Race 2 Win: Nationwide Series Race Notes

Nationwide Series

Sharpie Mini 300 - Bryan Clauson Notes

Bryan Clauson Advance Notes
Race: Sharpie Mini 300 on Saturday, March 15 (NNS)
Track: Bristol Motor Speedway (.533 miles)
Location: Bristol, Tenn.

Bryan Clauson and No. 41 Polaroid Team (NNS)

NOTES

Tough Luck: Clauson has made three starts so far this NNS season, beginning with an impressive run at Daytona International Speedway during the NNS season opener. He scored a career-best seventh-place start and sixth-place finish in only his sixth career NNS start. Since then, he has proceeded to make two more starts in NNS competition, which have unfortunately dealt him two bad hands. First, he raced in Fontana, Calif., where he and the No. 41 team encountered a cut tire that derailed their run and ended it way too early in 34th place. Last weekend, he raced at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) where he raced up as high as 15th but then encountered an inescapable wreck on lap 189 of the 198-lap competition that took him out with less than 10 laps to go, finishing 29th.

Welcome to Bristol, Clauson: The Sharpie Mini 300 will be Clauson’s first official NASCAR competition at the infamous Bristol Motor Speedway. He visited Bristol last year to observe the races, but has never run his Nationwide car on the .533-mile Tennessee track.

Polaroid Embarking on Second Run at BMS: Polaroid is making its second start in NASCAR competition this weekend at BMS, as Clauson pilots the No. 41 Polaroid Dodge in Saturday’s NNS race. Polaroid made its debut last weekend at AMS on the No. 41 NNS Dodge. Last fall, Polaroid signed a multi-year agreement to become a major associate sponsor on the No. 41 Target Dodge, driven by Sorenson, in the NSCS and the No. 9 and No. 10 Target Hondas, driven by Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon, in the IndyCar Series beginning this 2008 season. In addition to NNS competition, Polaroid will have a primary paint scheme during one event in both the NSCS and IndyCar Series.

Rookie Standings: Clauson currently stands second in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings. He has a current tally of 34 points, just 13 behind NNS rookie class leader and fellow teammate Franchitti.

Owner Standings Update: The No. 41 team is 29th in the NNS owner standings. The team is 158 points outside the top 10 and 284 away from first.

QUOTES
This is going to be your first time your tires have touched the track at Bristol Motor Speedway. How do you prepare for a race at a place like BMS?
“Bristol is one of those race tracks I walk into and almost gasp because it really is an amazing sports facility. The way the entire race track is enclosed with the stands is something you have to see in-person to truly believe it and appreciate it. I have been really looking forward to this weekend since the beginning of the year. I have always had a lot of fun just watching races there, so if it is as fun to race there as it is to watch, it will be good. It is a lot different than what it used to be since it was re-concreted. Being able to run three and four wide there is going to be fun. I watched Reed and the guys race on the new surface last year. I watched what changes helped and which didn’t help there throughout the race weekend so I have a pretty good handle on all of that. It is suppose to rain on Friday which is not good for us so we may be racing with limited practice. That means we will have to pull from all of the watching and learning from last season to get the best finish for the No. 41 Polaroid Dodge on Saturday afternoon.

Your teammate Dario Franchitti has never raced at Bristol either. Actually, I think he has only flown over the track in his helicopter. Are there any other folks in the garage you plan to seek out for advice or direction?
“We will lean on a lot of guys and lean on Reed. He has run well there in the Nationwide car, but just hasn’t had the best luck. He seems to like the place, too, so I will definitely be talking with him and any of the open-wheel guys I have talked to in the past like Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne. They have all been very helpful and open with information to help me learn these new tracks. I will try to find them at some point to help get ourselves prepared for Saturday.”

CHASSIS INFO
No. 41 Polaroid Dodge (NNS): Chassis #452. The chassis most recently carried Franchitti to a third-place start and 32nd-place finish at Memphis last October. This was the team’s best car in 2006. With a total of six starts, the car tallied four top-five finishes and five top-10s.