Friday, March 16, 2018

JR Motorsports - California 300 Preview

JR Motorsports - California 300 Preview TRACK: Auto Club Speedway
RACE: NXS 300 (150 laps / 300 miles)
DATE: Saturday, March 17, 2018
TV: 5 p.m. ET on FS1
RADIO: 4:30 p.m. ET on MRN and Sirius XM Ch. 90


JR Motorsports - California 300 Preview

Quotes


Elliott Sadler
Elliott Sadler: “Fontana is a race track where I have had some success. The surface is one of my favorites to race on in the circuit. As a driver, you have many options to find fast lines and grip, especially in Turns 1 and 2. With the strong start to the season that this Cessna team has had, I’m really looking forward to seeing how we finish out the West Coast swing. To have three top fives and a ninth-place finish after an engine change says a lot about my group of guys, JR Motorsports and Hendrick Engines. I can’t thank them enough for all of the solid weekends we have week in and week out.”



Michael Annett

Michael Annett: “Auto Club Speedway is big and fast, and I like tracks like that. You can run different grooves there, and that’s what we need to have. At Phoenix, it is fairly line-specific, and when you get pinned on the bottom there’s not much you can do to change your position. Jason (Stockert, crew chief) and the Pilot Flying J team worked hard last week to get spots, and the pit crew has been really good all season. We’re looking for a good result this weekend that we can take into the break and hit the ground running in Texas.”


Justin Allgaier

Justin Allgaier: “This No. 7 team has had a lot of momentum the past few weeks and I’m hoping we can continue that into this weekend at Auto Club Speedway. This is definitely a race where you need to bring your A game. Jason Burdett (crew chief) and the guys have really been working hard, so I know they’re up for the challenge. The West Coast swing is always a lot of fun and it would be awesome to get this Hellmann’s Camaro into Victory Lane to wrap things up before we head into the two week break.”


Tyler Reddick

Tyler Reddick: “Looking ahead to Fontana this weekend I was really excited about our mile-and-a-half speed in Las Vegas and hopefully that speed can carry over into this 2-mile track this weekend. Dave (Elenz, crew chief) and William (Byron) got a fifth-place finish there last year and hopefully we can build off of that and find some speed in our Nationwide Children’s Hospital Chevrolet Camaro and compete for a win.”


Notes

  • • Elliott Sadler and the No. 1 team broke the tie atop the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship standings with their ninth-place finish at Phoenix—Sadler is now one marker ahead of teammate Tyler Reddick.
  • • In 13 NXS starts at Auto Club Speedway, Sadler has four top-five finishes, nine top-10 finishes and one pole award (2014). Sadler’s average finish at Fontana with JR Motorsports is 6.0.
  • • In the last three seasons on 2-mile race tracks, the Virginia native has claimed four top fives and six top 10s in six starts. Sadler’s average start and finish in those events is 8.5 and 5.8, respectively.
  • • Michael Annett’s best NXS finish at Fontana came in 2009, when he was sixth at the checkered flag.
  • • Consistency is important, and Annett certainly has that at ACS. In seven starts there, Annett has completed 99.8 percent of laps attempted in NXS competition on the 2-mile oval.
  • • On tracks measuring 2 miles or more, Annett has a topfive finish and six in the top 10 over his NXS career.
  • • By virtue of making his 200th NXS start at Phoenix, Annett joins teammates Elliott Sadler (366) and Justin Allgaier (244) in the 200-start club.
  • • Following his second-place run at Phoenix last weekend, Justin Allgaier moved up to third in the NXS driver standings, just seven markers behind the leader.
  • • Through four events this season, Allgaier has the best average running position (6.7), most laps led (88) and highest driver rating (111.2) among NXS regulars.
  • • Last season the 31-year-old driver finished ninth in the 300-mile race at ACS. In nine total NXS starts at the track Allgaier has four top-10 finishes.
  • • This weekend the Illinois native will run Hellmann’s colors on the No. 7 Chevrolet for the first of two races this season.
  • • Tyler Reddick currently ranks second in the Xfinity Series championship standings, trailing JRM teammate Elliott Sadler by one point and leading the Rookie of the Year standings by seven.
  • • Reddick will make his first career NXS start at ACS this weekend. Crew chief Dave Elenz will call his fourth NXS race at Fontana. Of his starts, Elenz has recorded one victory in the 2015 event.
  • • The California native is the only full-time NXS driver to have claimed a win this season and is ranked third in average running position (9.0) among those drivers.


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