DAYTONA 500 POSTPONED UNTIL 7PM ET ON MONDAY

Monday Update

Due to continued rain and forecast for the afternoon in Central Florida, Daytona International Speedway and NASCAR officials have decided to push back the re-scheduled Daytona 500 race time of 12pm ET today to 7pm ET this evening. The race will be aired live on FOX and MRN Radio affiliated stations.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter @EGRTeams for continued updates.

Sunday Racap

Due to rain in the area, the Daytona 500 has been postponed until noon tomorrow. It will air live on FOX and MRN radio.

Saturday Recap

Final Daytona 500 Practice Session Results

P1 David Gilliland, No. 38 Ford – 44.969 sec

P15 Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet – 45.591 sec

P26 Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Chevrolet – 45.941 sec

· An extended practice session was held today. This marked the final practice session before Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Both teams ran laps in order to check on the handling of the car before tomorrow’s race.
McMurray will line-up 19th and Montoya 39th (due to going to a back-up car) for the Daytona 500.
McMurray is looking to repeat his 2010 Daytona 500 win
Montoya is looking to better his sixth-place finish from last year’s race

Quote from Juan Pablo Montoya-

“We had a few adjustments to make today so we went out and ran a few laps. Tomorrow’s race is going to be exciting. After watching that truck race last night, it’ll be interesting to see what sort of strategy everyone has going into the race. I think it’ll come down to the final laps.”

Quote from Jamie McMurray-

“We used our final practice today just to go over some of the fine tuning items on our car. I think we have a really good Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet for the race if we can just keep the engine cool and put ourselves in position to hopefully be around at the end of the day tomorrow.”

The 54th annual Daytona 500, the season-starting Super Bowl of auto racing is tomorrow, Feb. 26, at 12:00pm ET. Live coverage will be on FOX and radio stations affiliated with MRN radio.

Be sure to follow us for up-to-the-minute updates on Twitter @EGRTeams throughout the weekend.

Friday Recap

First Daytona 500 Practice Session Results

P1 Carl Edwards, No. 99 Ford – 45.301 sec

P4 Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Chevrolet – 46.086 sec

DNP Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet

***DNP = did not practice

Second Daytona 500 Practice Session Results

P1 Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota – 45.026 sec

P20 Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Chevrolet – 47.020 sec

DNP Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet

· The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series had two Daytona 500 practice sessions today in preparation for Sunday’s race.

· Teams focused on single-car runs today.

· The Target team brought out their back-up car yesterday after an accident on lap 9 severely damage the No. 42 Chevrolet. The team spent today preparing the new chassis, 1201, for Sunday’s Daytona 500.

· The No. 1 Bass Pro Shops team did not run any laps today.

· Tomorrow is the final practice session for the Daytona 500. The session is from 10:30 am – 12:00 pm.

· McMurray will line-up 19th and Montoya 39th for the Daytona 500.

Quote from Juan Pablo Montoya-

“After what happened yesterday in the Duel’s, we spent today shaking down our No. 42 Target Chevrolet. The guys did a great job turning this car around and it’s just as good as our original car. We probably won’t practice much tomorrow (if at all) because we want to keep this one in one piece for Sunday’s race.”

Quote from Jamie McMurray-

“We were happy with the way our Bass Pro Shops Chevy handled after the Duel race yesterday so we opted to sit these practice sessions out. It’s just not worth taking a risk out there right now and having to go to a back-up car. We’ll probably run a few laps in tomorrow’s final practice session just to make sure everything is good to go for Sunday.”

The 54th annual Daytona 500, the season-starting Super Bowl of auto racing is on Sunday, Feb. 26, at 12:00pm ET. Live coverage will be on FOX and radio stations affiliated with MRN radio.

Be sure to follow us for up-to-the-minute updates on Twitter @EGRTeams throughout the weekend.

Thursday Recap

First Gatorade Duel 150 Qualifying Race Final Results (w/ starting position)

P1 Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet (6)

P10 Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet (16)

P19 Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Chevrolet (14)

Second Gatorade Duel 150 Qualifying Race Final Results (w/ starting position)

P1 Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Ford (7)

P2 Regan Smith, No. 78 Chevrolet (18)

P3 Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet (6)

Today’s Gatorade Duel 150 Qualifying Races determined the starting positions for the Daytona 500 this Sunday.

· The front row starting positions are the only two locked-in for the Daytona 500, regardless of the finishing order of today’s qualifying races

Juan Pablo Montoya was caught up in an early race accident that ended his day within the first 10 laps. The No. 42 Target team will be forced to use their backup car for the Daytona 500
By virtue of today’s finishing order the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet will start the Daytona 500 in the 19th–position and the Target will start in the 39th-position

Quotes:

Jamie McMurray:

“We weren’t sitting in the right position there at the end. I’m hoping NASCAR will open up the grill a little bit more because it was a little hard to race because you got too hot. If you were trying to push cars early on, it just got too hot. Once you pop that PRV off, it is over. You can’t push the rest of the day. So, I popped mine off a little too early in the race. It is still better than the tandem thing.”

Juan Pablo Montoya:

“You know it is a shame. Everybody on this Target team and Chevy everybody involved in this program has worked so hard. We had an awesome race car. It’s tough to lose one like that.”

Next up will be two practice sessions for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) teams on Friday 11am-12pm and 12:30pm-1:55pm. SPEED will have coverage from both sessions here at Daytona International Speedway.

Be sure to follow us for up-to-the-minute updates on Twitter @EGRTeams throughout the weekend.

Wednesday Recap

Second Practice Session Results

P1 Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford – 45.065 sec

P15 Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Chevrolet – 45.867 sec

P17 Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet – 45.907 sec

First Practice Session Results

P1 Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Ford – 44.809 sec

P19 Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Chevrolet – 45.315 sec

P28 Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet – 45.527 sec

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) teams held two practice sessions this afternoon for the Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying races and the Daytona 500.

•The Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying races will determine the Daytona 500 starting order from positions three thru 43, as the front row starting positions are the only two locked-in for the Daytona 500.

•Only 25 cars took to the track for the second practice session of the day, as many teams would take the time to fine tune on final set-ups for tomorrow’s qualifying races.

•Juan Pablo Montoya had a minor brush with a competitor in the second practice session of the day. There was no damage to the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, however the No. 5 team was forced to a backup car after contact and a spin through the front tri-oval grass ripped most of the front end off of their car.

The Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying races can be seen live tomorrow at 2pm on SPEED and MRN will also have live radio coverage of the day’s events from Daytona International Speedway.

Be sure to follow us for up-to-the-minute updates on Twitter @EGRTeams throughout the weekend.