McFarland and Navy Team Ready for Richmond International Raceway
Richmond Notes
On Friday, NASCAR Busch Series driver Mark McFarland will return to his home state to drive the JR Motorsports No. 88 Navy Accelerate Your Life Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in the Circuit City 250 at Richmond International Raceway.
This week McFarland will race at a track where the rookie driver has competed on several occasions. In four Busch Series races at Richmond, he has posted two top-20 finishes. His first race at Richmond came in his family-owned No. 82 Chevrolet in 1998. He posted his best start at the track (15th) in qualifying for that race. His most recent Busch race at Richmond was in the fall of 2004 when he took the checkered flag in 16th position and collected his best finish at the track.
McFarland has also run one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Richmond. In 2003, he qualified 22nd and finished 12th.
The team is bringing chassis No. 016 to the track this week. The car finished 16th at Phoenix last month. The team also tested the car in the open test session at Richmond in March.
Last weekend McFarland and the JR Motorsports team picked up their best-ever finish of seventh at Talladega Superspeedway. The run also marked the team and driver’s first-ever top 10 as well.
Mark McFarland, Driver of No. 88 Navy Accelerate Your Life Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
“Richmond is my home track. It’s not too far from where I grew up and I’ve run a handful of races there. I’d have to say it’s my favorite track and I look forward to racing in front of my home crowd on Friday.
“Our team has been on a roll the last couple of weeks, so I’m definitely looking forward to racing at Richmond on Friday. We got our first top-10 finish last weekend at Talladega, which was huge for the team. Now we’re going to a track that I actually have some laps on and we tested really well there earlier this year, so we’re looking to get another top 10 under our belts on Friday.”
Rich Hubbs, Crew Chief of No. 88 Navy Accelerate Your Life Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
“We tested well at Richmond back in March, and the car ran well at Phoenix. We were able to learn some things at Phoenix and make some changes that should make us run even better at Richmond.
“Mark has experience at Richmond. He’s probably logged more laps there than any other track we visit on the circuit, so that should help us a lot.”
Navy Notables
The fleet honoree for Friday’s race at Richmond International Speedway is the USS Bataan LHD 5. The USS Bataan (LHD 5) is the fifth ship in the WASP (LHD 1) class of United States Navy multipurpose amphibious assault ships. One of the fleet’s busiest ships over the last four years, USS Bataan was a major contributor in the humanitarian relief efforts resulting from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom II while supporting combat operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Event Information
Circuit City 250
5/05/06
Richmond International Raceway
Richmond, Virginia
0.75-mile Oval
TV — FX 7:30 p.m. EDT
Radio — MRN 7:30 p.m. EDT
Team Information
Chassis: JRM No. 016
Chassis Info: 16th at Phoenix
Engine: RCR
Primary Sponsor: U.S. Navy
Associate Sponsors:
Champion, Wrangler, Safety-Kleen, Moog, Mechanix Wear, R&B, Mitel, Puma
Noting the Navy
The Navy has used its association with NASCAR over the past two years to increase America’s awareness of the opportunities to serve our great country. The Navy is very excited about further increasing its awareness through NASCAR in 2006 by an association with JR Motorsports as it exemplifies the Navy’s commitment to grow and develop quality young sailors through service in the Navy.
JR Motorsports
JR Motorsports, a Mooresville, N.C., based company owned by Nextel Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., fields the No. 88 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS that competes in the NASCAR Busch Series for the 2006 season, with a multi-year agreement with the U.S. Navy. The move into the NASCAR Busch Series as a team owner is the next step in the evolution of Earnhardt Jr.’s career.
