By JENNA FRYER
The Associated Press

Two years ago, Patrick Carpentier was out of racing and enjoying life fixing up a farm his family purchased in Canada.

Now he's preparing for his first Daytona 500, and he couldn't be more thrilled.

"I had no ride, I was digging holes and filling them, and now I am down at Daytona waving at Tony Stewart going down pit lane," Carpentier said. "So for me, it's been great. I just love to be part of it and I really enjoy driving the cars. It's a plus, and it's one of the best opportunities I've had in my career."

A former star in Champ Cars and the IndyCar Series, Carpentier decided in 2005 he no longer wanted to race open wheel cars. He participated in the 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race in 2006, then had nothing else on his schedule until NASCAR's debut race in Montreal last August.

He won the pole and finished second, wowing the hometown crowd and leading to more seat time with Gillett Evernham Motorsports. Then team owner George Gillett hired Carpentier for a full time Cup ride this season.

It's a far cry from where he was this time two years ago.

"We were just fixing the farm up. I had a sugar shack up in the back, and I was playing around with that," he said. "I didn't race. But I came back to racing last year, I did some Grand Am and then the Busch car in Montreal. If you had told me I would have ended up here today, I wouldn't have believed it all.

"It's been an amazing dream."

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Gillett Evernham Motorsports, Press Release

Patrick Carpenter and the No. 10 Valvoline Dodge Charger were the talk of the garage this weekend posting one of the fastest times during pre-Daytona 500 qualifying practices on Saturday. The team’s hard work and dedication paid off when Carpentier busted off a strong lap of 48.44 sec/185.766 mph. The lap not only made him the highest qualifying Dodge driver, but gave him a starting position of seventh for Thursday’s second Twin-150.

DRIVE PATRICK CARPENTIER QUOTES:

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE 150:

“The crew did a great job in preparing the Valvoline Dodge. We had high hopes of qualifying for the Daytona 500 on time today. But realistically, I was prepared to do it in the 150s on Thursday. We are going to start seventh and I’m excited. Nothing in my racing career ever came easy for me, so I didn’t expect qualifying for the 500 to be easy either. We will go out there on Thursday and do our best; that’s all we can do.
“I’m going to try and relax as much as I can before the race on Thursday. We have Monday and Tuesday off this week. I’m going to go into Orlando with some friends and find some fun things to do. I still need to get some things for my new motorcoach, so we’ll probably do some shopping and enjoy the city a little bit.”

ON THE QUALIFYING PROCEDURES FOR THE DAYTONA 500:

"It is very difficult for us not being in the top-35. It’s going to be very stressful for the first few weekends. Hopefully we get that car back in the top-35, but every weekend you kind of lose a couple nights of sleep with that on your mind. It makes you focus more; it’s a good show though. People on TV have kind of got different shows to watch and this makes for a good show. But honestly, for me, I would like to have everybody have to qualify at every race. That would be fun. That’s the way it is and it’s the same for everybody.”
NOTES

Daytona Int’l Speedway

· This will be Carpentier’s first career start at the legendary speedway.
· The No. 10 Valvoline Dodge Charger was the highest qualifying Dodge this weekend.

· Carpentier is the seccond-fastet of non-qualifiers, but could make the 500 one of two ways -- if he finishes first or second among the go-or-go-home drivers or if Waltrip, Nemechek, Reutimann or Said finish top-2 among the drivers not in on owners points.


2007 Season

· Carpentier began his first race with Gillett Evernham Motorsports at Phoenix last season.
· Carpentier has three career Cup starts. He has earned an average finish of 31.7

History

· Carpentier's accomplishments outside of NASCAR include two Champ Car World Series wins, three CART victories, and a Toyota Atlantic Championship.

This Press Release and any images that are used,
are used with permission. Do not duplicate or
redistribute in any form without permission or credit.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Gillett Evernham Motorsports, Press Release

The Sprint Cup Series heads to California Speedway this weekend, where Patrick Carpentier in the No. 10 Charter Dodge Charger seeks to make his fourth career start. The No. 10 will feature the purple and yellow paint scheme of Charter Communications for the Fontana race.

Carpentier will be one of the few drivers in the field that have experience in both stock cars and open wheel at the 2-mile oval. He has raced there in both the Champ Car Series and the IRL.

Additionally he tested there in a Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge earlier this year. The test at California allowed Carpentier to gain the valuable seat time that the Quebec-native craves.

The No. 10 crew has unloaded fast at California Speedway in the past. Carpentier and crew are looking to make this week no exception. The No. 10‘s average starting spot at Fontana in 2006 was ninth.

DRIVE PATRICK CARPENTIER QUOTES:

LOOKING FORWARD TO FONTANA:

“It might have felt like the end of the world after not making the 500 last week. I now feel it's the beginning of something that's going to be great. We have a strong team, both at the track and at the shop. We just have to keep digging deeper and move on to the next race. We gave it our all, we learned, and most of all, we can hold our heads high with the results we had this week. We’re wiping the slate clean for California. This weekend the focus is on Fontana, it’s a whole new race.

ON GOING TO A TRACK WHERE HE HAS SOME EXPERIENCE:

“I have raced at Fontana before, in Champ Car and the IRL. Unfortunately there isn’t very much from those experiences I can use because the cars differ so drastically. It’s a much different feeling getting around there in Champ Car at 235 mph than in a stock car at 180 mph.

THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCES BETWEEN STOCK CARS AND OPEN WHEEL:

“In open wheel there is so much more downforce on the car. The cars are light and the tires are very wide. They’re built for speed. In these stock cars you need to have a lot more car control. It takes a little more finesse to muscle them around the track. The cars weigh more and they’re always slipping and sliding around. When you’re out there running with 42 other cars that are slipping and sliding equally, it makes things much more challenging. It’s pretty crazy to watch all the cars around you sliding through and off the corners.”

NOTES

Chassis

Carpentier will drive chassis No. 223 this week. It last tested at Fontana and ran at both Loudon and Richmond last season. Backup is No. 218 which raced the first Dover event in 2007.

California Speedway

The No. 10 Charter Dodge Charger test at California Speedway this past January.
Being outside the top-35 in owner points, Carpentier will have to qualifying for this race on time. He will battle 16 “go or go homers” for the eight open qualifying spots.

2008 Season

The No. 10 Charter Dodge Charger missed the Daytona 500 last week after a blown right front tire suffered during the second Duel 150 took them out of contention.
Carpentier began his first race with Gillett Evernham Motorsports at Watkins Glen last season.

He has three career Cup starts and has earned an average finish of 31.7.
History

In 2005 Carpentier raced at California Speedway with the IRL. He finished 15th.
Carpentier has seven starts at Fontana in Champ Car. His best finish was fourth.

Carpentier’s accomplishments outside of NASCAR include two Champ Car World Series wins, three CART victories, and a Toyota Atlantic Championship.

This Press Release and any images that are used,
are used with permission. Do not duplicate or
redistribute in any form without permission or credit.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Gillett Evernham Motorsports, Press Release

Patrick Carpentier will make his fifth career start this weekend driving the No. 10 Cintas Dodge at Atlanta Motor Speedway for Gillett Evernham Motorsports. Carpentier made his first start of the 2008 season Sunday finishing 40th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after qualifying 12th then enduring a hard hit on the backstretch after making contact with another driver.

Carpentier once again faces the daunting challenge of making the 43-car field solely on his qualifying time. He is 47th in car owner points.

DRIVE PATRICK CARPENTIER QUOTES:

OUTLOOK FOR THE NO. 10 TEAM:

“We knew this wasn’t going to be easy. But the great thing about Gillett Evernham Motorsports is that we have everyone behind us. This is such a great team. Everyone is doing their best. I’ve had great guidance from my team director, Mike [Shiplett] as well as my teammates. Elliott Sadler has been really helpful to me. He has gone out of his way to talk to me about the tracks we’ve been racing at. He was great help at Daytona in learning the draft and last week at Las Vegas he gave me some good pointers. All the pieces are here to get the Cintas Dodge Charger in the top-35 we just need to put them together each week.”

LOOKING AHEAD TO ATLANTA:

“Atlanta is the first track on the schedule that we haven’t tested at. This is going to be a challenging weekend for us. But we’re ready for it. I know it’s a driver friendly racetrack. You can use the multi grooves through the corners to find where your car works the best. It’s also one of the fastest tracks we go to so I’m excited. This is also the first week I’m bringing my whole family with me to the track. Both my wife and my two children will be in Atlanta this weekend. So that will make the weekend a little more comfortable for me. Having my family there is special.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO GET LAPS IN THE DODGE CHARGER:

“It is. I mean, at Vegas, the way I used the brakes and the throttle and the way I drive the car in the corner was much better at the end of the race than it was at the beginning. That’s why it’s important to make these races, you know, and I was a lot smoother going into one and two and three and four and I was keeping the car under me more. Unlike at the beginning when I was really coming off both brake and throttle. It was good. The car got better, everything got better, but we just needed the points. About midway through the race at Vegas we were consistently running the same lap times at the guys in the top-10. So we’re getting there. I just need as much seat time as possible.”
CINTAS: “We are excited about having Cintas joins us this year. It might be a bit hard for fans and media to tell our car but hopefully we will be out front and easy to see for everyone.”

NOTES

Atlanta Motor Speedway

· Being outside the top-35 in owner points, Carpentier will have to qualify on time.
· This will be Carpentier’s first attempt at qualifying at Atlanta Motor Speedway

2008 Season

· Carpentier missed Daytona and California races, but qualified 12th for Las Vegas.
· Carpentier was the highest running rookie on Sunday when an accident ended his race at Las Vegas.

History

· Carpentier began his career with Gillett Evernham Motorsports at Watkins Glen last season.
· Carpentier’s accomplishments outside of NASCAR include two Champ Car World Series wins, three CART victories and a Toyota Atlantic Championship.


Gillett Evernham Motorsports

· Ray Evernham served as Jeff Gordon’s crew chief from 1992-’99 winning 47 races and three Cup championships.
· Evernham founded Evernham Motorsports in 2000 and began first full season of competition in 2001 serving as the cornerstone of Dodge’s return to NASCAR.

· George Gillett Jr. became co-owner with Evernham in October 2007. Gillett also owns the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL and the Liverpool soccer team in the English Premier League.

· Gillett Evernham Motorsports campaigns Kasey Kahne in the No. 9, Patrick Carpentier in the No. 10, and Elliott Sadler in the No. 19 in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition.

· The organization also fields the No. 9 in NASCAR Nationwide Series races with its Sprint Cup drivers plus rookie Chase Miller.

· Gillett Evernham Motorsports owns 13 victories and 24 poles in 532 Sprint Cup races.


This Press Release and any images that are used,
are used with permission. Do not duplicate or
redistribute in any form without permission or credit.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.