St. Louis: John Wes Townley preview

* John Wes Townley will be making his debut at Gateway International Raceway this weekend in the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250.

* Ashley Parlett, the chassis/brake specialist on the No.09 Zaxby's Ford has been selected as one of NASCAR's 50 most beautiful people.

RAB Racing at Gateway: In just two starts at the 1.25-mile oval, RAB Racing has one top-10 finish (8th, Justin Marks, 2007) in the ARCA RE/MAX Series Gateway ARCA 150.

This Week's No. 09 Zaxby's Ford: Townley will pilot chassis No. 025 in this weekend's event at GIR. This is a previous Roush Fenway Racing chassis and was last seen at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where the Watkinsville, GA native finished 28th.

After 18: After 18 of the scheduled 35 events on the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule, Townley has three top-20 and six top-25 finishes. The 19-year-old rookie has an average starting position of 25.33 an average finish of 29.06 and has completed 73.61% of all laps attempted (2140 out of 2907).

Last Time Around-Chicagoland: A sound pit strategy and patience were key components to John Wes Townley's 21st place finish in the Dollar General 300 presented by Coca-Cola at Chicagoland Speedway.

Points Check: Due to Townley's efforts at Chicagoland Speedway the Raybestos Rookie contender sits 27th in the 2009 Driver Point standings; up two markers from Daytona. Jay Robinson, owner of the No. 09 Zaxby's Ford advanced one position from 35th to 34th in the season long championship point standings with 1,111 points; 286 points outside the top-30.

Rookie Race: Townley remains 6th in the 2009 Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings with 93 points.

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.

Calling All Press:

We're Guessing He Signs His Name Fast Too: Townley will join fellow NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers in an annual autograph session on pit road from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Central on Friday, July 17th.

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: Tom Hessert made his debut in the No.09 Cherry Hill Classic Cars Ford Fusion for RAB Racing at Iowa Speedway on Saturday, July 18th. After leading 11 laps the 23-year-old NJ native cut a tire on lap 134 of 200 and was unable to get back out. Hessert would be scored 29th 66 laps down to race winner Parker Klingerman.

John Wes Townley:

You have never been to Gateway International Raceway. How have you prepared yourself for this weekend?

"I was in the shop two days this week working with all the guys. Brad (Parrott) has given me video of past races at Gateway so I have been studying those. David (Green) was in the shop Tuesday teaching me everything he could. He explained that Gateway is a non-traditional track with different banking and different shape in both turns; it's more or less a speedway with a short-track feel. Just having knowledge of the track and knowing what to expect before I get out there will be beneficial. I will take it easy at the beginning of the practice on Friday and work my way up to 100 percent before we go full throttle. I know that no matter what I will have a great car and we will do our best to get a good starting spot and finish this weekend."

-credit: rabr