News

Justin Allgaier
No. 12 Verizon Dodge Charger
Auto Club Speedway – Stater Brothers 300
February 20, 2010

News and Notes
• Justin Allgaier will pilot Penske Racing chassis PRS-008 in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Stater Brothers 300 at Auto Club Speedway. This Verizon Dodge last raced at Texas Motor Speedway in November, when the 2009 NNS Rookie of the Year finished 25th after being involved in an incident midway through the race.
• In two previous NNS starts at Auto Club Speedway, Allgaier has two top-16 finishes. Additionally, the 23-year-old driver has an average starting position of 10th, an average finish of 15th and has completed 100 percent of the laps contested (302 of 302) at the two-mile oval.
• Allgaier will serve as ESPN’s “in-race reporter” for Saturday’s live broadcast of the Stater Brothers 300 (5 pm EST on ESPN2). Fans will see live in-car camera shots from the Verizon Dodge and will listen as he and crew chief Chad Walter give live updates throughout the race.
• Allgaier was able to overcome a mid-race incident to finish a series career-best fourth in last Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway.
• One year ago, in his first start at Auto Club Speedway, Allgaier ran inside the top-15 for much of the 150-lap event before he brought his Verizon Dodge home in the 14th spot.
• Fans can meet Allgaier on Thursday, Feb. 18 from 6 – 7:30 p.m. PST at the Verizon Wireless store located at 16695 Sierra Lakes Parkway in Fontana, Calif.
• In six previous NNS starts at Auto Club Speedway, Penske Racing entries have recorded one top-five finish (Ryan Newman, 2/06), have been atop the leaderboard for 18 laps, and have completed 92.2 percent of the laps contested (832 of 902).
• Just one race into the 2010 season, Penske Racing’s two NASCAR Nationwide Series entries have recorded one top-five and one top-10 finish. Penske Dodges have completed 100 percent of the laps contested (240 of 240) with drivers Allgaier and Brad Keselowski, and have led three laps.

Justin Allgaier on Auto Club Speedway
“We were competitive in the spring race at Auto Club Speedway last year. We went back in the fall and we weren’t very good. I think we’ve learned from our mistakes. We worked very hard on our equipment over the off-season and I feel like we know where we need to go with the setup. Hopefully, we can be just as competitive with our Verizon Dodge, if not more competitive, than we were in this race last year.”

Crew chief Chad Walter on Auto Club Speedway
“Races at Auto Club Speedway are always exciting to me because of the driver’s ability to use many different grooves to find speed. It’s a fun venue and I enjoy heading to the west coast. Even though he’d never been there before, Justin seemed right at home when we unloaded for this race last year. We’re coming off a fourth-place finish at Daytona last week, so we feel like we’ve got a little momentum behind us.”