Winn-Dixie 250 - Tony Stewart Notes

TONY STEWART
DOLLAR GENERAL STORES CHEVROLET
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY PREVIEW

STEWART IN THE NO. 33 AT DAYTONA: Tony Stewart returns behind the wheel of the No. 33 Dollar General Stores Chevrolet this week, after a four week hiatus from the seat. Stewart’s last race was at Lowe’s (N.C.) Motor Speedway in May. Stewart will also drive the No. 33 next weekend at Chicagoland (Ill.) Speedway.

DOLLAR GENERAL STORES BACK ON THE NO. 33 AT DAYTONA: Dollar General Stores makes its third of four appearances as primary sponsor of the No. 33 this weekend at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. While maintaining a full-time primary sponsorship on the No. 77 Dollar General Stores Chevrolet driven by Burney Lamar, Dollar General has four races with the No. 33 team: Texas, Darlington, Daytona, and Lowe’s. Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick split the driving duties for the races, two each.

PREVIOUSLY AT DAYTONA: Tony Stewart‘s last two appearances in Busch Series events at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway have been nothing but outstanding. Stewart is riding a streak of two consecutive wins at Daytona in Busch Series events. While both wins have come in the February events at Daytona (Fla.), Stewart has never driven in a July Busch Series race at the 2.5-mile track. Friday night’s Winn-Dixie 250 will be Stewart’s first July Busch Series restrictor-plate race. Team and driver will look to better their Talladega finish and continue their streak at Daytona (Fla.).

NEW CAR FOR STEWART AT DAYTONA: After a wild ride at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, KHI’s speedway chassis No. 019 was officially retired. Stewart was sent for a ride on the roof of chassis No. 019 down the tri-oval of Talladega, after flipping in the air after contact was made with a fellow competitor. Stewart was okay after the incident, but the car, which also was the winning chassis at Daytona (Fla.) this season, was officially retired. This week Stewart will be driving a new speedway car prepared by KHI. Chassis No.021 was tested in January at DIS, by fellow KHI and No. 33 driver Ron Hornaday. The car was fast in testing, and the team will look for a good run again in Daytona (Fla.).

LOOKING AHEAD TO JULY: As the case has been for the first half of the 2006 season, the No. 33 will see a number of different drivers behind the wheel in the month of July. Beginning with Daytona (Fla.) and Chicago (Ill.), Tony Stewart will drive the No. 33 Dollar General Stores Chevrolet and the Old Spice Chevrolet respectively. In New Hampshire, Aaron Fike will take his turn in the No. 33 Outdoor Channel Chevrolet. When the Busch Series makes its return to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Ron Hornaday will drive the No. 33 Outdoor Channel Chevrolet. In all, the No. 33 will have five different drivers (Stewart, Hornaday, Fike, Harvick, Fellows) behind the wheel in 2006.

QUOTEBOOK

Crew Chief: Wally Rogers
STEWART’S RECORD IN A KHI BUSCH CAR AT DAYTONA IS SOLID, WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS WEEKEND? “We’ve got a brand new car prepared for Stewart and I know it’s a good car. We tested it in January at Daytona, and it was just as good as the car he won the race with back in February. Anytime you go to a plate track with Stewart you expect to run up front and be in position in the end.”

DO YOU LIKE THE AERO PACKAGE THE BUSCH CARS RUN AT DAYTONA? “The package provides great racing for the fans, and its pretty exciting for the drivers. It’s good for the teams, because if you’ve got a good car you can make up a lot of ground fast, but it’s also two, three and four-wide racing the entire race. You never know what’s going to happen in those situations.”

TECHNICAL INFORMATION