Ameriquest 300 - Tony Stewart Notes

TONY STEWART
OLD SPICE CHEVROLET
CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY PREVIEW

STEWART TO MAKE THIRD CALIFORNIA BUSCH START: Tony Stewart will make his third Busch Series start at California Speedway on Saturday. Stewart’s previous Busch Series starts at California were in 2004 and 2005. Stewart drove an RCR Busch car in 2004 to a second-place finish. In 2005 Stewart won the pole in the No. 33 Old Spice Chevrolet and led 20 laps in the event, before a late race tire failure relegated him to a 29th-place finish. Saturday’s start will be his ninth Busch race of the 2006 season. In seven Busch Series seasons, Stewart has never raced in more than 22 races in one season, which happened in 1998. His 2005 total of 12 races was his second highest in the seven year span. Stewart plans to compete in 10 Busch Series events for KHI in 2006.

KHI AT CALIFORNIA: One year ago Tony Raines drove the No. 33 Outdoor Channel Chevrolet at California Speedway. Raines started 19th and finished 26th. KHI driver Burney Lamar had an impressive weekend for KHI at California Speedway one year ago. Lamar won the NASCAR West Series race at the track. It was Lamar’s second West Series win for KHI. Lamar will compete alongside of Stewart this weekend in the No. 77 Dollar General stores Chevrolet. Tony Stewart will pilot the No. 33 Old Spice Chevrolet.

STEWART’S PREVIOUS BUSCH START WITH KHI: Tony Stewart’s last race in the No. 33 Old Spice Chevrolet was two weeks ago at Michigan International Speedway. Stewart started 14th and finished 11th. Stewart has finished 12th, ninth and 11th respectively in his last three Busch Series starts. Stewart will make his final Busch Series start of the season for KHI on September 30, at the Kansas Speedway.

HOME TRACK FOR MANY: California Speedway is the “home track” for many of the drivers, employees and sponsors of KHI. Owner and driver Kevin Harvick is from Bakersfield, Calif., driver Ron Hornaday is from Palmdale, Calif., and driver Burney Lamar is from West Sacramento, Calif. Along with the three drivers there are about a half dozen employees at KHI that are from California. Two of KHI’s sponsors, The Outdoor Channel and HPS Mechanical can also claim California Speedway as its home track. The Outdoor Channel is located in nearby Temecula, Calif., and HPS Mechanical is located in Bakersfield, Calif.

LAST WEEKEND: The No. 33 team definitely has momentum in their favor after last weekend’s exciting third-place effort at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Ron Hornaday drove a great race in the Outdoor Channel Chevrolet, en route to his best Busch Series finish of the season, and the third top-five finish of the season for the No. 33 team. The team will be looking to build on that feat this weekend with Tony Stewart in the No. 33 Old Spice Chevrolet.

KHI QUOTEBOOK Crew Chief: Wally Rogers WILL YOUR NOTES FROM MICHIGAN BE HELPFUL, OR WILL YOU GO OFF OF THE SPRING RACE AT CALIFORNIA? “We had good cars at both tracks. Kevin had a really strong car at California in the spring, and we were pretty happy with (Tony) Stewart’s car a couple of weeks ago at Michigan. It’s true that Michigan and California are similar race tracks, so we’ll have some good notes to pull from. I’m sure we’ll start off somewhere near where Stewart’s car was at Michigan and go from there.”

YOU RAN WELL WITH KEVIN (HARVICK) IN THE CAR IN THE SPRING, WHAT ABOUT THIS TIME AROUND? “Our cars are getting better and better each week, regardless of who’s in the car. We’ve had some good cars at California Speedway in the past, so I expect much of the same this time around. I know Tony (Stewart) will do a great job for us, and hopefully we’ll be in contention at the end of the day.”

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