Brendan Gaughan No 33 Rheem/Menards Chevrolet Event Preview Fact Sheet
This Week’s Rheem/Menards Chevrolet at Iowa Speedway …Brendan Gaughan will pilot Chassis No. 099 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Nationwide Series stable. Built new for competition in 2012, this RCR Chevrolet has been utilized in competition three times this season by Kevin Harvick at Phoenix International Raceway in March (started 12th, finished fifth), Gaughan at Iowa Speedway in May (stared 13th, finished 10th) and most recently by Ty Dillon at Dover International Speedway in June (started third, finished eighth).
The Hoya is Back … The former Georgetown University basketball player will return to the driver’s seat of the No. 33 RCR Chevrolet as the Nationwide Series travels to Iowa Speedway. The 20th race of the 2012 Nationwide Series season marks Gaughan’s fifth of 10 scheduled appearances in the Nationwide Series for RCR. So far this season, he has collected one top-five and two top-10 finishes.
Midwest Racing … Saturday’s 250-lap event marks Gaughan’s 76thcareer Nationwide Series start and fourth Nationwide Series appearance at the Newton, Iowa-based facility. During his three previous series starts at Iowa Speedway, Gaughan completed 587 of 750 (78.3 percent) of the laps contested. He holds a 19.7 average starting position and an average finishing position of 22nd. Gaughan collected his best Iowa Speedway finish of 10th, in May while competing under the RCR banner.
In the Loop … According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, Gaughan maintains an Average Running Position of 20.2 at Iowa Speedway and has made a total of 78 Green Flag Passes. The Las Vegas native has completed 300 (40 percent) of the laps contested running within the Top 15.
To the Points … The No. 33 RCR Chevrolet team sits seventh in the Nationwide Series owner championship point standings, 79 points behind the No. 18 team in the lead. The No. 33 team has earned two pole awards, eight top-five and 14 top-10 finishes between six different drivers (Ty Dillon, Gaughan, Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard, Max Papis and Tony Stewart) thus far this season.
Tune In … Guaghan will be featured in a segment on SPEED’s NASCAR Race Hub Wednesday, August 1 to discuss his racing career and life away from the track. The show is scheduled to air at 7 p.m. Eastern Time.
Gotta Have a Rheem … Rheem Manufacturing Company (www.rheem.com) is privately held with headquarters in Atlanta and U.S. operations in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Indiana, Minnesota and North Carolina. In its 86th year of operation, the company manufactures a full-line of eco-friendly, technologically advanced residential and commercial heating and cooling systems; tank, tankless, solar and hybrid heat pump water heaters; whole-home standby generators, controls, swimming pool and spa heaters; indoor air-purification products; and commercial boilers throughout North America and world markets. The company’s premium brands, including Rheem, Raypak, Ruud and Richmond have been recognized with countless industry and consumer awards for reliability, innovative design and high quality. Rheem is the official heating, cooling and water heating supplier to Richard Childress Racing, and is a primary sponsor of RCR’s No. 29 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
In the Rearview Mirror: Indianapolis Motor Speedway …Gaughan’s RCR teammate Paul Menard started the No. 33 Rheem/Menards Chevrolet from the ninth position in the inaugural Nationwide Series race at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway last Saturday and drove the neon yellow machine to an eighth-place finish.
BRENDAN GAUGHAN QUOTES:
What are your thoughts on driving the No. 33 Rheem/Menards Chevrolet this weekend at Iowa Speedway?
“Iowa Speedway is the only track that I get to race twice at this season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, so it will be nice to have our own notes to fall back on. We had a solid top-10 Chevrolet at Iowa Speedway earlier in the season, so I’m hoping we can improve on that this time around and capture a good finish for the Rheem/Menards team.”