NASCAR Cup

Texas: GM Racing preview

TEAM CHEVY RACING IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP COMPETITION: * Chevrolet has won 31 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Manufacturers' Championships * Team Chevy drivers have collected the coveted NSCS driver's championship 24 times * The Bowtie Brigade ...

Edited: Apr 4, 2008, 2:37 AM

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TEAM CHEVY RACING IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP COMPETITION: * Chevrolet has won 31 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Manufacturers' Championships * Team Chevy drivers have collected the coveted NSCS driver's championship 24 times * The Bowtie Brigade won a record 26 races in 2007 to bring the Chevrolet total wins in NSCS to 622, more than any other manufacturer

IMPALA SS ON THE TRACK: TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY * Team Chevy drivers have won five (5) times in the 14 previous NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) races at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) * Jeff Burton, No. 31 Prilosec OTC Impala SS, is the defending winner of the spring event at TMS oBurton is the current NSCS point standings leader with one victory so far in 2008, 39 points in front of his Richard Childress Racing teammate Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Impala SS oBurton has two wins at TMS having won the inaugural event in 1997 * Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Impala SS, won the fall 2007 race at TMS on the way claiming his second consecutive NSCS championship * Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Impala SS, has one win at TMS * Mark Martin, No. 8 U.S. Army Impala SS, has one TMS victory * Six Team Chevy drivers are currently in the top-12 point standings with six races in the books

EVENT FACTS: * Event Name: Samsung 500 * Race Length: 334-laps/501-miles * Track layout: 1.5-mile oval; 24-degree banking in turns * Green Flag: 2 p.m. (EDT), Sunday, April 6, 2008 * Live Coverage: TV: FOX, 1:30 p.m. (EDT); Radio: PRN, SIRIUS Satellite Radio

ALBA COLON, GM RACING PROGRAM MANAGER FOR NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES:

"Texas will be the third test for our Impala SS teams on a 1.5-mile track. While Team Chevy will be working to capture our first win on this type of track, based on the results from both Las Vegas and Atlanta, we are excited and optimistic about Sunday's race.

"Dale Earnhardt, Jr., had excellent runs at both of the earlier races. He finished in second at Las Vegas with four Impala SS drivers in the top-10 and backed that up with a third place finish at Atlanta, the first of five Chevy drivers in the top-10 finishers.

"Actually, Chevy drivers have won the last three races at Texas with our point's leader Jeff Burton taking the victory last spring and Jimmie Johnson winning in the fall of 2007.

"It was one year ago at Texas Motor Speedway that we unveiled our award winning R07 engine. Since that time, the R07 has powered Team Chevy to 15 wins in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition. The dependability of the R07 will be key this weekend because our teams need to maximize their engine performance. The reputation Texas has of being "horsepower" track is well deserved and our drivers will have both the performance and durability they need with the Chevy R07 engine.

"Texas presents its own set of unique challenges to our teams on the handling side. While there are some similarities between these 1.5-mile tracks, drivers report that the Texas track is a little rougher than some of the others and the affect the bumps will have on the Impala SS is an unknown right now.

"Our GM Racing engineers will be there throughout the weekend to work with our teams to find the setup they will need for the race. We have the strongest teams with the best drivers. There has been a tremendous combined effort to gain the knowledge we all need to build on the already strong package they have with the Impala SS."

TEAM CHEVY STREET BEAT: Meet Team Chevy Stars: On Friday, April 4th 6 p.m., Team Chevy drivers Kevin Harvick, Casey Mears, Aric Almirola, Regan Smith, Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs will be signing autographs for fans at Ft. Worth Stockyards Station as part of Chevy Thunder.

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 PRILOSEC OTC IMPALA SS, DEFENDING WINNER OF THE SAMSUNG 500:

What are your feelings on racing the Impala SS at Texas? "I think there are a lot of challenges at Texas. Texas is a little rougher track than some of the others we run on. With this car, the bumps seem to be a pretty major issue so I think Texas is going to be quite a challenge with this car. The success we had there last year is thrown out the window. None of that information will be worth a hoot so we're starting over again. Will that make practice at Texas more critical? "It makes it exceptionally important. The key to our sport is taking the time that you have to do anything that you are doing and doing it efficiently. If you have an hour of practice, you have to use that hour of practice better than your competition. Being efficient with your time is really important. That's going to be like that all year with this car, but even more important because we're trying to learn so much in a short time."

-credit: gm racing

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