ES: Greenville-Pickens: Rogelio Lopez preview

ROGELIO LOPEZ WANTS THE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR HONORS IN THE NASCAR BUSCH EAST SERIES

GREENVILLE, S.C. (April 27, 2007) -Rookie driver Rogelio Lopez will race this weekend at the Greenville-Pickens Speedway ( 0.500 mile), during the season opener of the NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch East Series.

Lopez, who won the NASCAR Mexico Corona Series title last year, is coming to the States with one goal in mind: to win the Rookie of the Year honors in the prestigious regional series. With nearly 40 teams entered in the event, the competition will be exciting for the big crowds this track attracts.

"I am in a great racing project we have been planning on two years ago more or less, and finally we are running a full season here, in the United States in a regional NASCAR series. In this case the preference is the NASCAR Busch Series", Rogelio said.

"I am very happy because the team is giving all the confidence to me and all our sponsors such as Escuderia Telmex, Lucas Oil, etc. They did a great job and now that I've had the opportunity to test, I think the team is ready, is well prepared for this season. I am very excited with this project since the last year ended with the championship that we won in Mexico. Now, I'm ready for this first race weekend".

"We are running the full season basis the Busch East Series and as the season is underway, we will see in which other races we can participate in the NASCAR West Series, I was thinking on three or four races. We wanted to go to California and Phoenix, but we were not able to go to Phoenix, which already held its race. However, I am still thinking on going to California and to two or three more races. We'll see which is the best option because we don't want to distract the team from the championship we are racing the full season in".

"I have never raced at Greenville. Last year we had plans to go to the first race of the year, which was Greenville as well. Unfortunately, we were not able to race there. Last year, we've only raced in five races between the Busch East Series and the West Series and two years ago we've also raced in five events. This situation allows us this year to be contenders for the Rookie of the Year award".

"Greenville-Pickens Speedway is a track that you have to watch closely, it is narrow and we need to qualify in the front if we want to be in the Top-5, because it is a track where is not easy to pass. The traffic is the key. I think for the first race everybody is coming well prepared and we are a good team. It is Dave Davis Motorsports the same team I've raced for last year", the Mexican said.

"We tested two weeks ago at Greenville, I think with very good results. In fact, we did not test the car we are racing with this weekend, but we had a good base setup for this track and we did well".

"Yesterday, I had the opportunity to drive the car that I will race with this weekend. I'm excited because I think it fulfilled our expectations and I think this weekend we will be in the Top-5. The car I've tested is a Chevrolet with spec engine and it is a car almost new. We wanted to shake it down looking for issues that could be fixed before the race and I've ended up running very fast. We proved that the car is very competitive. I've tested in Virginia, at the South Boston Speedway, which is going to be fourth race of the season in the Busch East Series".

"Now our expectations for Greenville are high. It is a track with good attendance and everybody has their sights on the first race", he said.

-credit: rt/rl