N.C. Education Lottery 200 Race Preview

5/13/2014 N.C. Education Lottery 200 Race Preview

CHARLOTTE STATS: Joey Coulter returns to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway for the fourth time in his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career. Coulter’s career-best finish at the 1.5-mile speedway came in 2012, when the Miami Springs, Florida native took the checkered flag in seventh-place. Also, Coulter competed in his first ever NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Charlotte in 2012 for Richard Childress Racing (RCR), piloting his Chevrolet to a 10th-place finish.

TRAVEL IS OUR DEAL: Allegiant Travel will adorn the sides of Coulter’s No. 21 Chevrolet Silverado for Friday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200. With low-low fares, nonstop, all-jet service and premier travel partners, Allegiant provides a complete travel experience with great value and without all the hassle. Allegiant services the Concord Regional Airport (USA) with two weekly flights to Orlando-Sanford International Airport (SFB).

BONDURANT TESTING: On Monday and Tuesday, Coulter and teammate Spencer Gallagher flew to Phoenix, Arizona for a two-day test at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, the Official High Performance Driving School of Chevrolet. Both drivers completed the Advanced Road Racing program, driving around the 1.6-mile road course inspired by European racetracks including Nurburgring, Spa, and Monza.

CHASSIS INFORMATION: GMS Racing will bring Chassis No. 022 to Charlotte Motor Speedway. This is the same truck Coulter drove at Kansas Speedway one week ago. After running inside the top-10 for the majority of the 167-lap event, Coulter finished in 12th-place. Previously, this was a RCR chassis, driven by Ty Dillon at Kansas Speedway in 2013.

KANSAS RECAP: Last week during the Truck Series event at Kansas Speedway, Coulter made it to the third and final round of knockout qualifying to start the SFP 250 in the 10th position. By lap 75, Coulter had driven into the sixth position and clocked his fastest lap of the race in his No. 21 Vertx® Chevrolet. After a pit stop from the GMS Racing team, Coulter restarted from fourth-place with 40 laps to go and continued to run inside the top-six before his Silverado suddenly ran out of fuel with two laps remaining. Coulter finished in the 12th position.

JOEY COULTER QUOTE: What do you like about racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway? “Racing at Charlotte is always nice because you get to stay at your house instead of a hotel and a lot of the guys at the shop and crew member’s families get to come to the track and see what we do on the road each weekend. We tested at Charlotte a couple weeks ago and learned a few things to apply to our Allegiant Travel Chevrolet once we hit the track on Thursday. My GMS Racing team has brought fast Silverados to the track each week so far this year, but we just haven’t had the finishes to show for it. I think we have a great chance to run strong on Friday night.”