No. 31 BRANDT Chevrolet News and Notes

·      Weekend Rewind: Daytona – Justin Allgaier and the No. 31 BRANDT team made an unfortunate early exit in the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway last weekend.  After starting 12^th, Allgaier was caught up in a multi-car accident on lap 103 and relegated to a 33^rd-place finish.  He is ranked 21^st in the driver point standings, with hopes of improving upon that mark this weekend in Phoenix.

·      Allgaier at Phoenix International Raceway – Allgaier will make his eighth career NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) start at the one-mile Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) this weekend.  In seven previous attempts, Allgaier has scored four top-10 finishes with an average start of 15.1 and average finish of 10.4.  He scored his career-best finish of eighth on three occasions: spring 2009, fall 2010 and spring 2011.

·      Allgaier Makes Stop Before Heading to Phoenix – Before getting on track at PIR on Friday, Allgaier will be stopping at the Golf Industry Show (GIS) on behalf of team sponsor, BRANDT on Wednesday afternoon.  At the event, held in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Allgaier will spend time in the BRANDT booth and sign autographs for GIS attendees.

·      Celebrating Their Anniversary – Allgaier and wife Ashley will celebrate their six-year wedding anniversary on March 4, 2012.  Married in Allgaier’s hometown of Riverton, Illinois, the couple plans to stop at the Grand Canyon to celebrate the day while en route to Las Vegas, NV for the NNS race the following weekend.

·      First of Many in 2012 – Turner Motorsports teammate James Buescher secured his first NASCAR victory last Saturday in the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway.  This is the fourth NNS victory for the second-year team, with the others coming last season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Road America and Chicagoland Speedway. 

·      This Week’s Impala – This weekend, Allgaier will pilot TMS-320 in the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway.  Like last weekend’s car, this is a brand new chassis for the Jimmy Elledge-led No. 31 team.

Allgaier on heading out west to Phoenix:

“This BRANDT team is definitely ready to get out west and put Daytona in the rear-view mirror.  Even though I love racing there, it is always kind of a crap shoot, and we just fell victim to circumstances for sure.  My guys continue to work hard on making sure our car is fast right off the hauler and I want to make sure I’m holding up my end of the bargain by getting us a positive result.  I’ve been fortunate to have some solid and consistent finishes at Phoenix and I’m hopeful we can repeat that this weekend.  I really enjoy racing there and so I don’t see why we can’t.”

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