Annett looks forward to Bristol II

Michael Annett, Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota

Photo by: Ted Rossino

Bristol Bound: After two back-to-back weeks of competing on road courses, Michael Annett returns to oval track racing at Thunder Valley this week. Friday's Nationwide Series Food City 250 will be the 25-year-old's sixth attempt at Bristol Motor Speedway's .533 mile bullring. Annett has completed 99.3 percent of laps contested there. The young driver notched his best Bristol finish in August 2009 claiming Rookie of the Race honors for finishing eighth.

RWR at Bristol: The Mooresville, N.C. based Rusty Wallace Racing organization has 29 starts at Bristol Motor Speedway with three pole awards, two top-five finishes and 12 top-10 finishes to their name. Team owner, Rusty Wallace, is known as an ace on Bristol's high-banked, half-mile track with seven pole awards and nine Sprint Cup Series wins there. Significantly, Bristol is the venue where Wallace scored his first ever victory in NASCAR's premier series.

Cast Your Vote: Nationwide Series Most Popular Driver voting has returned for the fourth consecutive year in 2011 and is underway on NASCAR.com. Fans can cast their vote for Michael Annett once per day by visiting www.NASCAR.com/nnsmpd. Voting runs from now until November 17. The winner of the Nationwide Series Most Popular Driver award will be announced at the year-end banquet on November 21.

From the Cockpit:

Michael Annett on racing at Pilot Flying J's home track:

"Bristol is an exciting track, and racing there under the lights makes it one of the most exciting races of the year. Bristol is Pilot Flying J's home track, so that brings in another element of excitement as well. We always have a big group of folks from Pilot Flying J headquarters there to support us for this race, so putting on a top notch performance for those who make this possible is pivotal. After two road course races in-a-row, we're looking forward to getting back to oval track racing this week and bringing home a strong finish for Pilot Flying J."

Talking Shop:

Crew chief Rick Viers on Friday's race:

"Bristol is one of my favorite tracks, and I know it's important to both Michael and Pilot Flying J as well. The kind of racing that track puts on, and now with the new surface, will definitely make for an exciting night under the lights on Friday. With 10 races to go, we know this is a track where we can run well and again gain some more valuable points."

The Machines:

Team 62 Primary: RWR-061 - Annett most recently finished 14th in this car at Nashville Superspeedway in July. RWR's No. 62 team also raced this chassis in Dover, as well as at Chicagoland Speedway and Kentucky Speedway where they finished ninth and seventh respectively.

Team 62 Back-Up: RWR-051 - The No. 62 Pilot Flying J team's last race competing with this chassis was at Bristol Motor Speedway in March.