JR Motorsports (Brad Sweet / Regan Smith) 2013 NNS Jeff Foxworthy’s Grit Chips 300 Race Preview
TRACK: Bristol Motor Speedway
LENGTH: .533-mile concrete oval
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 2013
TV: ESPN2 (Coverage begins at 2 p.m. EST)
RADIO: PRN (1:30 p.m. EST)
Brad Sweet, No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet Camaro
“I’ll take a deep breath this week because this is my first time racing at Bristol. I’m really quite excited for it, too. I’ve watched a handful of races there and it’s a cool atmosphere. The track offers up a lot of good racing. I can’t wait to see how it actually feels going around that place in the Great Clips Chevy.
“We were talking about our expectations for this one and I personally feel that a top-10 is a very realistic goal for us. This No. 5 team is still a fairly new group, but all the pieces are in place for us to run competitively and succeed at this level. It’s our job to go out and make that happen on the racetrack.”
Regan Smith, No. 7 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet Camaro
“There is a lot of patience required to run well at Bristol. We’ve seen an evolution in that track over the past couple years where it has gone from a single-lane-on-the-bottom racetrack to a single-lane-on-the-top racetrack. In the two most recent races there, you started to see the tempers flare again. You started to see guys get fired up a little more. Passing became tougher. Every time that place becomes a single-lane racetrack, and the passing gets tougher, we see more incidents and more emotion out of everyone. There’s going to be times where you’re up in the front of the pack, and times where you’re mixed up in traffic, trying to get through it. That’s why it requires so much patience. You know it’s going to be a challenge when you strap into that seat for 300 laps at Bristol.”
Notes
HANGING WITH THE BOSSES – Regan Smith spent all day Tuesday with team owners Dale Earnhardt Jr., Rick Hendrick and Kelley Earnhardt Miller in Tallahassee, Fla., as the group from JR Motorsports made appearances at Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Buick/GMC/Cadillac. Smith and Earnhardt Jr. signed autographs at both dealerships as part of “Dale Jr. Day”, an event designed to meet and thank new customers. From his personal twitter account (@ReganSmith), Smith tweeted on Tuesday, “Having fun today with everybody at @DaleJrChevy and @DaleJrBGC. Awesome dealerships and great people. Come see them for your next car!”
JRM’S 2012 BRISTOL EFFORTS – The JR Motorsports contingent notched one top-five and three top-10 finishes in both races at Bristol Motor Speedway last season. In the fall event, the two-car team combined for an average finish of 7.5.
SMITH COMING OFF FIRST TOP-10 – Smith earned his first top-10 finish of the season with a seventh-place effort at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend. The finish gave Smith sole control of the fifth position in the championship points battle (previously he was tied for the spot with Parker Kligerman). He is 24 markers out of the lead.
SMITH MAKING NOISE – Smith holds several distinctions in NASCAR’s Loop Statistics. He holds the highest pass differential among all drivers with a +65 in the season-to-date box scores. Smith is also one of only four drivers to have run all of this season’s 520 laps on the lead lap. Additionally, he is ranked second among Nationwide-only drivers, and third overall, in laps in the top 15. Smith has spent 88.3 percent or 459 of 520 laps among the top 15.
SWEET’S SECOND – Sweet is set to make his second start for JRM’s No. 5 Great Clips team, and first at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend. The Grass Valley, Calif.-native finished 12th in his team debut last weekend in Las Vegas.
NNS SHORT TRACK RECORD – Sweet holds four starts at short tracks in the Nationwide Series, averaging a finish of 17.0. His best effort was 12th at Iowa Speedway, but also made starts at Dover International Speedway and Richmond International Raceway.
LATE MODELS BACK IN ACTION – After its season-opening race at Southern National Motorsports Park (Kenly, N.C.) two weeks ago, the JR Motorsports late model teams of Josh Berry and Reid Lanpher return to action at Southern National this Saturday. This will mark the second of three weekends of racing in Kenly to start the season before the JRM teams head to Motor Mile Speedway (Radford, Va.) to begin competing for the track championship. Berry is the reigning track champion at Motor Mile. Last season he drove the No. 88 Speedco late model to one victory, 15 top-fives and 17 top-10s in 18 races. He also scored seven poles and 15 front-row starts.
SEASON KICK-OFF FOR KARSYN – Karsyn Elledge, daughter of Kelley Earnhardt Miller and niece to Dale Earnhardt Jr., will begin her third season of racing a mini-outlaw car at Millbridge (N.C.) Speedway Wednesday, March 13, at 7 p.m. In her debut in 2011, Elledge earned three feature wins in nine starts. Last year she won her first championship in the Box Stock division at Millbridge, racing the No. 3 made famous by her grandfather, Dale Earnhardt Sr. Elledge’s season included five wins en route to the title.
LISTENING EXPERIENCE ON THE AXIS OF JUNIOR – From the communications team at JR Motorsports comes a new way for Dale Jr. fans to get their Junior fix. Dirty Mo Radio is the new online hub for Junior-related podcasts, keeping JR Nation informed and entertained each week throughout the season. Dirty Mo Radio is housed at DaleJr.com and is also available free of charge on all popular podcasting outlets. DMR’s start-up show, “The Dale Jr. Download”, debuted as the No. 2 ranked sports podcast and No. 30 overall podcast on iTunes the day after its Feb. 18 launch.
Source: JR Motorsports Press Release
The article JR Motorsports (Brad Sweet / Regan Smith) 2013 NNS Jeff Foxworthy’s Grit Chips 300 Race Preview is from Catchfence.
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