Richard Childress Racing–Michigan Preview

Richard Childress Racing at Michigan International Speedway … In 160 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Michigan International Speedway, RCR teams have earned three wins, two with Dale Earnhardt (1987, 1990) and the most recent with Kevin Harvick (August 2010). Additionally, RCR has claimed 23 top-five and 55 top-10 finishes with 10 different drivers including Richard Childress, a former driver in NASCAR’s top division, who recorded top-10 finishes at MIS in June 1978 and August 1979.

RCR in the MENCS … In 2,778 Monster Energy Cup Series starts dating back to 1969, RCR has amassed 48 pole awards,107 wins, 479 top-five finishes and 1,039 top-10 finishes, with an average starting position of 17.7 and an average finishing position of 16.1. RCR has earned 15 total championships (six Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championships with Earnhardt in 1986, ’87, ’90, ’91, ’93 and ’94, six NASCAR XFINITY Series titles, two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series titles and one ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards title) and was the first organization to win titles in NASCAR’s three national series.

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Accelerating the Cure for Cancer … Each of the RCR entries will run memorial decals this weekend to celebrate the life of a dear friend to the RCR family, Laurie Parkhurst. Read Laurie’s story and donate to Laurie’s Fund at LauriesFund.org.

Interactive RCR … For up-to-date news and exclusive content, visit RCR’s corporate Twitter page – @RCRracing – along with the RCR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team Twitter page – @RCRCup, and driver Twitter pages @austindillon3 and @RyanJNewman. Information about the 15-time championship winning organization can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardChildressRacing and at www.RCRracing.com along with official driver pages – http://www.facebook.com/austindillon3, www.facebook.com/PaulMenard27 and www.facebook.com/RyanNewmanNASCAR.

Catch the Action … The FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway is scheduled to be televised live on Sunday, June 18 on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio, channel 90.
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This Week’s Dow Salutes Veterans Chevrolet SS at Michigan International Speedway … Michigan International Speedway ranks as one of Dillon’s most seasoned tracks on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series tour, with nine starts at the two-mile facility. He finished fourth in August 2015 to earn his best finish at the track and finished 16th in his most recent start in August 2016. He also earned his best starting position, fourth, in August 2015.

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To the Broadcast Booth … FOX Sports is adding Dillon as a driver analyst for its final NASCAR XFINITY SERIES race of the 2017 season. Dillon will help Adam Alexander and Michael Waltrip call the race from Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, June 17 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1 in his FOX NASCAR Broadcast booth debut. Dillon also serves as a recurring analyst on FS1’s NASCAR RACE HUB, the most-watched daily NASCAR news and highlights program (Monday through Thursday at 6 p.m. ET).

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:
Is the asphalt at Michigan aging since the repave?
“Well I think, just seeing Pocono, I thought it had changed colors a little bit since last year even. Yeah, I think the asphalt will be aged a little bit differently than last year. We will have to work on some grip with the low downforce package. Michigan is one of those places you can really make some ground up if you run well there on the long run.”

Describe the sensation of speed at Michigan International Speedway going into Turn 1:
“With tracks so big you do when you get loose that is for sure. When a car is not handling well you feel out of control, you’ve got to have a solid piece under you. It takes small adjustments to kind of creep on up and have a good day.”

This Week’s NIBCO / Menards Chevrolet at Michigan International Speedway … Paul Menard will return to Michigan International Speedway for his 22nd start at the track in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. He has scored four top-five finishes, all of which were fourth-place finishes. He has a total of six top-10 finishes. Menard has led 16 laps in the series at Michigan and has never recorded a DNF. Also experiencing success in the NASCAR XFINITY Series at the two-mile track, he has one win in 2014 and one pole award in 2011. He has led 74 laps in the XFINITY Series at Michigan and, again, has finished every race he has started.

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Meet Paul … Menard will join Brandon Jones and the Jack Links Sasquatch at the Menards store in Jackson, Mich., located at 3588 Page Avenue, on Thursday, June 15. He will be meeting fans and signing autographs at 7:00 p.m. local time.

PAUL MENARD QUOTE:
After the repave, do you feel like Michigan is starting to come back into its own and widen back out?
“It’s definitely getting there. It’s still extremely fast, the fastest track that we go to. With the low downforce package, really extremely low downforce, we’ll be pushing 220 miles per hour down the straightaway but then you have to back it down for the corners. The track has widened back out. It’s not like the old Michigan by any stretch, but it’s getting better. I really enjoy going to Michigan. I’ve run well there in both Cup and XFINITY. I’ve led laps and have scored solid finishes. It’ll be fun to take our No. 27 NIBCO / Menards out there and see what we can make happen this weekend.”

This Week’s VELVEETA® Shells & Cheese Chevrolet SS at Michigan International Speedway … Newman will make his 563rd Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start when the Series competes in the Irish Hills of Michigan. In 31 Cup Series events at MIS, Newman scored back-to-back victories in the fall 2003 and spring 2004 events. The “Rocket Man” also owns a pole award. In total, he’s recorded five top-five and eight top-10 finishes. He has led 113 laps in competition. The South Bend, Indiana native has an average start of 13.3 and average finish of 16.7. And in four NASCAR XFINITY Series starts at the speedway, he has visited victory lane two times (2001, 2005).

LIQUID GOLD … VELVEETA® Shells & Cheese and Richard Childress Racing (RCR) have teamed up to give NASCAR fans a taste of the one and only LIQUID GOLD. VELVEETA Shells & Cheese is the primary sponsor for select races, beginning June 18 at Michigan International Speedway, and associate sponsorship for the remainder of the 2017 season.

The partnership is highlighted by a comprehensive marketing and content program, including a national sweepstakes that will grant one lucky grand prize winner the LIQUID GOLD championship experience: an all-expenses paid VIP weekend at the NASCAR Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Entrants will also have the chance to win more than 100 autographed swag items, including mini replicas of Ryan Newman’s race helmet and race-worn fire suits from the No. 31 Chevrolet pit crew. Details and call-to-action for the sweepstakes, which launches this month and will continue through the summer, are being distributed on more than three million boxes of VELVEETA Shells & Cheese.

RYAN NEWMAN QUOTES:
What is the hardest thing to figure out at Michigan International Speedway?
“The hardest thing for us to figure out at Michigan is having a good balance in Turns 1 and 2 and then having the same good balance in Turns 3 and 4. I think Michigan is more challenging as far as getting both ends to handle well versus getting all three corners right at Pocono Raceway.”

It seems as if Michigan has become more about fuel mileage, but will it be any different now that we have stages?
“The bigger the track, the odds are in favor of a race being a fuel-mileage race at some point. We’ll see especially with this summer stretch of Pocono Raceway, Michigan International Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the road courses where fuel mileage is more important now than it is the rest of the season.”

Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR XFINITY Series at Michigan International Speedway … In 40 Series starts at the two-mile speedway, RCR has captured two victories with drivers Kevin Harvick (2003) and Paul Menard (2014). The Welcome, North Carolina, organization has completed 4,971 laps of the 4,979 (99.8 percent) that they have competed. RCR has accumulated two pole awards, 10 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes, led 251 laps and averages a starting position of 10.0 and finishing position of 12.1.

Pocono Review … Brendan Gaughan was the highest RCR finisher in sixth, Ty Dillon eighth, Daniel Hemric ninth, Paul Menard 31st and Brandon Jones 36th, respectively, in the Pocono Green 250 at Pocono Raceway.

The Points … All three RCR XFINITY Series full-time drivers remain in the top 20 of the driver point standings as the Series heads to Michigan International Speedway for the 13th event of the season. Daniel Hemric is currently fifth, Brendan Gaughan is 13th and Brandon Jones is 17th, respectively. The No. 2 & No. 3 RCR teams are seventh and eighth, respectively in the owner point standings. Daniel Hemric is currently second in the XFINITY Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year point standings.

Catch the Action … Coverage of this week’s Michigan 250 at Michigan International Speedway will be televised live on Saturday, June 17, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time on FS1. It will also be broadcast live on Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM channel 90.

This Week’s Richmond / Menards Chevrolet at Michigan International Speedway … This year will mark Paul Menard’s 12th consecutive NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Michigan International Speedway. In his 11 previous starts at the two-mile track, Menard has accumulated one win (2014), one pole award (2011) and has led 78 laps. Menard has five top-five finishes and seven top-10 finishes in the series at Michigan. He has also started 21 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Michigan. He has tied his best finish of fourth four times and has two other top-10 finishes.

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PAUL MENARD QUOTES:
You’re going to be doing double duty this weekend. What do you like about running in the XFINITY Series at Michigan?
“I enjoy racing in the XFINITY Series. For me, it’s a fun environment where I don’t experience a whole lot of pressure. It’s all about extra seat time, learning as much as I can for Sunday’s race and having fun while I do it. Michigan is a great track that is just so fast; it’s the fastest track that we go to all year. I’ve experienced a lot of success there, especially in the XFINITY Series. My win in 2014 will always be special to me. My No. 2 Richmond / Menards team is ready to head there for our only visit of the year, and, hopefully, we can find our way back to Victory Lane.”

This Week’s Rheem Chevrolet at Michigan International Raceway … This weekend, Ty Dillon returns to Michigan International Speedway in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. With three previous series races under his belt at the two-mile track, Dillon has a best finish of ninth in the 2014 event and earned top-15 finishes in all three starts. He also has two starts in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, finishing 14th in his 2015 outing and 24th in last year’s race. Dillon has two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at MIS, garnering two top-10 finishes. As a young racer, he won the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards race in 2011.

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TY DILLON QUOTES:
After the repave, do you feel like Michigan is starting to come back into its own a little bit?
“Yes, I think so. The groove is widening out a little bit, but it’s still pretty tough to pass just because of the raw speed. For whatever reason, Michigan is a track I haven’t found much success at yet. This No. 3 team has been great all year, but we just haven’t been able to really hit on a setup that works for us there. Hopefully, as the track continues to age and starts to come back, we’ll be able to find our balance there and get a good finish. I’m looking forward to heading out there this weekend to see what we can do.”

This Week’s Blue Gate Bank Chevrolet Camaro at Michigan International Speedway … Hemric will be making his first NASCAR XFINITY Series start at Michigan International Speedway during this weekend’s 250-mile race. Hemric has two previous NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at MIS, earning one top-five and two top-10 finishes for an average finish of 5.0.

Meet the Driver … Fans will have the opportunity to meet Hemric and RCR teammate Brendan Gaughan at the Team Chevy Stage on Friday, June 16, starting at 2 p.m. local time.

Rearview Mirror: Pocono … Hemric had a fast No. 21 Blue Gate Bank Chevrolet throughout the weekend at Pocono Raceway, leading qualifying in Round 1 and starting second for the 250-mile race. Once the green flag flew, Hemric battled the handling of the car, but continually worked with crew chief Danny Stockman to make adjustments. Hemric was able to fight his way to 10th in the closing laps of the race to earn his fifth top-10 finish of the season.

DANIEL HEMRIC QUOTES:
Michigan looks very similar to Auto Club Speedway, but they are two completely different racing surfaces. Has the groove widened out at all at Michigan since the pavement there is still fairly new?
“While Michigan looks similar to Fontana from the air, the ride quality at Fontana is so much different. Fontana is so rough, which is fun as a race car driver because there aren’t many tracks we go to that are that rough. Michigan is a place where your car has to make speed. As the surface gets a little older we’ve seen the groove get a little wider, but I feel like everybody’s cars have gotten so much better. This will be my first time in an XFINITY Series car, but I think back to the Truck race last year and it honestly had a Daytona or Talladega feel to the race. We had a line of eight, 10, 12 cars and everybody kind of had their own group they were drafting with, but there was a group of three cars that were able to separate themselves a bit. If you didn’t time your run just right when you poked out of line you would be freight-trained and be sent to the back like at a superspeedway race. I’m curious to see how that will affect these XFINITY Series cars. I think the tire is a little different than the one the Trucks used, so there should be a little more fall off and it may not play as much of a role in keeping your runs going. When the tire wears, the track will get wider. As a race car driver you just like to have options and I think Michigan is starting to get to that point now.”

This Week’s Nexteer Chevrolet Camaro at Michigan International Speedway … Brandon Jones has one previous NASCAR XFINITY Series start at Michigan International Speedway. He finished 10th in last year’s event after starting 15th at the two-mile track. Jones also has one win at Michigan, earned during last season’s ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards race.

Driven by Nexteer… Jones counts on Nexteer’s steering technology to deliver precise, high-performance under intense conditions. Mere seconds can mean the difference between winning and losing, so Richard Childress Racing chooses Nexteer – renowned for exceptional handling, performance and safety. Nexteer provides electric and hydraulic power steering systems, steering columns, driveline systems, advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) and autonomous technologies to global manufactures. Nexteer Automotive, a Leader in Intuitive Motion Control. Visit nexteer.com for more information.

Autographs, Please … Jones will be participating in an autograph session alongside fellow Menards’ driver Paul Menard on Thursday, June 15, beginning at 7 p.m. local time at the Jackson, Michigan Menards store location. Fans can also meet Jones during the XFINITY Series autograph session at the track on Friday, June 16, beginning at 11 a.m. local time.

BRANDON JONES QUOTES:
Michigan International Speedway is up this week where you finished 10th a year ago after winning the ARCA race. Is there a lot you can learn and carry over from the ARCA car to the XFINITY car?
“I feel like you can learn a little bit in the ARCA race that can help with the XFINITY Series car. I won the ARCA race at Michigan last year, so I’m going to try to repeat that this year. I felt like that helped a little with getting a feel for the track since you’re pretty much wide open in the ARCA cars. With the XFINITY car, you do have to give a little on the throttle and brake getting into the corner, especially on old tires. We were really good there last time, so I’m hoping we can back that up and are just as strong, if not stronger, this time around and finish even better than 10th. We’ll be looking for some speed there, since we’ve gotten ourselves into a little bit of a hole in the standings, but I’m optimistic about our chances in the Nexteer Chevrolet.”

From what you can remember, is the bottom lane still the preferred lane around the track?
“It was for the most part. You start down there in practice, and eventually the groove will start moving up to the middle and top area of the track surface. It gets to be a track where we can run all over it. That makes it a really fun track to race on. I enjoy going to Michigan a lot.”
Brandon Jones and the No. 33 Nexteer Chevrolet Camaro at Michigan International Speedway… Brandon Jones has one previous NASCAR XFINITY Series start at Michigan International Speedway. He finished 10th in last year’s event after starting 15th at the two-mile track. Jones also has one win at Michigan, earned during last season’s ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards race.
Driven by Nexteer… Jones counts on Nexteer’s steering technology to deliver precise, high-performance under intense conditions. Mere seconds can mean the difference between winning and losing, so Richard Childress Racing chooses Nexteer – renowned for exceptional handling, performance and safety. Nexteer provides electric and hydraulic power steering systems, steering columns, driveline systems, advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) and autonomous technologies to global manufactures. Nexteer Automotive, a Leader in Intuitive Motion Control. Visit nexteer.com for more information.
Autographs, Please… Jones will be participating in an autograph session alongside fellow Menards’ driver Paul Menard on Thursday, June 15, beginning at 7 p.m. local time at the Jackson, Michigan Menards store location. Fans can also meet Jones during the XFINITY Series autograph session at the track on Friday, June 16, beginning at 11 a.m. local time.

This Week’s South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet at Michigan International Speedway … In five XFINITY Series starts at the two-mile track, Gaughan has completed 613 of 625 (98.1 percent) laps that he has competed. The Las Vegas native also has eight starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at MIS, earning a victory in 2003 and accumulating three top-five finishes, five top-10 finishes, an average starting position of 16.4 and finishing position of 8.8.

Meet Gaughan … Gaughan is scheduled to sign autographs for fans during the XFINITY Series autograph session at the track on Friday, June 16, beginning at 11 a.m. local time. The 41-year-old driver is also schedule to appear at the Team Chevy Stage alongside teammate Daniel Hemric on Friday, June 16, beginning at 2 p.m. local time.

At The South Point Hotel & Casino … The South Point Hotel & Casino hosts the PCCHA Core Balance Derby, Classic-Challenge this week June 10-17. The show is an Open Derby featuring a total $185,000 added purse and will be held in the South Point Arena & Equestrian Center. For more information visit southpointarena.com.

To the Points … As the Series returns to action this weekend in Michigan, Gaughan and the No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino team are 13th in the driver point standings with 21 races remaining. He trails competitor Dakota Armstrong and the final playoff position by 28 points.

BRENDAN GAUGHAN QUOTES:
Michigan, a track that was repaved five years ago, is it aging at all and can you use the second groove yet?
“It has been aging, but they do such a good job with paving these days. I wish they didn’t do such a good job. Michigan International Speedway is the definition of that, where speeds have stayed so high. I think in the Cup Series the speeds were close to 220 miles per hour in qualifying. It is phenomenal the brute strength of speed you get nowadays. It has been widening out, slowly. It still isn’t the five-wide Michigan merge that we used to get. We just need to be patient and give it time. Hopefully, they had a rough winter this year, and the asphalt ages. It is still Michigan, the heart of the American automotive industry. It is still a place we all want to go win. Our manufacturers want to win there, so there is a lot of pressure when you go to Michigan”

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Richard Childress Racing–Michigan Preview

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