Loudon: Chip Ganassi Racing preview

David Stremme and the No. 40 Coors Wide Mouth Can Dodge Team Facts:

* Wide Mouth Can Paint Scheme: For the second time this season, the Coors Wide Mouth Can paint scheme will run on the No. 40 Dodge. Earlier this season the paint scheme ran at Pocono where Stremme recorded a personal best finish of 23rd at the track.

* New Englander On Board: Doug Riepe, the rear-tire carrier for the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline team, is a native New Englander hailing from Danbury, Conn. He is a 2000 graduate of Immaculate High School, and was named the 2000 Connecticut State Athlete of the Year. He moved to North Carolina in the fall of 2000 to pursue a higher education at Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, N.C., where he played for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball team for four years and then graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications. Riepe came to CGRFS that following fall to work as an intern in the sponsorship relations department and has stayed on with the team ever since. You will also find him in the pits on Sundays, carrying tires for the No. 40 CGRFS NEXTEL Cup team.

Reed Sorenson and the No. 41 Target Dodge Team Facts:

* Magic Mile Moment: Sorenson had one of the best performances of his rookie season in last year's Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at NHIS. After qualifying ninth, Sorenson ran in the top-five for more than half of the 300 laps and led a total of 31 laps. Headed for at least a third-place finish, an untimely last-lap caution forced the Target team to pit for fuel prior to a green-white-checkered finish, relegating Sorenson to 24th.

Juan Pablo Montoya and the No. 42 Texaco Havoline Dodge Team Facts:

* Standings: Juan Pablo Montoya and the Texaco/Havoline team gained two spots in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings following their victory at Infineon Raceway last Sunday. Montoya now sits 21st in the standings (tied in points with Casey Mears in 20th) heading into this weekend's event at NHIS. Montoya and the team now sit 259 points out of 12th -- the final transfer spot into the Chase for the Nextel Cup -- with nine races remaining before the Chase begins.

* Plenty of Firsts: Last weekend's victory for Montoya and the Texaco/Havoline team was not only Montoya's first NEXTEL Cup win, but a plethora of firsts: Montoya became the first Hispanic driver to win in NASCAR's top touring series, he became the first rookie to win at Infineon Raceway, it was the first win for Dodge's new Avenger, the first Cup victory for Texaco/Havoline since joining CGRFS and the first Cup win on a road course for CGRFS.

* Familiar Place: Infineon Raceway has plenty of great memories for Donnie Wingo and Texaco/Havoline. The last time Wingo visited victory lane was in 1993 on the California road course with driver Geoff Bodine. Texaco/Havoline, Montoya's primary sponsor, last visited a NEXTEL Cup Victory Lane at Sonoma with driver Ricky Rudd in 2002.

* Loudon: While Montoya has never raced a stock car at Loudon, the last time the No. 42 Cup car visited victory lane before Infineon Raceway last week was with Owner Felix Sabates' Team SABCO and driver Joe Nemechek in 1999.

* Rookie Race: Montoya increased his lead significantly this weekend over David Ragan, and he now holds the top spot in the NEXTEL Cup Raybestos® Rookie standings by 15 points (180-165) with his win in Sonoma. Montoya became the first rookie to win at Infineon Raceway; the previous best finish by a rookie was ninth, shared by Ryan Newman (2002) and Kenny Irwin (1998).

-credit: cgr