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Pocono II: Chip Ganassi Racing preview

David Stremme and the No. 40 Target Dodge Team Facts: * Stremme's on Target: As Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) continues to celebrate its long heritage with Target Racing, which has been with the team for 18 years making it ...

David Stremme and the No. 40 Target Dodge Team Facts:

* Stremme's on Target: As Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) continues to celebrate its long heritage with Target Racing, which has been with the team for 18 years making it one of the longest racing relationships in history, David Stremme and the No. 40 team will again be sporting the white and red Target paint scheme in this weekend's Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway.

* Congratulations, Reed and Juan!: A congratulations is in order for Stremme's teammates Reed Sorenson and Juan Pablo Montoya as the CGRFS drivers both started and finished in the top five at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this past Sunday. Sorenson grabbed his career-first pole position and then finished fifth while his fellow teammate Montoya started and finished second in his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup debut at the historic track.

* My Hometown: Former Pennsylvanian and Target team mechanic and chassis assembly man Brian Gallucci hails from Freeland, Pa., which is about 25 miles west of the Pocono Raceway, and currently resides in Mooresville, N.C. This is Gallucci's 17th year in auto racing. He has been with CGRFS since 2005.

* Stremme Stands 25th: Stremme and the No. 40 Target team are currently 25th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup championship standings. They are right behind Sorenson and the No. 41 Target team, who are 24th overall. Stremme has pulled in two top-10 finishes, the year's best at Talladega Superspeedway when the team finished in the eighth position.

* Chassis: Crew chief Steve Lane and the Target team have selected chassis #701 for this weekend's NEXTEL Cup race at Pocono Raceway. The chassis was last raced by Stremme during the Pocono 500 back in June, when the team finished 23rd.

* Pocono in Action: Catch Stremme and the No. 40 Target Dodge in action this weekend as the team heads to Pocono Raceway to compete in the Pennsylvania 500. The Sunday afternoon event will air LIVE on ESPN at 1 p.m. ET. Friday's Noon ET qualifying session will air LIVE on ESPN2.

Reed Sorenson and the No. 41 Target Dodge Team Facts:

* Youngest Pole Winner in Indy History: After capturing the pole for last weekend's 14th running of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), Sorenson became the youngest driver to win a pole for a major event at the 2.5-mile speedway at the age of 21 years old. He broke a record that stood for 72 years, held by Rex Mays who won the pole for the Indianapolis 500 in 1935 at 22 years of age (IMS PR).

* Record-Breaking Ride: The Target team will be using the same chassis (#402) that Sorenson drove to capture his first-career NEXTEL Cup Series pole at IMS for this weekend's 500-mile race at Pocono Raceway. It is the same car Casey Mears used to break, and still holds, the track record with at IMS on Aug. 7, 2004. He turned a lap of 48.311 secs/186.293 mph. Mears also scored the pole at Pocono Raceway with the same chassis the week prior. Sorenson finished fifth with the car last weekend and scored two top 10s with it in 2006 (Chicagoland -- seventh, Michigan -- eighth).

* Momentum Swing: Sorenson is currently riding a two week momentum swing that has seen him win his first Busch race since 2005 at Gateway International Raceway on July 21, capture his first-career NEXTEL Cup Series pole position for the Brickyard 400 and finish out the weekend with a fifth-place finish at IMS.

* Getting It Done on Pit Road: The No. 41 Target Dodge over-the-wall crew won the Checkers®/Rally's® Double Drive-Thru Challenge at the Brickyard, spending the least amount of time on pit road (219.402 secs.). This marked the Target crew's first Drive-Thru award of the season and it is the 11th team to pick up the prize so far in 2007.

* Pennsylvanian: Target team transporter driver Rod Bussard hails from Everett, Pa., which is about three hours east of Pocono Raceway. This is Bussard's fourth season with CGRFS and he's been working in NASCAR for a total of 13 years. In addition to transporting the race cars, Bussard serves as pit support on race day.

* Points Update: The Target team moved up four positions to 24th in the overall standings after its fifth-place finish in the last event at IMS. They are currently 162 points outside of the top 20.

* Be Sure to Tune In: The Pennsylvania 500 is set to go green at 2 p.m. ET. The race will air live on ESPN, MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio channel 128.

Juan Pablo Montoya and the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Team Facts:

* Standings: Juan Pablo Montoya and the Texaco/Havoline team moved up two spots to 18th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings following their runner-up finish at the Brickyard 400. Before the Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Montoya was 304 points out of the 12th position. Montoya and the team are now just 200 points out of the final transfer spot into the Chase for the Cup after finishing second last Sunday in Indy. The team made up 104 points on 12th-place driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Montoya has now accumulated one win, three top-five and four top-10 finishes this season.

* A few personal bests: Montoya had two personal bests at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend. His outside pole starting spot was the best of his 21-race NEXTEL Cup career. His previous best starting spot came at Las Vegas in March when he started fourth. It was his third qualifying effort in the top five this season. His second-place finish in the Brickyard 400 was Montoya's best finish on an oval in Cup competition. Montoya finished fifth at Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier in the season. His best NEXTEL Cup finish was a victory at the road course in Sonoma.

* Rookie Race: Montoya extended his lead over David Ragan in the NEXTEL Cup Raybestos® Rookie standings by an additional 10 points, and now has a 24 point (208-184) advantage following Indy. Montoya earned Rookie of the Race honors for the ninth time this season. He now also holds the record for the top finish by a rookie in the 14-year history of the Brickyard. The previous record was help by Jamie McMurray in 2003 who piloted the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge to a third-place finish.

* Chassis: Crew Chief Donnie Wingo and the Texaco/Havoline team are bringing chassis #707 to Pocono Raceway, the same chassis they finished second with at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This will be the fourth race for chassis #707 this season. Montoya drove this car in the 600-mile race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May where he started from the 20th position and finished 28th after being involved in a multi-car incident, and at Michigan International Speedway in June where he finished 43rd. The No. 42 crew rebuilt the chassis for the Brickyard and only has minor repairs to make in preparation for this weekend's Pennsylvania 400.

* Sirius-ly: Montoya and the team will be featured weekly on Sirius Satellite Radio's Driver2Crew Chatter. Driver2Crew Chatter puts fans in the car and in the pits. Fans can listen to Montoya's radio communication with Crew Chief Wingo, Spotter Tab Boyd and the rest of the Team on channel 119. Listen in every Monday at 5 p.m. ET on channel 128 for the "Juan Pablo Montoya Report." Montoya provides exclusive updates on the No. 42 Team; gives post-race downloads and shares his own personal experiences on his jump full time into the NEXTEL Cup Series.

* Oh Canada!: Canadian Michael Valiante will assume driving duties of the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge this weekend at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal for the NASCAR Busch Series race. In addition to his full-time ride in the No. 19 Lexus-Riley for CGRFS in the Grand-Am Sports Car Series, the Montreal race will mark Valiante's first start in a NASCAR Series. The 27-year-old Valiante raced in the Toyota Atlantic series at the famed Montreal circuit from 2001 though 2003. He has been competing in open-wheel racing since 1997 and has competed in the Grand-Am Series for three years, signing on with CGRFS this past April.

-credit: cgr

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