PIT NOTES :ATLANTA SPEEDWAY

PIT NOTES

Friday, September 2, 2011                                                                                         

Page 3

NEWMAN RACING FOR SLOCUMB: Anyone who watched a Legends race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the early 2000s would recognize the green-and-brown camouflage car with the bright orange numbers that was undeniably Beau Slocumb’s. Tonight that paint scheme will return to Atlanta, piloted by Ryan Newman in the Good Sam Club 200 Camping World Truck Series race.

            Newman is honoring his late friend, who passed away earlier this year at the age of 26 after a battling a rare form of cancer called Synovial Sarcoma.

            “Hopefully Beau’s looking down from heaven pushing down really hard on the truck to get us a little more grip tonight,” Newman said.

            Slocumb, a Macon native, boasted 131 feature wins during his Legends and late model racing career. It was his dream to make it to NASCAR. Tonight, Newman will try to carry out that dream as friends and family of the local driver watch with heavy hearts.

            Turner Motorsports will field the car for Newman, and all money won will be donated to Slocumb's widow Jessica to assist with medical expenses.

SUMMER SHOWDOWN: Four drivers will have extra incentive to win Sunday’s AdvoCare 500, with an extra $3 million on the line for them and five lucky fans.

            Marcos Ambrose, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Paul Menard will all be battling for the $3 million bonus, which would be split equally among the driver, driver’s charity and a lucky fan. Keselowski will be racing for two fans, who would split the million.

            All four drivers agree that the extra money brings extra pressure, which should make for an exciting finish.

            “I think you do what you’ve got to do to win it,” Busch said. “If you come off turn 4 like Jeff Gordon and Harvick, or Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards … certainly we’ve seen a lot of races won that way here in Atlanta.”

            In fact, three of the 15 closest finishes in NASCAR Sprint Cup racing have taken place at Atlanta Motor Speedway: Dale Earnhardt edging Bobby Labonte by .010 seconds in 2000, Harvick holding off Gordon by .006 seconds in 2001, and Edwards outlasting Johnson by .028 seconds in 2005.

            “I think Atlanta’s one of the best race tracks we go to,” Paul Menard said. “There’s close finishes, there’s 2-3 grooves, and I think it’s gonna make a great finish. Regardless if you rub the guy the wrong way or whatever, it’s gonna go down to the end. It’s gonna be a great race.”

ATLANTA ‘FAST AND SLICK’: Clint Bowyer said Friday during media availability that he loves racing in Atlanta.

            “Aw, man – it’s everything you could ask for in a bigger race track. It’s racy, it’s very fast, it’s challenging and it’s very slick.”