No. 33 Holiday Inn Chevrolet

Scott Wimmer

No. 33 Holiday Inn Chevrolet

Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date:       Samsung 500 – April 15, 2007

Venue:             Texas Motor Speedway – Ft. Worth, Texas

Scott Wimmer’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Performance History

at Texas Motor Speedway

NOTES:

	This Week’s Race Car at Texas Motor Speedway The Holiday Inn Racing team will unload Chassis No. 167 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable this weekend.  Kevin Harvick drove this chassis to Victory Lane last season at Phoenix in April and at Richmond in September.
	Make it Four Scott Wimmer will attempt to qualify for his first NEXTEL Cup Series race of the season this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) driving the No. 33 Holiday Inn Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS, giving RCR four entries in the Samsung 500.  Wimmer was behind the wheel of the No. 33 at Homestead-Miami Speedway last November, where he started 24th and finished 12th
	Holiday Inn Double Duty In addition to the No. 33 NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet, Holiday Inn Racing will sponsor Jeff Burton and the No. 29 Busch Series Chevrolet this weekend at Texas.
	Going Green While Clint Bowyer and No. 2 BB&T Chevrolet will be taking this weekend off in the NASCAR Busch Series, crew chief Dan Deeringhoff and the No. 2 crew will go green and pit the No. 33 Holiday Inn Chevrolet in the Cup Series.
	One Trophy Missing from the Shelf In 31 races at TMS, dating back to 1997, team owner Richard Childress has yet to take home the winner’s trophy.  Over that span, the Welcome, N.C.-based operation has earned three top-five and nine top-10 finishes with drivers Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Bowyer and Jeff Green. However, Childress, a former driver in NASCAR’s top division, earned a pair of top 10s while he was still behind the wheel at Texas World Speedway in College Station.
	R07 for RCR RCR will utilize Chevy’s new R07 motor this weekend when Wimmer hits the track with the No. 33 Holiday Inn Chevy on Friday afternoon.  Per NASCAR regulations, the R07 displaces a maximum of 358 cubic inches. In contrast to the SB2’s “mirror port” cylinder heads, the R07’s cylinder heads resemble production LS-series small-block cylinder heads with alternating intake and exhaust valves. While production small-block V-8 engines employ electronic fuel injection, the R07 port layout is optimized for the single four-barrel carburetor mandated by NASCAR. The R07’s key technical advances over the SB2 include 4.500-inch cylinder bore centers (vs. 4.400 inches in the SB2), a raised camshaft that improves valvetrain dynamics, a new six-bolt head bolt pattern that reduces cylinder bore distortion, and a targeted cooling system that minimizes temperatures at critical locations. A cast camshaft tunnel, integral piston squirter galleries, and overhead oil feed galleries reduce engine assembly time. Relocating the fuel pump to the inboard side of the car and eliminating external oil and coolant lines enhance safety. RCR was the first team in the NEXTEL Cup ranks to exercise Chevrolet’s new engine combination when Wimmer attempted to qualify for the Kobalt Tools 500 last month at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
	Catch the Action The Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway will be televised live on FOX on Sunday, April 15 beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The race will also be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying will air live on SPEED Friday, April 13 beginning at 5 p.m. EDT.

SCOTT WIMMER QUOTES:

What are your expectations for Texas in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series?

“I am really excited to go back to Texas.  It’s one of the nicest facilities we go to.  It is a great place for the drivers, crews and race fans.  I expect to down there and run well.  RCR cars have run real strong there in the last few years in the Busch Series and the Cup Series.  I am excited to have Holiday Inn on the No. 33 again.  We made our debut in Homestead last year and finished 12^th.  I think that we can run competitively at Texas. It would be great to be in the top 10 and have another great run in the Cup Series.”

You have had a little more time with the R07 engine and had more opportunities to test.  How do you feel about the engine now?

“I feel really good about the R07 engine.  We make gains every time we go out with it.  It is so difficult when you are used to the SB2 engine and making power out of that.  We have to go in with a brand new sheet of paper and duplicate what you have done with the SB2 and it is difficult to do right off the bat.  It has gotten better the last couple of times we have tested.  Our mileage has been better and the power has been better.  There will be some other teams running the same engine package as us and I feel like we have a good enough motor to get in the race and once we do get in the race then run competitively and running all 500 miles.”

You need to qualify the No. 33 on time in order to make Sunday’s race.  Does that add additional pressure?

“Our main focus is to go down there and make the race.  We can look forward to the race once we accomplish that.  As we have seen this year, qualifying has been very competitive.  There are a lot of good cars trying to make these races and there are a lot of good cars going home.  I am confident that we will have the best equipment possible.  Hopefully, it is fast enough to get us in the race and then we can worry about the rest.”

How do you feel about getting back in the No. 33 after failing to qualify at Atlanta?

“I was really disappointed when we didn’t make Atlanta.  The field was just so tight there and we didn’t have the greatest qualifying draw.  A lot of things were against us.  We had a car that was right there and missed the race by a margin of a second.  I think we can go to Texas and make the race with no problem and run strong.  We need to get as much practice time as possible and make the necessary adjustments.  I am excited to be working with Dan (Deeringhoff).  This will be my first shot working with him and he has done a lot for Clint (Bowyer) in the Busch Series.  It is going to be exciting to work with Clint’s pit crew.  They are fast wherever they go.  So we should have a great weekend and be a car to contend with.”