Indy ORP: John Wes Townley preview

Fast & Fun Facts:

* John Wes Townley will be making his debut at O'Reilly Raceway Park this weekend in the Kroger 200 benefiting Riley Hospital for Children.

* David Green, Townley's driver coach and spotter currently holds the NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying record at ORP (113.461 mph, 1994).

* Keeton Hanks finished 2nd in the No. 09 Zaxby's Late Model in Saturday's nights Georgia Asphalt Series race in Cordele, GA.

This Week's No. 09 Zaxby's Ford: Townley will pilot chassis No. 025 in this weekend's event at ORP. This is a previous Roush Fenway Racing chassis and was last seen at Gateway Int'l Raceway where the Watkinsville, GA native brought home his seventh top-25 finish; finishing 21st in the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250.

Moving Forward: Townley tied for his best finish in eight starts last weekend at Gateway; finishing 21st. The Raybestos Rookie contender also took the checkered flag for the fourth consecutive week in last weekend's Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 at Gateway; Townley has seven DNF's to his credit in 2009.

Season Review: After 19 of the scheduled 35 events on the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule, Townley has three top-20 and seven top-25 finishes. The 19-year-old rookie has an average starting position of 25.31 and average finish of 28.81 and has completed 75.22% of all laps attempted (2337 out of 3107).

Last Time Around-Gateway: Despite setbacks including a wreck on lap 74 and a broken sway bar link, John Wes Townley held on for a 21st place finish in the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 last weekend at Gateway Int'l Raceway.

Points Check: Due to Townley's top-25 efforts at Gateway the Raybestos Rookie gained two spots from 27th 25th in the 2009 driver point standings. Jay Robinson, owner of the No. 09 Zaxby's Ford remains 34th in the season long championship point standings with 1,211 points; 271 points outside the top-30.

Rookie Race: Townley remains 6th in the 2009 Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings with 101 points.

Said In At The Glen: RAB Racing announced Monday that road course specialist, Boris Said will pilot the No. 09 Zaxby's Ford Fusion in the upcoming Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International on August 8th. Said, who has six NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at The Glen including one top-5, two top-10's and one pole to his credit will be making his debut for RAB Racing at the 2.45-mile road course filling in for rookie John Wes Townley.

Testing One, Two, Three Testing: John Wes Townley turned laps in a passenger vehicle with Boris Said on Tuesday morning at Road Atlanta. Townley has one start at a road course to his resume; finishing 18th in the ARCA RE/MAX Series Loud Energy Drink 250 at New Jersey Motorsports Park in 2008.

A Proven Champion: David Green, the 1994 NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion has been working with John Wes since Dover (May, 2009) as his driver coach and spotter. Green has worked with other rookie drivers such as Stephen Leicht and Landon Cassill.

And The Voting Begins: You can now log onto www.nascar.com and vote for your favorite NASCAR Nationwide Series driver. Only one vote per day but you are encouraged to vote throughout the remainder of the season. Results of the voting will be announced at the awards banquet at the end of the year.

News from the ARCA RE/MAX Series Garage: ARCA RE/MAX Series driver Tom Hessert III brought the No. 09 Cherry Hill Classic Cars Ford home with a 10th place finish after Saturday night's Click It or Ticket Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 at Kentucky Speedway. Hessert, who ran in the top-five for much of the night, restarted 12th following the evening's final caution before battling for his first top-10 finish with RAB Racing.

Quoting John Wes Townley:

You have never been to ORP, what have you been doing to prepare yourself for the short track?

"Brad (Parrott) gave me an in-car camera video from last year when he was at ORP with Bryan Clauson so I have been watching that. David Green will take me around the track when we get to the track on Friday and I also plan to stay Friday night and watch the truck race. The ban on testing sure makes it hard for rookies like myself that have never been to these tracks, but between the two practice sessions we have on Friday and the great Zaxby's team I have beside me I know that we can qualify well and bring the Zaxby's Ford home with a good finish and continue our march forward."

-credit: rabr