Richard Childress Racing’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history at Las Vegas Motor Speedway … In 54 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets have earned nine top-five and 19 top-10 finishes with seven different drivers – Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard and Mike Skinner.
RCR in the NSCS … In 2,634 Sprint Cup Series starts dating back to 1969, RCR has amassed 46 pole awards,105 wins, 468 top-five finishes and 1,005 top-10 finishes, with an average starting position of 17.8 and an average finishing position of 16.0. RCR has earned 15 total championships (six Sprint Cup Series championships with Earnhardt in 1986, ’87, ’90, ’91, ’93 and ’94, six NASCAR XFINITY Series titles, two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series titles and one ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards title) and was the first organization to win titles in NASCAR’s three national series.
The Collective RCR … RCR’s three full-time Sprint Cup Series drivers rank ninth (Dillon), 15th (Newman) and 17th (Menard) in the driver championship point standings.
Pediatric Education in Las Vegas … The Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma recently visited Las Vegas to sponsor sports injury expert Jeff Hinshaw at the EMS World Expo, an international conference for emergency responders and paramedics to earn continuing education hours. Hinshaw taught attendees how to recognize and treat head and spine injuries, as well as heart and heat conditions, in youth athletes. Learn more about the education programs we fund at SaveInjuredKids.org.
Catch the Action … The Las Vegas Motor Speedway 400 will be televised live Sunday, March 6 beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
This Week’s Dow Energy & Water/Intellifresh Chevrolet SS at Las Vegas Motor Speedway … Austin Dillon will pilot Chassis No. 527 in the Las Vegas Motor Speedway 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Paul Menard drove this Chevrolet SS to a 13th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway in November 2015 before it was rebranded with Dow colors and rebuilt for the 2016 season.
Dillon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway … In three Sprint Cup Series starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Dillon has not finished worse than 21st, earning his best finish of 16th at the track in 2014. He’s a former race winner in both the NASCAR XFINITY Series (2015) and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (2010). His best Sprint Cup Series starting position at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is fourth (2014) and he earned pole awards in the XFINITY Series (2015) and the Camping World Truck Series (2010).
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Attention, please … Dillon is scheduled to make a special announcement in the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Media Center on Sunday, March 6 at 8:30 a.m. Local Time.
Meet Dillon … Dillon is scheduled to sign autographs in the Grandview Lounge at South Point Hotel & Casino on Thursday, March, 3 at 8 p.m. Local Time. He will also participate in a Q&A session at the Team Chevy Stage, located in the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Fan Zone, at 9:20 a.m. Local Time on Sunday, March 6.
AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:
Are you a guy that stays out on the West coast or do you go back and forth?
“I’m going to go back and forth because we have a test at Charlotte Motor Speedway after Vegas, otherwise I would be staying out there because there’s always something to do in Las Vegas. This time around, I’m going to try and catch the UFC fight Saturday night. After the Las Vegas race weekend, I will fly home to North Carolina to do the Charlotte Motor Speedway Goodyear Tire Test, then I’m going to fly back out for the Phoenix International Raceway race and stay out on the West coast in between the races at Phoenix International Raceway and Auto Club Speedway. I don’t have much on the agenda while on the West coast. I want to relax. I may go to the beach with my girlfriend, Whitney. I do plan to join my race team in riding off road vehicles in the Devil’s Bowl. My aero guy, Clint Almquist, is from Blythe, California, and sets that fun activity up for our team every year.
There was a test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to test this new low downforce package. Many teams came out of the test saying how fast it was. Do you think that was just weather-related or is that something we can expect when we go back for the race?
“I think we have to expect some of that speed, for sure, although the heat will slow the speeds down a little bit. It will be fast for qualifying. We qualify in the evening, usually, there, or right around the time that it’s cool outside. We practice in the morning and qualify at night and usually it’s pretty comparable because the temperature doesn’t sway a whole lot. I think you’ll probably see a track record broke.”
This Week’s Dutch Boy / Menards Chevrolet at Las Vegas Motor Speedway … Chassis No. 526 was chosen for this weekend’s 400.5-mile race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This Chevrolet SS will see action for the first time with the No. 27 team during the test session on Thursday, March 3.
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PAUL MENARD QUOTES:
Is there much you will be able to take from Atlanta Motor Speedway to Las Vegas Motor Speedway since they are both 1.5-mile tracks and similar in shape?
“Vegas has gotten better the last couple of years with how much it has widened out. We can run all over the track. There were guys running by the fence the last couple of years there. You can run from the fence all the way down to the bottom and everywhere in between. The tires fall off a decent amount there, not as much as Atlanta but still some pretty decent fall off, which usually makes for one heck of a race.”
This Week’s Caterpillar Chevrolet SS at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) … Ryan Newman will pilot car No. 520 at the 1.5-mile speedway in Las Vegas. The Cup teams will be on track a day early, Thursday, to participate in a one-day test.
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RYAN NEWMAN QUOTES:
What are the keys to Las Vegas?
“The bumps in Turn 1 at Las Vegas are kind of tricky. You can either drive around them or drive under them. Turns 3 and 4 are pretty smooth, nice and sweeping. It’s mostly the bumps in Turns 1 and 2 that makes for the key to being fast there and repetitively fast. Sometimes you can hit it right and then the next lap, you may not hit it right which creates riding issues making it all pointless. It’s imperative in the race to get over them every time.
“Las Vegas is a fast track and in the past you spent a lot of time wide open. With this year’s package, it is going to be interesting to see how much we have to brake or have to start slowing the car up a bit versus what we’ve done in the past.”
Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR XFINITY Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway… In 36 Series starts at the 1.5-mile paved oval, RCR has captured three victories with drivers Kevin Harvick (2004), Jeff Burton (2007) and Austin Dillon (2015). The Welcome, N.C., organization has completed 6,664 laps of the 7,227 (92.2 percent) that they have competed. RCR has accumulated four pole awards, 11 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes, led 527 laps and averages a starting position of 8.8 and finishing position of 11.4.
Atlanta Review … Paul Menard was the highest RCR finisher in fourth, Ty Dillon was fifth, Brandon Jones 11th and Brendan Gaughan 13th, respectively, in the XFINITY Series Head’s Up Georgia 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The Points … All three RCR XFINITY Series full-time drivers remain in the top 10 of the driver point standings as the Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend for the third event of the season. Ty Dillon is currently third, Brandon Jones is fourth and Brendan Gaughan is sixth.The No. 2 RCR team is second in the owner point standings. Brandon Jones is currently second in the XFINITY Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year point standings.
Catch the Action … Coverage of this weekend’s XFINITY Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be televised live on Saturday, March 5, beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern Time on FOX Sports 1. It will also be broadcast live on Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM channel 90.
This Week’s Rheem/RTP Co. Chevrolet at Las Vegas Motor Speedway … Austin Dillon will pilot Chassis No. 167 in the Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This Chevrolet Camaro was utilized on four separate occasions last season and collected a top-four finish at each track. Dillon also drove No. 167 to victory lane at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October after starting from the pole position.
Vegas Odds … In three previous XFINITY Series starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Dillon has earned one victory (2015), one top-five finish, three top-10 finishes and one pole award. The RCR driver holds an average starting position of 2.7 coupled with an average finishing position of 4.7. In last year’s edition of the 300-mile event, Dillon earned the pole award and led the field for 183 of the 200 laps contested en route to his first victory of the 2015 season.
Winning with Rheem … Not only was Rheem a winner on the track with Dillon in the XFINITY Series in 2015, they also won Green Builder Magazine’s Hot Product award. Rheem was a finalist in the Golden Mousetrap Awards and AHR Expo Innovation Award.
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No. 2 Team by the Numbers … With two XFINITY Series events complete in 2016, the No. 2 team has two top-five finishes and five laps led to their credit. Dillon returns to the driver’s seat of the No. 2 Chevrolet next weekend at Phoenix International Raceway.
AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:
Is there anything you can take from Atlanta Motor Speedway to Las Vegas Motor Speedway? The two tracks look virtually the same from the air but I’m sure from your seat there are quite a few differences …
“In qualifying trim I think we’ll be able to use some of the things that we used at Atlanta Motor Speedway just because for one lap you have the grip to go fast. The Rheem/RTP Co. Chevrolet will definitely be more trimmed out for Las Vegas Motor Speedway because there’s a little more grip out there but as the tracks have both aged they’ve gotten to the point that drive-ability means a lot.”
This Week’s WESCO Chevrolet Camaro at Las Vegas Motor Speedway… Ty Dillon will pilot chassis No. 160 for this weekend’s Boyd Gaming 300. This Richard Childress Racing-prepared Chevrolet Camaro has two victories to its name, including last season’s win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway by Austin Dillon.
Dillon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway… In three XFINITY Series races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dillon has one top-10 finish. He has two pole awards to his credit – one in the XFINITY Series and one in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
WESCO … Since 2012, the black, blue and white colors of WESCO Distribution have been sported on Dillon’s Chevrolet. WESCO, a publicly traded Fortune 500 holding company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., is a leading provider of electrical and industrial supply.
Meet Ty Dillon … Dillon is scheduled to sign autographs for fans at the South Point Hotel & Casino on Thursday, March 3 at 8 p.m. Pacific Time in the Grandview Lounge. He will be joined by fellow RCR XFINITY Series drivers Austin Dillon, Brendan Gaughan and Brandon Jones.
TY DILLON QUOTES:
Last season you had two top-10 finishes during the #NASCARGoesWest swing. What are your goals this year?
“I think last season we had a good couple of weeks during the West Coast races, but this year we’ll look to build on that. I’d love to be able to go out and win a race and lock this team into the chase; that is the ultimate goal. But we also realize that these next three races are a grind and it’s important to do well and set the tone for after the Easter break.”
Do you have plans to stay on the West Coast instead of coming home?
“There are a few of us from RCR that love riding mountain bikes while we are out here. Some of the best riding trails in the world are around the Vegas, Phoenix and California area; so we always try to ride a few trails. Last year, we hit Dead Man’s Pass, which was awesome. Outside of that, I like playing blackjack at the South Point with some of the crew guys and catching up with some of my wife’s family members, since they are from the West Coast.”
This Week’s Thunder Coal Chevrolet at Las Vegas Motor Speedway … Brandon Jones will pilot Chassis No. 164 in the Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This Richard Childress Racing-prepared Chevrolet Camaro has three top-seven starting positions and one top-10 finish to date.
Sin City Nuggets …This weekend’s 300-mile event marks Jones’ first appearance at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. However, Jones has one previous start at the 1.5-mile track in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series where he started third and finished fifth.
Thunder Coal Rolls On … The No. 33 Chevrolet will have a little different look this week in the desert. The black, red and yellow colors of Thunder Coal will adorn the hood of Jones’ RCR machine.
Atlanta Recap … Jones and the No. 33 Roland team qualified 19th for the 163-lap event at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend. Jones quickly found momentum in the top racing groove and propelled the blue and white Chevrolet into the top-10 within the first 50 laps of the race. Jones was scored as high as fifth during the course of the Head’s Up Georgia 250 but with changing track conditions, he developed a tight-handling RCR machine in the late stages of the race. Jones crossed the finish line in front of his hometown crowd in the 11th position.
Sign Here, Please … Jones is scheduled to sign autographs at South Point Hotel & Casino on Thursday, March 3 beginning at 8 p.m. Local Time in the Grandview Lounge. Jones will join fellow RCR teammates Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon and Brendan Gaughan for the public autograph session.
BRANDON JONES QUOTES:
What do you like about Las Vegas Motor Speedway?
“The pavement is a little newer than some of the other tracks, but there isn’t much banking. The desert sand also plays into your strategy there because you slip and slide a lot. We ran really well at Las Vegas last year in the (NASCAR) Camping World Truck Series. We ran top-five all day and had a lot of speed. I think that’s what I like most about Las Vegas, you can carry a lot of speed around that track. I anticipate seeing a lot of the same conditions in the NASCAR XFINITY Series race this weekend.”
The truck race was at night and the XFINITY Series race will be in the heat of the afternoon. Do you think you’ll see any surprises because of the difference in time of day?
“I think we’ll see some difference. The sand and the heat will make for slippery conditions on the racing surface. We’ll have to keep an eye on those things during practice. Like most teams, we’ll be paying a lot of attention to the changing track conditions as the day heats up.”
What does a 19 year-old do in Las Vegas?
“Well, I can pretty much sit there and twiddle my thumbs in the hotel room or ask Brendan to show me around. Maybe go see the Grand Canyon or a show, but I’m really looking forward to having the most fun at the speedway. I can’t wait to get on the track Friday with my Chevrolet team.”
This Week’s South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet at Las Vegas Motor Speedway… Brendan Gaughan will pilot chassis No. 166 this weekend in Sin City. This Richard Childress Racing-prepared Chevrolet Camaro last saw action at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October of 2015 where Gaughan qualified and finished 15th.
Gaughan’s Hometown Stats … The Las Vegas native is scheduled to make his sixth start in the NASCAR XFINITY Series at his hometown track during Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300. In Gaughan’s five previous XFINITY Series starts at the 1.5-mile tri-oval, he has earned one top-five finish, two top-10 finishes, led 10 laps, averages a starting position of 13.8 and a finishing position of 9.4. Across all three NASCAR Premiere Series, Gaughan has completed 3,520 out of 3,788 laps (92.9 percent). Gaughan earned one victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2003, leading 137 laps at LVMS.
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Don’t Miss Your Chance to Meet the Las Vegas Native … On Thursday, March 3, Gaughan is scheduled to participate in an autograph session at South Point Hotel & Casino with some of his RCR teammates. The session is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Pacific Time. On Saturday, March 5, Gaughan is scheduled to sign autographs beginning at 8:30 a.m. PT. at the South Point booth in the Midway at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
BRENDAN GAUGHAN QUOTE:
How does Las Vegas Motor Speedway compare to racing last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway?
“They are not the same. They are completely different race tracks. Atlanta has that flat double dog leg, and Vegas has that radius D-shaped oval. The banking is way different, it is progressive at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the surface isn’t super bumpy. Las Vegas Motor Speedway is another track that has aged and tires wear out now. It’s a nice place to race where Goodyear can bring the tire they want to bring. It ages, it slips and slides, so it’s another fun place and for me. Its home! It’s Vegas.”
