Thursday, May 2, 2013

NASCAR Chassis Selections - Talladega


Not all teams announce their weekly race chassis'. Here is a list of those teams that do reveal the chassis in the teams race preview: 

#2- Brad Keselowski -  Primary Chassis for Talladega is PRS-649, a new chassis that tested at Daytona in January. Backup Chassis is PRS-648, which is also a new chassis.

#5- Kasey Kahne -  Time Warner Cable will adorn the hood of Kahne’s No. 5 Chevrolet SS this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.  Crew chief Kenny Francis will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-768 for Sunday’s event. Most recently, Kahne drove this chassis to earn the sixth starting spot in the 2013 Daytona 500.

#9- Marcos Ambrose - The No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion team has prepared chassis No. 836 for Talladega. Ambrose drove this chassis to an 18th-place finish in the Daytona 500 earlier this year.

#10-Danica Patrick - – Chassis No. 10-758: This was a new car for 2013 that was wind-tunnel tested in January before being used by Patrick in the 55th Daytona 500. Patrick qualified the car on the pole with a speed of 196.434 mph and then started first and finished 17th in the first Budweiser Duel. She started on the pole and led five laps in the Daytona 500 before finishing eighth – the best finish ever for a woman in the “Great American Race.” The car has not been used since. The team used chassis 10-573 during a Goodyear tire test April 16-17 and will apply data learned on that test to chassis 10-758.

#14-Tony Stewart - Chassis No. 14-532 returned to action in the Sprint Unlimited in February at Daytona after a two-year hiatus.. There, Stewart drove from his 15th-place starting spot to lead twice for five laps and was second on the final lap before being passed by Greg Biffle and Joey Logano to finish fourth. While this car was tested at Daytona Jan. 10-12, it was the first time Chassis No. 14-532 had been on a racetrack since the 2011 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, where it started second and led four laps before finishing 11th. It served as a backup afterward, but was totally rebuilt this off season. This car debuted in February 2009 serving as the team's primary machine for the Daytona 500. After clocking the 10th-quickest time during time trials, Chassis No. 14-532's first race of any kind was the Gatorade Duel qualifying race. There, it started sixth and led two laps before finishing second to race-winner Jeff Gordon. But during final practice before the season-opening Daytona 500, Chassis No. 14-532 was caught up in an accident. With the damage too significant to fix at the track, the team was forced to use a backup race car for the Daytona 500. Fully repaired, Chassis No. 14-532 returned to action in April at Talladega for its first career, point-paying start. There, it qualified 29th and finished 23rd. The Coke Zero 400 at Daytona marked the car's third career start, and it was a dandy. It started first when qualifying was rained-out and the field was set by car owner points. It then went on to lead nine times for a race-high 86 laps en route to victory. Chassis No. 14-532 was used in the final restrictor-plate race of the 2009 season at Talladega, where it was caught up in a late-race accident and finished 35th, delivering Stewart's first DNF (Did Not Finish) in 55 races. With a new body honed in the wind tunnel, it served as a backup for most of 2010 until reappearing at Talladega in October. It ran well but was handed a poor finish when it was caught up in a last-lap crash that turned a top-10 effort into a 31st-place result. With new front and rear clips, as well as a new body, Chassis No. 14-532 reappeared in the 2011 Budweiser Shootout.

#16- Greg Biffle - No. 16 3M Safety Ford Fusion primary chassis RK-852 is a brand new chassis. The backup chassis RK-794 first ran the Sprint Unlimited in Daytona last year earning a sixth-place finish.  Then ran the Sprint Unlimited this year earning a second-place finish.

#17- Ricky Stenhouse Jr - No. 17 Best Buy Ford Fusion primary chassis RK-830 is the same chassis that the No.17 team ran at Daytona finishing a respectable 12th. The backup Chassis RK-792 was a chassis that the No. 17 tested with at Daytona in the preseason.

#22- Joey Logano - Primary Chassis for Talladega is PRS-655 a new chassis. Backup Chassis is PRS-651 which last race at Daytona in the Sprint Unlimited and finished 3rd.

#24- Jeff Gordon - Gordon will drive Hendrick Motorsports chassis No. 24-772 this week at Talladega. The car finished 20th at Daytona earlier this year in it's only start.

#27- Paul Menard - This Week’s CertainTeed/Menards Chevrolet. Paul Menard will pilot chassis No. 406 at Talladega Superspeedway. This No. 27 Chevrolet SS was previously tested this season at Daytona International Speedway in January.

#29- Kevin Harvick - This Week’s Budweiser Chevrolet at Talladega Superspeedway. Kevin Harvick will pilot chassis No. 334 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in the Aaron’s 499. This is the same Chevrolet that teammate Austin Dillon drove to a 31st-place finish during the Daytona 500 this season.

#31- Jeff Burton - This Week’s No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet at Talladega Superspeedway. Jeff Burton will race chassis No. 337 this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. This is a brand new No. 31 Chevrolet that will see its first on-track action during Friday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice session.

#39- Ryan Newman - Newman will pilot Chassis No. 39-701 at Talladega Superspeedway. This chassis debuted at Daytona International Speedway in the 2012 running of the Daytona 500. Despite an incident that left him two laps down early, Newman and the No. 39 team were able to fight their way back onto the lead lap and contend for a top-10 finish before getting collected in a multi-car accident in the waning laps of the Great American Race. Although the race car sustained substantial damage, the crew was able to make repairs and sent Newman back onto the 2.5-mile oval to record the best result possible – a lead-lap finish in the 21st position. Since then, the car’s body has been updated for 2013, and it was wind-tunnel tested in January in preparation for 2013 super speedway racing.

#43- Aric Almirola - The No. 43 Gwaltney Ford Fusion team has prepared chassis No. 780 for Talladega. The team built chassis No. 780 this season.

#48- Jimmie Johnson - Johnson will drive chassis No. 764 at Talladega. Chassis No. 756 serves as the backup. No. 764 ran the Sprint Unlimited starting 11th and finished 14th. No. 756 last served as the #88 primary fo Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the 2012 Sprint Unlimited at Daytona, finishing 8th.

#88- Dale Earnhardt Jr - This weekend at Talladega, crew chief Steve Letarte and the No. 88 team will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-773. This is the same chassis Earnhardt raced to a second-place finish in February at the 2013 Daytona 500.

#99- Carl Edwards - The No. 99 Fastenal Blue Team will unload RK-835 for the weekend which last ran in the Budweiser Duels in Daytona. Back Up Chassis: RK – 829 last ran as the primary for the Sprint Unlimited

- Reported in Team News/Press Releases

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