Team News
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Advance Notes
July 21, 2009
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Race: Allstate 400 at the Brickyard on Sunday, July 27
Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2.5-mile oval)
Location: Speedway, Ind.
Martin Truex Jr. and No. 1 Guitar Hero® Smash Hits Team
MEDIA ALERT: On Friday, July 24 at 10 a.m. ET Martin Truex Jr. will participate in the Pros vs. GI Joes event at the Coke Zero Stage (in the Plaza Pavilion) located directly behind the Pagoda at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Truex will be available to the media between 10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. ET.
Indianapolis History: Sunday will mark Martin Truex Jr.’s fifth Sprint Cup Series start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In four prior events Truex has an average starting position of 24.5 and an average finish of 24th. His best finish at the famed 2.5-mile oval came in 2007 when Truex piloted his No.1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet to a 12th-place finish after starting 33rd.
Guitar Hero®, a Smash Hit!: The #1 best-selling video game, Guitar Hero®, returns to the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as primary sponsor of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates’ No. 1 Chevrolet driven by Martin Truex Jr. This time the popular video game franchise introduces their latest hit, Guitar Hero® Smash Hits. The video game returns as a primary sponsor with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing for the fourth time this season after sponsoring Aric Almirola and the No. 8 Team for several races including the 2009 Daytona 500. This marks the first race for Guitar Hero as primary sponsor of the No. 1 Chevrolet team. Guitar Hero will once again be the featured paint scheme for Truex and team with paint schemes at the upcoming Atlanta and Charlotte events.
About Guitar Hero® Smash Hits: Turn down the lights, crank up the amps and prepare to command center stage as you rock out to the most fun tracks from Guitar Hero®, Guitar Hero® II, Guitar Hero® Encore: Rocks the 80s, and Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock. For the first time you can join together as a band and master tracks from the greatest Guitar Hero music on your controllers for guitar, bass, drums and vocals. The game features 48 master recordings and the ability to rock through eight different venues.
Pro vs. GI Joe Competition at Indy: Activision Publishing, Inc. and Pros vs. GI Joes announced this month the "Activision Showdown," a series of video game competitions bringing together active duty troops with some of the world's most popular professional athletes for once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Activision's Showdown kicks-off Friday, July 24 from 10am – 10:30am at the Coke Zero Stage in the Plaza Pavilion located directly behind the Bombardier Pagoda. The event, hosted prior to the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will feature members of the Indiana National Guard (currently stationed in Kuwait and Iraq) facing-off in a match of Guitar Hero® Smash Hits against Earnhardt Ganassi Racing’s Martin Truex Jr, driver of the No. 1 Guitar Hero Smash Hits Chevrolet. The troops' families and fellow soldiers (currently stateside) will also be in attendance to participate and spend time online with their loved ones and friends abroad. Fans are encouraged to come by and check out the festivities in support of our Nation’s troops and their families.
In the Points: After finishing in 16th-place at Chicagoland Speedway, Martin Truex Jr. remains 24th in both the owner and driver standings.
Juan Pablo Montoya and No. 42 Target Team
MEDIA ALERT: On Friday, July 24 at 12 noon ET Juan Pablo Montoya and Chip Ganassi will hold a news conference at Indianapolis Motor Speedway at the “Yard of Bricks” below the Pagoda.
Winning Colors: Juan Pablo Montoya will make his return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Target colors for the first time since he won the Indy 500 for Target in 2000. To commemorate their reunion at IMS, Montoya will run the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in a “retro” paint scheme and uniform that echoes back to the same scheme used in 2000 when he won the Indy 500.
Brickyard 400 History: Montoya drove to a runner-up finish in his first stock car start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 2007 Brickyard 400. He started on the outside pole and ran in the top 10 for the entire 160-lap event before bringing home the second-place finish. Last year, Montoya started in 13th position but his chances were cut short after a right-rear tire exploded on lap 28. The team was able to repair the car and post a 39th-place finish.
A familiar Place: In 2007 Juan Pablo Montoya made history by becoming the first driver to compete in all three major events at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (the Indianapolis 500, the United States Grand Prix and the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.) Montoya has six starts in the Grand Prix with a top finish of fourth, one start and win in the Indy 500 and two Brickyard 400 starts with a best finish of second in 2007. If he wins the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard on Sunday, Montoya will become the first driver in history to win both the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400.
Indy Winner: Montoya took the checkered flag in his first and only attempt at the Indy 500 in 2000 driving for Team Owner Chip Ganassi’s open wheel team. His margin of victory over runner-up finisher Buddy Lazier was 7.184 seconds. He also became the first rookie since Graham Hill in 1966 to win the 500-mile race.
Formula for Success: Chip Ganassi, Target and Juan Pablo Montoya have all found the formula for success at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Chip has three wins at IMS (Indy 500 –1989, 2000 and 2008), Target has two wins (Indy 500 –2000 and 2008), and Montoya has one win (Indy 500 –2000).
Last Race: Juan Pablo Montoya and the Target team made a late-race surge to post a 10th-place finish in the LifeLock.com 400 Sprint Cup event at Chicagoland Speedway. The finish catapulted Montoya to ninth in the NSCS Championship standings, marking a NASCAR career high for Montoya.
Target Celebrates 20th Season with Ganassi: The team’s partnership with Target continues to rank as one of the longest relationships in motorsports. Chip Ganassi created his own one-car IndyCar team in 1990 and that same year established a partnership with Target. Today, Target remains the only full-time sponsor in both the NSCS and the IndyCar Series. With Montoya and his IndyCar Series teammates Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti, Team Target now sports three drivers that have all won open-wheel championships and the Indianapolis 500.
In the Points: Montoya’s ninth top-10 finish of 2009 moved him to ninth in the 2009 NSCS Championship driver point standings. The team is 563 points behind leader Tony Stewart. There are seven races remaining before the top-12 drivers in points begin the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship
CHASSIS INFO
No. 1 Guitar Hero® Smash Hits Chevrolet (NSCS): Chassis #040. Martin Truex Jr. will pilot chassis #040 for the first time this weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The chassis has been the backup for the No. 1 team this season at California, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Bristol and Texas.
No. 42 Target Chevrolet (NSCS): Chassis #819. The Target team will bring Chassis #819 to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend. This will be the first race of the 2009 season for chassis #819. Last year the chassis was used five times with a best finish of 17th at Homestead.
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