Alex Bowman, No. 99 Port of Tucson Toyota Camry, Phoenix Preview

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In: Xfinity Series News

News & Notes:

  • This Week’s Port of Tucson Toyota Camry … Alex Bowman will pilot RAB Racing with Brack Maggard chassis No. 44 in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway. This Toyota Camry made its debut in 2012 at Iowa Speedway in May, where Travis Pastrana recorded a 26th-place finish after experiencing a part failure in the closing stages of the event. Pastrana then raced this chassis to the front of the field at Atlanta Motor Speedway in September, leading his first laps of NASCAR competition. Most recently, Bowman piloted this chassis to a 15th-place finish at PIR in November.
  • Welcome Back … Port of Tucson returns this weekend as primary sponsor of the No. 99 Toyota Camry. Port of Tucson is a multi-faceted rail facility in Tucson, providing a wide variety of rail-oriented transportation options in and around the southwest.
  • Home Sweet Home … Bowman, a native of Tucson, grew up just over 125 miles southeast of Phoenix International Raceway. He began his career racing quarter midgets in his home state at the age of 7. Since then, he has claimed six poles, six wins, 13 top-five and 15 top-10 finishes in 21 ARCA Series starts; five top-five and nine top-10 finishes in 14 NASCAR K&N East and West Series starts; one top-five and four top-20 finishes in five Nationwide Series races.
  • Bowman at Phoenix … Bowman has raced at Phoenix International Raceway once before in Nationwide Series competition, positing a 15th-place finish in November’s Great Clips 200. Bowman has also raced here in K&N Pro Series West competition. In 2011’s running of the Casino Arizona 150, Bowman posted a second-place finish. 
  • RAB at Phoenix … RAB Racing has fielded Nationwide Series entries at Phoenix International Raceway nine times since 2008, with drivers Jason Bowles, Bowman, Brian Scott, John Wes Townley and Kenny Wallace. The team’s best showing at the Avondale oval is a 10th-place finish, which was posted by Wallace in 2011’s running of the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200.
  • Rice at Phoenix … Crew chief Chris Rice has sat atop the pit box as a Nationwide Series crew chief at Phoenix International Raceway seven times in his career, posting one top-10 and four top-20 finishes. His highest finish at the one-mile oval is seventh, where he posted in 2003 with driver Scott Wimmer.
  • Get to the Points … As we head into the second race of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series season, Bowman currently occupies the second position in the drivers’ point standings, only one point behind leader Sam Hornish, Jr. Owner Robby Benton holds down the third position in the Nationwide Series owners’ point standings, only six points out of the lead.
  • Top Rookie… Following Bowman’s impressive third-place in the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway last weekend earned him the top spot in the Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year point standings. Bowman won two contingency awards following the 120-lap event including the Mobil 1 Oil Driver of the Race and Sunoco Rookie of the Race.
  • Catch the Action … Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway will be televised live Saturday, March 2nd beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network. NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying will be televised live Saturday, March 2nd beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET on SPEED.
  • Get Social … Don’t miss any updates from Bowman and RAB Racing. Follow them on Twitter @AlexBRacing and @RAB_Racing.

                                                                     

Alex Bowman Quotes:

“I’m really excited to head to Phoenix and be close to home. We were pretty good last year there and I think we’ve made even more improvements. I’m ready to race on a normal track and get away from the superspeedway for a little while, where handling will be more important. I’m ready to use the Windows 8 Surface to pinpoint what the car is doing at different points on the track and really add to the car’s full capability. I’m also pumped up to have everyone from Port of Tucson be there and adorn the hood of our Toyota Camry. I’ve had a lot of experience at this track driving in a number of different cars and am looking forward to working with my crew chief Chris Rice to get this Camry to the front of the field.”

 

Chris Rice Quotes:

“I’m excited to come out of Daytona with a solid finish. It shows how hard we’re working here at the shop and Alex did a phenomenal job during the race getting into position to finish well at the end. Phoenix is home for Alex, so I put a lot of pressure on myself for him to do well here. He did a good job at Phoenix last year and we’ve since tested the setup so we have an extensive set of notes to go off of for this weekend. Though the track configuration has changed, it’s still the same old Phoenix. You have to work on forward drive and have track position at the end to run well.”

 

RAB Racing PR

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