IndyCar News

Stremme Joins Montoya in Top-10 with Career-Best Finish in Texas

April 16, 2007

Results from Texas Motor Speedway
1. Jeff Burton, No.31 Chevrolet
8. Juan Pablo Montoya, No.42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge
10. David Stremme, No.40 Coors Light Dodge
40. Reed Sorenson, No.41 TUMS Dodge

FORT WORTH, Texas. (April 15, 2007)–Race number seven on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season proved lucky for David Stremme and the No.40 Coors Light team as eight solid pit stops from his Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) crew propelled him to a career-best finish of 10th at Texas Motor Speedway.

Stremme started the 334-lap event 13th based on owner points after qualifying was cancelled as a result of inclement weather. The No.40 car moved up into the top-10 after the drop of the green with charging CGRFS teammates Reed Sorenson and Juan Pablo Montoya as the team looked to better its previous combined best after setting the bar at TMS two years ago with three machines in the top five (second, fourth and fifth).

The No.40 Dodge would race up as high as fifth when Stremme was shown in the top five on the scoring pylon on Lap 291, but his Dodge Charger tightened up in the final stint, dropping him from sixth to 10th. The finish topped his previous career best NNCS finish of 11th at this year’s Daytona 500.

Stremme’s first ever top-10, along with Montoya’s eighth, marked the two highest finishing positions for Dodge in the race.

With the result, the No.40 Coors Light Dodge moved up one spot to 12th in the championship point standings with 779 markers, 357 points back of leader Jeff Gordon. The team also retained their status as the highest ranking Dodge team in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series.

Up next for Stremme and the Coors Light team is the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Ariz. The race will be broadcast Saturday night, April 25th on FOX and MRN radio (LIVE, 8:00pm ET).

CGRFS Driver Quoteboard

DAVID STREMME: “That was a great top 10 finish, and it’s a career best, but I thought we were headed for a better finish today. Still, a top 10 at Texas is pretty good and we moved back up to 12th in the series standings. We’ve done what we set out to do in these first few races. We wanted to get top 15 finishes and do the best we could in the points. We just need to keep doing what we’re doing and we’ll be OK.”