Race 2 Win: Busch Series Race Notes

NASCAR Busch Series

Pepsi 300 - Kertus Davis Notes

Kertus Davis
No. 77 Dollar General Stores Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Team Report
NASCAR Busch Series Race 7 of 35—Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway

BRISTOL (TENN.) MOTOR SPEEDWAY RACE RECAP: Bobby Labonte was behind the wheel of the No. 77 Dollar General stores Chevrolet for the sixth race of a 35-race NASCAR Busch Series season while at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on March 24, 2007. Labonte practiced the No. 77 within the top-18 on the speed chart and qualified the Dollar General stores Chevrolet fifth on the starting grid. Racing within the top-10 for a majority of the 300-lap event, Labonte finished 11th.

NASHVILLE (TENN.) SUPERSPEEDWAY FACTS & STATS:

Kertus Davis will make his fourth NASCAR Busch Series start at the Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway. Returning to the seat of the No. 77 Dollar General stores Chevrolet, Kertus has made two previous starts for Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) in the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series season.

Describe a lap around Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway… “Wide open,” explained Kertus Davis, driver of the No. 77 Dollar General stores Chevrolet. “You are going to be wide open on the frontstretch but you can’t enter turn one too low because the car will push up in the corner with so much speed. You’ll need to arch it off into the corner and be light on the brake with the nose settled on the track surface which will create down force and help the car turn. In the middle of the corner you’ll be back on the gas and wide open down the backstretch. You’ll need a little more brake as you enter into turn three because it’s a tighter entry. Before the center of the corner you’ll be back on the gas and wide open onto the frontstretch to complete one lap.”

Specific to your Dollar General stores Chevrolet, what is the key to a good run at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway? “Handling is important to get around Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway,” said Kertus Davis, driver of the No. 77 Dollar General stores Chevrolet. “The cars will be tight [handling], so teams will have to make adjustments to loosen the cars up. It’s a D-shaped track, with turns one and two different from turns three and four. There will need to be a balance in the car to get around Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.”

About Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway: “I like all tracks obviously, but Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway I can excel at,” explained Kertus Davis, driver of the No. 77 Dollar General stores Chevrolet. “It will be an off weekend for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series drivers, so hopefully there will be less Cup guys in the race. I honestly feel the Dollar General stores team can go have a top-10 run at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway. Nashville Superspeedway is best described as a track that is in between a short track and an intermediate track. Turns one and two are different from turns three and four, but you are running wide open on the straightaways. I’ve run well in practice at Nashville [Tenn., Superspeedway] and qualified fairly decent. I like running on concrete tracks. There aren’t many tracks that are concrete on the NASCAR circuit. I think it’s the only one besides Dover [Del., International Speedway] that is concrete, it’s just so smooth to race on.”

Dollar General Corporation is located in Goodlettsville, Tenn. just outside of Nashville, Tenn. What will it be like racing in front of Dollar General’s hometown crowd? “It means a lot to me to race at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway near Dollar General’s headquarters,” said Kertus Davis, driver of the No. 77 Dollar General stores Chevrolet. “The Dollar General Corporation will be hosting a NASCAR Day at their corporate office on Thursday (April 5, 2007) before the garage opens in Nashville (Tenn.). We are going to load up our Dollar General stores transporter and the crew and go spend the day at Dollar General. I hope all the Dollar General employees will be pumped up to come out to the track and watch the Dollar General stores Chevrolet race. I know they want to see their Dollar General stores car running up front to make them proud. Myself and the Dollar General stores crew are going to do everything we can to have a successful weekend.”

IF YOU’RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT… Kertus Davis, driver of the No. 77 Dollar General stores Chevrolet at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, will make a visit to a local elementary school while in town for the NASCAR Busch Series race. Kertus will visit the Hattie Cotton Elementary School located in Nashville, Tenn. He has been invited to read a few books to a group of kindergarten children in the school’s library. The books that have been selected are If You’re Happy and You Know It and The Little Engine That Could.

Since 1993 the Dollar General Corp., primary sponsor for the Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) No. 77 Busch Series entry, has tried to do its part in increasing functional literacy through the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. The Foundation has increased functional literacy of adults by providing grants to non-profit organizations dedicated to the advancement of literacy.

Kertus Davis expressed his thoughts on the importance of education. “Education is extremely important to everyone, especially children,” said Kertus Davis. “Science, math and computer courses only prepare you for life. It helps people to learn to interact with people, and it helps make challenges easier in life from what you have learned in school.”

NASCAR DAY AT DOLLAR GENERAL CORPORATE: Primary sponsor of the No. 77 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Busch Series entry is Dollar General. Dollar General’s corporate headquarters is located in Goodlettsville, Tenn., approximately 40 miles from Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway. In honor of the Busch Series teams coming to town, Dollar General will be celebrating its third annual NASCAR Day. On Thursday, prior to the Busch Series teams heading to the Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, the No. 33 and No. 77 KHI Busch Series teams will visit Dollar General corporate. In grand style Dollar General will host a majority of their vendors that support the Dollar General Racing program, featuring show cars, display booths and the Dollar General stores transporter. The KHI drivers and crew members will be on hand to mingle with Dollar General employees, sign autographs, take photos and answer questions.

QUICK NOTES:
Race Info
Date: April 7, 2007
Track: Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway
Event Name: Pepsi 300

Race length: 225 laps / 300 miles
Banking/Turns: 14-degrees
Track layout: 1.333-mile
Shape: D-shaped Oval

Pre-Race Schedule:
Practice—Friday at 2:45 – 3:45 p.m. ET
Final Practice—Friday at 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. ET
Qualifying—Saturday at 11:05 a.m. ET

Broadcast Times:
TV – NASCAR Countdown pre-race coverage can be seen live on ESPN2 at 3:00 p.m. ET. Followed by the Pepsi 300 on ESPN2 at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Radio – The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast pre-race coverage at 3:00 p.m. ET.

No. 77 Dollar General stores Monte Carlo SS Specs
Chassis: 010
Car History: Previously raced in 2006 at Lowe’s (N.C.) Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway with Bobby Labonte behind the wheel.
Engine: RCR