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Erik Darnell On Racing At Texas Motor Speedway

Erik Darnell on racing at Texas Motor Speedway: "Our finish at Talladega did not reflect our potential. We had a really fast Academy Ford Fusion, but luck just wasn't on our side. Some wires were shaken loose in the starter box and caused our car to lose power. It was really a freak thing, no one's fault, but it was unfortunate for these guys that work so hard. This is our last week with Academy as our primary sponsor and I'd really like to get a good finish for those guys. They've been such great partners this year and a solid finish for them would be awesome."

Crew chief Ben Leslie on racing at Texas Motor Speedway: "Texas is a fast track, fairly similar to Atlanta where Erik made his first start. He performed very well at Atlanta all things considered and now that he has a bit more seat time I feel confident that we should be competitive."

  • ERIK DARNELL will make his fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start this weekend in the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway behind the wheel of the No. 96 Academy Sports + Outdoor Ford Fusion.
  • DARNELL AT TEXAS... Darnell has six career starts at Texas, all in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In his previous starts at the 1.5-mile Texas track, Darnell has achieved one top-10, two top-15 and three top-20 finishes.
  • BESTS... Darnell's best start at Texas is 12th, achieved twice (2006 and 2008 fall races). His best finish at TMS is ninth, captured in the 2006 fall race.
  • LAPS... Darnell has completed 686 of the 953 (72%) laps he has attempted at TMS. A crash and parts failures have resulted in three DNFs for Darnell at TMS in Truck Series competition.
  • ON THE TRACK...The No. 96 will sport the colors of Academy Sports + Outdoors for this weekend's event at Talladega. 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.
  • VISIT AS+O AND MEET DARNELL... Darnell is slated to appear at the AS+O store (#96) located at 6101 I-20 in Ft. Worth, Texas on Thursday, Nov. 5 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. (CST). The AS+O show car will be on site from 4:00 – 8:00 p.m. (CST).
  • REWIND TALLADEGA... Erik Darnell and the No. 96 Academy Sports + Outdoors Ford Fusion team posted fast times during Friday's practice sessions and were optimistic for a solid qualifying run. However, rain on Saturday forced NASCAR to cancel qualifying and thus set the starting grid by owners points. So, despite a fast No. 96, Darnell started 31st in Sunday's AMP Energy 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway. But as always in restrictor plate racing, anything can happen and did happen throughout the 188-lap event. Darnell laid back in hopes of avoiding "the big one". The plan could have proved beneficial for Darnell, but on lap 111 an electrical failure inside the starter box of the No. 96 caused Darnell's Ford to lose power. Darnell took the No. 96 to the garage for repairs and 23 laps were lost behind the wall mending the failed part. Darnell rejoined the race with 45 laps remaining in 38th place and avoided two accidents en route to a disappointing 37th-place finish.