Patrick Carpentier Bristol preview

Carpentier to Run Both Cup and Truck Races at "The World's Fastest Half Mile

STATESVILLE, N.C. -- Patrick Carpentier pulls double duty this week at Bristol Motor Speedway driving in the NASCAR Cup and Truck Series.

Although he has watched racing at Bristol on television, he's never raced on the half-mile, high-banked track. The Quebec native anticipates a thrilling week of short-track racing.

"The Valvoline team only had 13 practice laps at Bristol in the spring before it started raining," Carpentier said. "That was a tough week for us. It started raining and didn't stop so we had to pack it up.

"This time around we're focused on the value of seat time so in addition to the Cup race on Saturday we'll be running the truck race too. I'm looking forward to it and I think it will be a lot of fun. It's an honor to say that I've raced in NASCAR's top-three series."

PATRICK CARPENTIER:

"I think racing in the truck series will be really neat. Everyone keeps telling me how much fun I'm going to have. Hopefully I can pick up on the line of the track fairly quickly and we can start to get our Dodge Ram dialed in during first practice. I couldn't ask for anything more this weekend. I need the seat time to help with the performance of the Valvoline Dodge. Gillett Evernham Motorsports and Bobby Hamilton Racing are giving me every opportunity to do that this week.

"We're still focused on our goal of steadily improving our finishes and working closer to the top-35. We'll continue to push forward and I can't thank my Valvoline team enough. They've been working so hard on these racecars and our starting spots are getting better and better. It's time for us to put together a few finishes that show that too.

"Our team hasn't had the best of luck the past couple of weeks, but it's not for a lack of effort and that's in the past. Each week is another chance to compete."

Chassis info: The No. 10 crew will bring chassis No. 223. The same chassis that led four laps at Darlington. Backup is No. 232.

-credit: gem