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Erik Darnell On Racing At Phoenix International Raceway

Erik Darnell on racing at Phoenix International Raceway:

"I'm really looking forward to bouncing back from Texas. It was a little disappointing to get caught up in someone else's mistake early on and not get the finish we were hoping for. We all worked hard to get better and better throughout the race, but we were still too tight on entry.

"Phoenix is a fun track where a lot can happen. I don't have a lot of experience there, but this type of track is always fun to race. I hope to unload and have a fast Valvoline Ford and get a solid finish for this No. 96 team."

Crew chief Ben Leslie on racing at Phoenix International Raceway:

"Our plan is to unload a fast race car and concentrate on a solid qualifying run on Friday. I feel like if we can start closer to the front Erik will do a great job of keeping our Valvoline Ford up there. As a rookie, he's accomplished a lot in just five races, now it's time to take our goals a step further and shoot for better finishes. Hopefully, we'll do our part as a team and give him the car to race well this weekend in Phoenix."

FAST FACTS

  • ERIK DARNELL will make his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start this weekend in the Checkers O'Reilly's Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway behind the wheel of the No. 96 Valvoline Ford Fusion.
  • This weekend's start will be Darnell's first Cup Series start at PIR.
  • DARNELL AT PHOENIX... Darnell has three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at PIR and has achieved two top-10 finishes at the 1-mile Arizona track.
  • BESTS... Darnell's best start at Phoenix is third; his best finish is seventh place, both captured in last year's truck series race.
  • LAPS... Darnell has completed 341 of the 450 (75.8%) laps he has attempted at PIR – all in Truck Series competition. A crash on lap 41 in the 2007 Truck race ended his night early and relegated him to a 35th-place finish.
  • ON THE TRACK... The No. 96 will sport the blue, white and red colors of Valvoline this weekend at PIR. Valvoline is the official motor oil of team 96.
  • VISIT AS+O AND MEET DARNELL... Darnell is slated to appear at the AS+O store located at 59 Woodruff Industrial Lane in Greenville, S.C. on Wednesday, Nov. 18 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. (EST). Darnell will sign autographs and pose for photos with customers visiting the store. Academy Sports + Outdoors is one of the nation's largest sporting goods retailers, operating over 100 stores across the southeastern United States. The stores offer the sports and outdoors enthusiast a broad selection of equipment, apparel and footwear at everyday low prices
  • REWIND TEXAS... Darnell made his fifth-career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start in Sunday's Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Despite little experience in a Cup car and just six starts in the Truck Series at Texas, Darnell posted respectable times during the weekend's practice sessions and showed promise heading into the 500-mile event. Darnell started 38th and had worked his way up to 34th position on lap three when an accident brought out the first caution. Darnell's No. 96 received splitter damage in the incident and was forced to pit three times under the caution period for repairs. For the remainder of the 334-lap event Darnell battled handling woes and in spite of posting six of the race's fastest laps he finished 30th.