HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – March 21, 2011 – Sprint today announced it will partner with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series™ drivers A.J. Allmendinger (Los Gatos, Calif.) and Casey Mears (Bakersfield, Calif.) as they battle for home-turf bragging rights at Auto Club Speedway in the Auto Club 400 on Sunday, March 27, in the Sprint Bragging Rights Challenge.
Allmendinger’s and Mears’ private race within a race will determine which driver’s charity receives a $5,000 contribution on behalf of Sprint. Whichever driver scores the highest finishing position in the Auto Club 400 will earn the donation for his charity of choice. A.J. Allmendinger and the #43 Best Buy Ford
Allmendinger has chosen the Paralyzed Veterans of America as his charity, while Mears has named the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America as his charity of choice. Monica Palumbo - Miss Sprint Cup
As part of the overall Sprint Bragging Rights Challenge, Allmendinger and Mears will appear alongside Miss Sprint Cup, Monica Palumbo, at the Stonewood Center Best Buy Mobile in Downey, Calif., on Thursday, March 24. NASCAR fans are encouraged to visit the store during race week to take advantage of a special offer. All 71 Los Angeles area Best Buy® and Best Buy Mobile™ specialty stores will offer up to 25 percent off select Samsung Android™-powered smartphones from Sprint.
Allmendinger, Mears and Palumbo will appear at the Stonewood Center Best Buy Mobile from 6 to 8 p.m. PDT. Fans seeking autographs and photos will have the opportunity to meet and hear from all three inside the Best Buy Mobile store that evening. In addition, fans can compete in the racing simulators and register for a chance to win prizes, including tickets to the weekend’s events at Auto Club Speedway.
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Justin Marks made his first date with the “Lady in Black” on Saturday night when he made his first career start at the infamous 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval. Being patient and on his toes seemed to pay off at the track best known for leaving its mark on unsuspecting superstars, until Marks’ – who had avoided the event’s first seven wrecks – made contact with the wall just 49 laps from the conclusion of the 6th Annual Too Tough to Tame 200. Justin Marks of Rocklin, CA
“I was happy that we had a truck that was the most competitive so far this year,” said Marks after the race. “It looked like the GoPro Chevy was headed to a solid top-15 finish, maybe better. I’m not sure if there was something on the track or if I just made a mistake but we got sideways right behind Ricky (Carmichael) when he went around. We caught the wall just enough to end our night. It was pretty disappointing.”
Before the collision, the 29-year-old Rocklin, California native had cracked the top-15, which was a significant improvement over qualifying, where his fast lap would only claim 28th starting spot. “Darlington is a very difficult racetrack but a lot of fun to drive,” said Marks. “Everything you hear about showing respect and staying focused are absolutely true. It requires a level of concentration and confidence rare to other tracks.”
That concentration and confidence paid off at the drop of the green flag. Marks started 28th and never looked back; breaking into the top-20 after 10 laps. After logging 25 laps and avoiding the event’s first three accidents, Marks’ brought his No. 66 GoPro Chevrolet down pit road to the attention of the crew, who outfitted his Silverado with four fresh Goodyear tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment to help aid the truck from being tight in the center of the corner, and loose off.
When the race resumed, the truck picked up speed and Marks was able to drive it into the top-15 by lap 40. Taking the opportunity to hit pit road again under caution on lap 59, Crew Chief Doug Wolcott called for two right side tires, fuel, and a track bar adjustment, returning Marks to the track 14th. The #66 GoPro Chevrolet Truck driven by Justin Marks of Rocklin, CA.
Marks battled in the top-15 until the next caution waived on lap 90 for a single truck wreck in turn two. Making his final pit stop of the night, Marks hit pit road for four tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment, returning to the track 15th. Just three laps after taking the green flag on lap 95, Ricky Carmichael wrecked while exiting turn four and made hard contact with the outside retaining wall. Marks tried to take evasive action to miss Carmichael’s machine, but he slapped the wall with the right front instead.
Marks limped his GoPro Chevrolet to pit road under caution where the crew assessed the damage. With the toe knocked out and the right front fender gone, Marks’ chances of coming away with a top-10 at Darlington were done. After a short red flag, the race resumed with Marks in 26th place. Despite the damage, Marks hung on to finish 24th in his Darlington debut.
Marks and the No. 66 GoPro team will enjoy two weeks off before heading to Martinsville Speedway for the Kroger 250 on Saturday, April 2nd for race number 4 of 25 in the 2011 Camping World Truck Series season.
“Remains First in Series Driver Points at 250th Start; ThorSport Racing’s Focus Remains on Championship”
Matt Crafton from Tulare, CA is the Driver of the #88 Menards/Tarkett Chevy Truck
Darlington, SC – March 13th, 2011 – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series points leader Matt Crafton, driver of the No. 88 Menards / Tarkett Chevrolet Silverado for ThorSport Racing, powered home in fourth position at the notorious Lady in Black on Saturday night. The finish kept him securely on top of the series points boards, as well as gave the team the third top 10 finish of the season’s three races and first top five.
Nicknamed “Mr. Consistency” this year by the motorsports press, Crafton was true to form from practice to qualifying to race night in the one-day show. Running in the top 10 in both practices, Crafton started the race in fourth position with a qualifying lap time of 28.448 – just one tenth out of pole range.
Running sixth through the first caution of a record 11 for the night, Crafton and crew chief Bud Haefele decided to stay out. On the second caution of the night at lap 25, he brought the truck in for four tires and fuel, saying it was free and lots of debris on the track.
“The truck was super free at the start of the race. I felt we could’ve been up front a little more but weren’t – I just wasn’t racing the race track as much,” said Crafton. “People were taking chances early, so Bud and I were just trying to be smart.”
Restarting 14th and still feeling loose, the team went on to battle for position over the course of the next 92 laps and five cautions. Pitting twice, once at lap 58 and next at lap 88, Crafton wheeled as high as seventh position while still giving feedback that the truck was “free, free, free.” Crafton would restart 23rd and make an impressive drive through the pack to the fourth position at the checkers. The solid performance delivers not only his first top five finish this season, but also his 75th consecutive top 10 series finish and third top 10 finish in as many races this season.
“Coming back for a top five after restarting 23rd with 46 laps to go – that’s really good and I’m proud of how we can dig. I can’t thank the guys enough for working their tails off and giving me a great truck to be able to drive through it like we did at the end. I just wish we hadn’t lost track position today – I think we could’ve had something for the 18 without that loss. We live and die as a team though, and we’re going to take that to Martinsville.”
