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Analyzing NASCAR Home Tracks 150 at Greenville Pickens Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 8, 2009) – The 2009 NASCAR Camping World Series East season will commence with the NASCAR Home Tracks 150 presented by Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway on Saturday, April 11.

At Greenville Pickens Speedway:
• The NASCAR Camping World Series East held its inaugural Greenville Pickens Speedway race on June 6, 2006, and has returned every year since.
• There have been three-different winning drivers and three-different pole winners in the first three NCWSE three races at GPS.
• In the first three years of the event, only Joey Logano has won both the pole and the race, which he accomplished in 2007.

2008 Highlights:
• Matt Kobyluck earned his first career NASCAR Camping World Series East title in 2008 on the strength of four wins and 12 top 10s in 13 starts.
• Austin Dillon finished as the championship runner-up and the Sunoco Rookie of the Year ... He recorded 10 top 10s and recorded his first career NCWSE win at Greenville Pickens.
• Next to Kobyluck, Brian Ickler recorded the most wins of 2008 with three ... He reached Victory Lane at Iowa, South Boston and Mansfield.
• Eddie MacDonald captured the checkered flag at both New Hampshire races.
• In addition to Dillon and Ickler, Aric Almirola (Dover), Trevor Bayne (Thompson) and Peyton Sellers (Stafford) all recorded their first career NCWSE wins.
• Steve Park returned to the series full-time for the first time since 1996 and registered eight top 10s.

Selected Driver Highlights:
Brian Ickler (No. 15 Chevrolet)
• Has two poles, three wins and five top fives in 15 career NCWSE starts ... Also has three victories in NASCAR Camping World Series West action.
• Finished 14th in this race a year ago.
• Plans to make NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series starts in 2009.

Jarit Johnson (No. 23 Chevrolet)
• Debuted in NASCAR Camping World Series action with a start in the West race at Phoenix in 2008 ... He finished 14th in the race.
• Finished 24th in January’s NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown.
• Has competed in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series at Hickory Motor Speedway.

Matt Kobyluck (No. 40 Chevrolet)
• The 2008 NCWSE champion.
• Has seven poles, 16 wins and 84 top 10s in 157 career starts ... Has won at 11 different tracks.
• Won the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown for the second time in his career in January.
• Finished 22nd in this race a year ago.

Eddie MacDonald (No. 71 Chevrolet)
• Has five wins and 39 top 10s in 110 career starts.
• Finished seventh in the 2008 season standings, the highest mark of his career.
• Finished fourth in this race a year ago.

Steve Park (No. 35 Chevrolet)
• Has two wins and 16 top 10s in 26 career starts ... Both wins came in 1996, his only other full-time season in the series prior to 2008.
• Has wins in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, Camping World Truck Series and Whelen Modified Tour in addition to his pair in the Camping World Series East.
• Finished eighth in this race a year ago and ninth in the season standings.

Jason Patison (No. 17 Chevrolet)
• Recorded five top 10s in 13 starts in the NASCAR Camping World Series West in 2008.
• Finished 10th in the NCWSW overall standings, and second in Sunoco Rookie of the Year points, in 2008.
• Made NCWSE debut at Dover in 2008 and finished 26th ... Finished 16th in the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown in January.

Antonio Perez (No. 12 Dodge)
• Debuted in the NCWSE in 2008 with starts at Watkins Glen and both New Hampshire races.
• Earned the Coors Light Pole Award and set the NCWSE qualifying record at Watkins Glen.
• Earned the 2008 NASCAR Mexico Series championship on the strength of five wins.

Ryan Truex (No. 00 Toyota)
• Made his NCWSE debut in the 2008 season finale at Stafford Motor Speedway and finished 11th.
• Will compete in 2009 in a car fielded by Michael Waltrip Racing.

Greenville Pickens Speedway Data
Race: # 1 of 11 (4-11-09)
Track Layout: Half-mile oval
Banking: Five degrees in the turns
Race Length: 150 laps/75 miles
• Has played host to the NASCAR Camping World Series East in each of the previous three seasons.
• Opened on July 4, 1946 as a dirt track ... Race surface was converted to asphalt in April, 1970.
• Held 29 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races from 1951-71.
• David Pearson (1959) and Ralph Earnhardt (1965, 66) are among the famed drivers that have won GPS track championships.

Qualifying/Race Data
2008 pole winner: Peyton Sellers (86.948 mph, 20.702 seconds)
2008 race winner: Austin Dillon (54.355 mph, 1:26.06)
Track qualifying record: Joey Logano (87.481 mph, 20.576 seconds, 4-28-07)

NCWSE Race Winners at GPS
June 6, 2006 ... Sean Caisse
April 28, 2007 ... Joey Logano
April 19, 2008 ... Austin Dillon

NCWSE Pole Winners at GPS
June 6, 2006 ... Mike Olsen
April 28, 2007 ... Joey Logano
April 19, 2008 ... Peyton Sellers