Race 2 Win: Busch Series Race Notes

NASCAR Busch Series

Sam’s Town 250 - Tim McCreadie Notes

Tim McCreadie
No. 21 AutoZone Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date: Sam’s Town 250 – October 27, 2007
Venue: Memphis Motorsports Park – Memphis, Tenn.

NOTES:

This Week’s Race Car at Memphis Motorsports Park … Tim McCreadie will pilot Chassis No. 058 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) stable in this weekend’s Sam’s Town 250. This is the same AutoZone Chevrolet McCreadie drove at The Milwaukee Mile (St. 24, Fin. 28), O’Reilly Raceway Park (St. 17, Fin. 12) and Richmond International Raceway (St. 35, Fin. 32). Chassis No. 058 also saw action at Phoenix International Raceway with Timothy Peters behind the wheel. Peters started 29th and finished 13th. Additionally, Kevin Harvick was four for five with this Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in 2006, earning victories at Martinsville Speedway (July 22), O’Reilly Raceway Park (Aug. 5), Richmond International Raceway (Sept. 8) and Memphis Motorsports Park (Oct. 29) before finishing second at Phoenix International Raceway in November.

T-Mac for the Record … In five NBS starts this season, McCreadie has a pair of top-15 finishes, including a career-best 12th-place run at O’Reilly Raceway Park in August. In those same five starts, the Watertown, N.Y. native has a 26.4 average start and a 22nd-place average finish. He has completed 1,086 of the 1,102 laps (98.5 percent) contested over that span and has earned $120,675. McCreadie is the 2006 360 OTC World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion and the defending Chili Bowl Midget Nationals champion. Prior to this weekend, the 33-year-old driver has only 13 races on pavement to his credit, including five NBS races, three Grand National, West Series starts (Phoenix, Iowa and Irwindale), one Grand National, two Busch East Series race (New Hampshire in June and Dover in September) and two ARCA Re/Max Series races (Michigan in June and Talladega in October).

RCR at Memphis … Richard Childress leads the NBS car owner victories list with three – Harvick (2000 and 2006) and Bowyer (2005). In 16 starts at the 0.75-mile oval, Childress boasts one pole, nine top-five and 10 top-10 finishes with nine different drivers including Harvick, Mike Dillon, Johnny Sauter, Jay Sauter, Ron Hornaday, Jr., Michael Lewis, Clint Bowyer, Brandon Miller and Peters.

Points Report … RCR’s No. 21 team is currently fourth in the NBS Owner’s Point standings. Despite fielding cars for six different drivers including McCreadie, Harvick, Scott Wimmer, Bowyer, PJ Jones and Peters, the AutoZone Chevy is just 64 points behind Roush-Fenway Racing’s No. 60 entry and 209 behind Job Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 machine. RCR’s No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet currently leads the owner’s standings by a 116-point margin.

Design a Dream Machine … The No. 21 AutoZone racing team, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis Motorsports Park and 15 other NBS teams have teamed up to help recognize children fighting for their lives at the hospital founded by Danny Thomas in 1962. The children cared for at the hospital have designed the paint schemes for the 16 participating cars competing in the event. McKenzie, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease one year ago, designed the bright pink AutoZone Chevrolet for the No. 21 team. McKenzie will be on hand to see her design take to the track.

It’s a Wrap … It is becoming increasingly popular for teams to use vinyl wraps to “paint” a car instead of actually sending it to the paint booth and that is exactly what the No. 21 AutoZone team did for this weekend's special paint scheme. Two people can apply a vinyl wrap in just over 2.5 hours. The best part of a wrap is that it can be applied directly over a car that is already painted and when you remove the wrap, chances are, the paint will be completely intact.

RCR Busch Brigade … In 31 NBS races this season, RCR has claimed 11 victories with the most recent coming two weeks ago at Lowe’s Motor Speedway with Jeff Burton. Harvick leads the way with five, Burton has four and Bowyer has two. Additionally, the three RCR Busch teams (No. 2, No. 21 and No. 29) have a total of 36 top-five and 53 top-10 finishes while leading 1,316 laps.

Leading the Way in Owner Wins … Childress leads the 2007 NBS in owner wins with 11 – the most recent coming two weeks ago at Lowe’s Motor Speedway with Burton.

Catch the Action … Live coverage of the Sam’s Town 250 at Memphis Motorsports Park will be televised live on ESPN2 Saturday, October 27 beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The race will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio.

TIM MCCREADIE QUOTES:
You’ve never raced at Memphis before. What are your impressions going in?
“Memphis is a quick little short track. I think to be successful at this track you are going to have to stay out of other people’s mess. I think good solid pit stops and track position are going to be really important. I also have a great teammate in Scott (Wimmer). He has logged a lot laps at Memphis and I can turn to him for some pointers.”

Does RCR’s history with this race car give you confidence going into this weekend?
“Kevin’s track record with this car is amazing and it definitely gives me a lot of confidence going into this weekend. My goal is to get a good finish and finish all the laps. I know that Shane (Wilson) and the rest of the team work hard week-in and week-out to build and prepare great race cars. I’m excited to work with Shane and look forward to learning from the championship team.”