David Stremme, No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Race Advance
Sony HD 500 – California Speedway
No. 40 TEAM FACTS:
75th Win: Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz’ Rolex Sports Car series-leading fifth win at Infineon Raceway on Saturday, Aug. 26, marked Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, Inc.’s 75th win in motor sports (1990-2006)– a landmark achievement for team owner Chip Ganassi who started his first effort with Target stores in 1990 with the creation of a one-car IndyCar team. Wins by the numbers: 40 – CART; 13 – Grand American; 9 – IRL; 5 – NEXTEL Cup; 4 – Busch; 4 – ARCA.
Chassis: Crew Chief Steve Lane and the Silver Bullet crew are taking chassis No. 608 for the event this weekend. David Stremme raced this car to 19th and 21st-place finishes at Michigan and Chicago respectively.
Coors Light Audio Interview: Stremme sat down earlier this season after Atlanta, Texas, Daytona and Indianapolis with PRN personality Doug Rice to discuss the weekend’s races and his season. “The David Stremme Rookie Show” is now available exclusively at www.CoorsLight.com (click on “The Hook Up” section and to go “Coors Light Racing”). Must be 21 or older to access content.
California Native: Rear Tire Changer Daryl Lockyer is a native of California from the Los Angeles area. He has been a tire changer for 12 years and he has been a member of the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates team for the past year-and-a-half. Growing up 30 minutes from the California Speedway, he says his favorite food is In & Out Burger and before joining the NASCAR ranks he built cars for fellow California native Ron Hornaday Jr.
Cool in California: This will be Stremme’s second Cup Series start at California Speedway, he has four Busch Series starts at the two-mile track, with two top-10 finishes.
Going Back to Cali: In his first Cup Series start at California Speedway, Stremme had an early qualifying draw which resulted in a 40th-place starting spot for the 250-lap event. After battling the handling of the Coors Light Dodge for the majority of the race, he took the checkered flag in the 33rd position.
Rookie Ranks: Stremme is currently sixth in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings. With 139 points, he is 105 points behind leader Denny Hamlin and only 22 points behind fifth-place J.J. Yeley.
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup points standings: Stremme is currently 34th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver standings. He is 514 points out of the top 25. The No. 40 Dodge is currently 33rd in the owner standings. There are now 12 races remaining in the 2006 season.
David Stremme Quotes:
“We struggled with the handling of the car earlier this season at California. The Coors Light crew has been working really hard this season to get stronger finishes and we have definitely improved as a team since the first time we were at California Speedway. We are bringing a car we have had some of our best runs in and we hope to continue that this weekend with the Coors Light Dodge.”
