrick Motorsports

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will make his 316th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his 14th Sprint Cup start at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.,…Earnhardt has four top-10 finishes in 13 starts at Fontana, including a second-place result in September 2006… Started 15th and finished 40th in the spring race at Fontana…In four NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at the 2-mile oval, Earnhardt has one win (July 1998), one pole (May 1999) and three top-10 finishes…The 33-year-old from Kannapolis, N.C., has won 18 races and eight poles and scored 83 top-fives and 133 top-10s in 315 Sprint Cup starts… Started 40th and finished 18th last weekend at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway…2008 marks Earnhardt’s ninth full-year in Sprint Cup, with a career-best point finish of third in 2003… Ranks third in 2008 Sprint Cup points with one win and 12 top-10 finishes.

Play-by-Play: Rick Allen
Pit Road Reporter: Phil Parsons
Producer: Chuck McDonald

DIRECTV Channel 797:
Jeff Gordon and the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet team of Hendrick Motorsports

Jeff Gordon has 81 victories in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition…The 37-year-old from Vallejo, Calif., has four Sprint Cup championships (1995, 1997, 1998 and 2001) and finished second to teammate Jimmie Johnson in the 2007 point standings… Has 533 Sprint Cup starts and has finished in the top-10 in a staggering 328 of them (61.5 percent)…Will make his 17th start at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., where he has three victories (June 1997, May 1999 and May 2004) and two poles (May 1998 and February 2007)…Has eight top-five finishes at Fontana and has led 525 laps in 16 starts at the 2-mile oval…Started second and finished third in the spring race at Fontana…Finished fifth after starting third last week at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway…Has won at least two races every season since 1994 and has won more than five races in a season on eight occasions, including winning six races last season… Scored an incredible 30 top-10 finishes in 36 point-paying races in 2007… Has 65 career pole positions…Ranks ninth in 2008 Sprint Cup points with nine top-five finishes.

Play-by-Play: Randy Pemberton
Pit Road Reporter: Hermie Sadler
Producer: Tim Deroin

DIRECTV Channel 798:
Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools Chevrolet team of Hendrick Motorsports

Jimmie Johnson is the two-time and reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion…The 32-year-old from El Cajon, Calif., has 35 Sprint Cup victories, including the Daytona 500 (2006) and the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard (2006 and 2008)…Scored a staggering 10 victories in 2007 on the way to his second title…Has 243 career starts and has 146 top-10 finishes (60 percent)…Has 16 career Sprint Cup poles… Will make his 12th Sprint Cup start at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., and has two victories (April 2002 and September 2007)…Also has seven top-10 finishes at the 2-mile oval…Started first and finished second in spring race at Fontana…Has five NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at Fontana, with one top-five finish…Started 34th and finished 33rd last week at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway…Ranks fourth in 2008 Sprint Cup points with two wins and 12 top-10 finishes.

Play-by-Play: Adam Alexander
Pit Road Reporter: Wendy Venturini
Producer: Ted Laukaitis

NASCAR HOTPASS lineup for the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Sept. 6 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway

No. 11 Denny Hamlin: DIRECTV Channel 795
No. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.: DIRECTV Channel 796
No. 31 Jeff Burton: DIRECTV Channel 797
No. 9 Kasey Kahne: DIRECTV Channel 798

Teams and drivers are subject to change at anytime.

About NASCAR HOTPASS on DIRECTV:

NASCAR HOTPASS is now available at the full-season price of $109. Customers new to DIRECTV can also get a special introductory price. The exclusive service is also available on a pay-per-week basis for $19.99. More information is available on www.directv.com/hotpass. DIRECTV customers can order online, or by calling 1-800-GET SPORTS.

Do you want the chance to win a free Frontstretch T-Shirt, and are you really good at talking about NASCAR? Well, we have the perfect opportunity for you. Our staff will be giving away a free T-Shirt to the reader who makes the best post in our Frontstretch Forum between now and the end of the season. So, what makes a good post? It’s pretty hard to impress us, but here are some things we are looking for:

Does your post spark passionate reactions from other readers? Are you commenting on meaningful NASCAR-related events? Do your posts have substance? In other words, “Dale Jr. is the best driver ever” or “Danica Patrick is hot” will not cut it.

So go to the Frontstretch Forums, post early, post often, and post well! We’ll announce the winner following the final race of the season at Homestead.

This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Kim DeHaven.

 

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