Charlotte Notebook
Oct. 7, 2016
Notebook Items:
·
Penske teammates aren’t worried about lack of practice time
·
Kyle Busch optimistic about his chances at Charlotte
·
Snapchat covers Sprint Cup race with “Live Story”
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
Penske teammates aren’t worried about lack of practice time
CONCORD,
N.C. – With all track activity canceled because of rain on Friday at
Charlotte Motor Speedway – a far-reaching effect of Hurricane Matthew –
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
drivers won’t have an opportunity to practice between Thursday
evening’s knockout qualifying session and Saturday night’s Bank of
America 500 (7 p.m. ET on NBC).
No
problem, according to Team Penske drivers Joey Logano and Brad
Keselowski, both exuding confidence entering the first race of the Round
of 12 in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint
Cup. After all, both drivers spent the vast majority of Thursday’s
opening practice in race trim, anticipating the rain.
“It’s
no big deal for our race team,” Logano told the NASCAR Wire Service on
Friday, during a Team Penske 50th anniversary media luncheon hosted by
sponsor Shell/Pennzoil. “We
did spend a lot of time in race trim yesterday, but at this point, with
the 22 team, we’ve worked together for a while now. (Crew chief) Todd
(Gordon) knows what I want in a race car. We have notes to go off of,
not only from the spring or last year, but from
Chicago and other mile-and-a-half race tracks we just went to.
“There’s
always items that we want to try and change and make the car better,
but I feel like Team Penske does a great job on showing up at the track
with a fast race car a lot
of times – or a well-balanced race car – and being able to fine-tune
the adjustments to make it a tick better.”
Logano
won last year’s Chase race at Charlotte during a No. 22 Ford sweep of
the Round of 12. Keselowski has good notes, too. He finished fifth in
the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte
in May, a week after running second to Logano in the NASCAR Sprint
All-Star Race.
Keselowski, who won the Bank of America 500 in 2013, doesn’t think lack of practice will be an issue.
“I
don’t, because we practiced all in race trim, so I was very thankful
for the time we spent in that capacity and the speed that we had,” said
the 2012 series champion.
Keselowski
and Logano both are doing double duty this weekend, but the rainout
postponed Friday night’s scheduled Drive for the Cure 300, the final
event in the NASCAR XFINITY
Series Chase’s Round of 12, until Sunday at 11 a.m (on NBCSN). So a
night race that was supposed to run before the Cup event has become a
day race that will follow it.
“You’ll have to drive differently, sure,” Keselowski said. “But you know what? That’s my job.”
KYLE BUSCH OPTIMISTIC ABOUT HIS CHANCES AT CHARLOTTE
Kyle Busch has won a points race at every active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series track with only two exceptions: Pocono and Charlotte.
But
that could change on Saturday night – at Charlotte, at least – If
Busch’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota lives up to the expectations of
the defending series champion. Even
though Busch has never won in 25 starts at Charlotte, he’s always been
quick under the lights at the 1.5-mile track.
“I
think when we were here in the spring, we had a pretty good car,” Busch
said. “In the All-Star race, for sure, we were pretty fast there – had a
shot to win until the driver
sped on pit road and screwed that up.
“And
here last year, we were OK during the day race because it ran on
Sunday, and so it just all kind of depends with what’s kind of going on,
where your setup’s at, how the
field stacks up, so with all those things you just try to throw your
best ideas at it, and (Crew chief) Adam (Stevens) is pretty good at
that.”
Though
Busch couldn’t make a move on the track because of Friday’s rain, he
did make a move as a team owner, announcing that fellow Las Vegas native
Noah Gragson will drive full-full
time for Kyle Busch Motorsports next year in the NASCAR Camping World
Truck Series.
A
product of the NASCAR Next program, Gragson was NASCAR K&N Pro
Series West rookie of the year in 2015. This season, he has accumulated
four victories in 26 starts in the NASCAR
K&N Pro Series East and Pro Series West combined.
SNAPCHAT COVERS SPRINT CUP RACE WITH “LIVE STORY”
NASCAR’s
third Snapchat Live Story of the 2016 season will take place around
Saturday night’s Bank of America 500. Fans at Charlotte Motor Speedway
can contribute content to
the video stream, giving Snapchat users around the world a
behind-the-scenes look at NASCAR race day.
Snapchat users can also unlock an exclusive Charlotte race week Snapchat filter by scanning the
snapcode found in this tweet.
Front
Row Motorsports driver Landon Cassill took over NASCAR’s Snapchat
account earlier this week to unveil his Charlotte paint scheme, which
features Snapchat’s ghost logo.
Cassill promised free tacos to his Snapchat followers if he wins on
Saturday.
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