NEWS RELEASE Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates 8500 Westmoreland Drive • Concord, NC 28027 USA Phone (704) 662-9642
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NEWS RELEASE Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates 8500 Westmoreland Drive • Concord, NC 28027 USA Phone (704) 662-9642 www.earnhardtganassi.com Auto Club Speedway Advance Notes Race: Pepsi MAX 400 on Sunday, Oct. 10 Track: Auto Club Speedway (2.0-mile oval) Location: Fontana, Calif. Earnhardt Ganassi Media Contacts at Auto Club Speedway NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Shayna Keller No. 42 Target Chevrolet NOTES Juan Pablo Montoya and No. 42 Target Team MEDIA ALERT: Juan Pablo Montoya will be available at the No. 42 Target hauler for a brief Hispanic Media Q&A session on Friday, October 8 from 11:15am – 11:30am (PDT) California History: Juan Pablo Montoya will be making his eighth NSCS start at the Auto Club Speedway on Sunday afternoon. Montoya is coming off a starting-best of second from the first 2010 NSCS visit to Fontana. His career best weekend came at this event last season where he started fourth and led for 78 laps before finishing third. He had previously only led for one lap with a best finish of 11th in the first event of 2009. Kansas Recap: The Target team started out the weekend strong with their 11th consecutive top-10 qualifying position at Kansas Speedway. The No. 42 Target Chevrolet lined-up seventh and handling concerns quickly became an issue. Montoya brushed the wall on lap 42 due to a loose handling race car and the team worked throughout the day to get a strong finish out of the race. In the end, Montoya would settle for a 29th-place finishing position. Montoya Appearance: Visit the Chevy Stage located outside of Auto Club Speedway this Sunday, October 10. Montoya will participate in a Q&A Session from 8:45am-9:00am (PDT). Montoya Plays Golf: Prior to the weekend events at Auto Club Speedway Montoya will arrive in California early to participate in fellow NSCS driver Jimmie Johnson’s foundation golf tournament. The tournament will take place on Wednesday, October 6 in San Diego, Calif. Meet The Target Team: Visit the Chevy display area this Sunday, October 10 to meet the No. 42 Target pit crew. The Target team will be signing autographs for race fans at the display from 10:15am-10:30am (PDT). Back-to-Back IndyCar Titles for Target Chip Ganassi Racing: Target Chip Ganassi Racing claimed their eighth open wheel crown last Saturday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway as Dario Franchitti drove to an eighth place finish, locking up the 2010 IndyCar Series championship in the final race of the season. It marks the third IndyCar championship for Franchitti (2007, 2009), and second with Team Target. In addition, it marked the third straight IndyCar championship for Target Chip Ganassi Racing as teammate Scott Dixon captured the title in 2008. Qualifying Consistency: Montoya and the No. 42 Target team continued their qualifying streak of top-10 starting positions this past weekend in Kansas. The No. 42 Chevrolet has started in the top-10 for 11 straight weeks beginning with Chicagoland in mid-July. This also includes one of the two pole awards for Montoya this season and five top-five starting positions. CHASSIS INFO No. 42 Target Chevrolet (NSCS): Chassis #1003. Pattie and the No. 42 Target team are bringing chassis #1003 to Auto Club Speedway this weekend marking the fourth time this chassis has been used in 2010. The team last used this chassis at Atlanta in September where Montoya started eighth and finished ninth. Montoya also ran this chassis at Chicagoland where he qualified 10th and finished 16th and in the Coke 600 where he finished 38th due to an on-track incident. 2010 STATS NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Starts Wins Poles Top 5s Top 10s Ave Start Ave Finish Pts. Pos./(Prev) Juan Pablo Montoya 29 1 2 5 13 10.2 18.0 16/16 CAREER STATS NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Starts Wins Poles Top 5s Top 10s Ave Start Ave Finish Juan Pablo Montoya 138 2 4 17 40 17.4 19.9 TEAM ROSTER Tony Glover – Team Manager Steve Hmiel – Director of Competition No. 42 (NSCS) Hometown Hometown Crew Chief: Brian Pattie Zephyrhills, FL Rear Tire Changer: Chris McMullen Troutman, NC Chief Mechanic: Heath Silver Asheville, NC Rear Tire Carrier: Chip Goode Statesville, NC Front Tire Changer: Trevor Lysne Fergus Falls, MN Gas Man: Mike Bodick Norwalk, CT Front Tire Carrier: Eric Bilyeu Waterford, MI Catch Can: Heath Silver Asheville, NC Jack Man: TJ Ford Charlotte, NC Spotter: Tab Boyd Pensacola, FL For more information log onto: www.earnhardtganassi.com .