Bires Clocks In At 21st On Practice Sheet At Atlanta

Though the intermittent rain showers pushed back the Friday schedule for NASCAR’s triple-header weekend at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Nationwide Series cars were able to get in one full practice session early on Friday afternoon. Nationwide Series teams are participating in this weekend’s Nicorette 300.

Kelly Bires, driving the No. 47 Clorox Ford, posted the 21st fastest time on the speed charts. Bires’ time around the 1.5-mile track was clocked at 31.702 seconds at 174.879 miles per hour. The team completed 39 laps of total practice during the session.

Next up for the No. 47 Clorox team is tomorrow morning’s qualifying session, set to begin at 9:05 a.m. EST and will be shown live on the SPEED Channel. All NASCAR Nationwide Series team cars will be impounded after qualifying until the race begins at 2:00 p.m. EST. The Nicorette 300 can be seen live on the ESPN 2 Network.

WHAT THE TEAM HAS TO SAY:
Kelly Bires, Driver of the No. 47 Clorox Ford:
“I was pretty glad we were able to get some time out there today. I wasn’t sure the weather was going to cooperate, but they got the track dried nicely. I guess they’ve had a lot of practice lately.

The Clorox Ford feels pretty good. We ran a lot of laps, got in an entire fuel run and then taped off for a qualifying run. We didn’t lack for time, which is good. It’s going to take a change or two here or there to coax a little bit more speed out of it, but I think we’ve got a great race car down here this weekend."

FAST & FUN FACTS:
-Kelly Bires practiced 21st fast in Friday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series practice session at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
-Kelly Bires will drive the No. 47 Clorox Ford in Saturday’s Nicorette 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
-The No. 47 Clorox team will be taking Chassis No. 42 as their primary car.
-Qualifying for the Nicorette 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway is slated for Saturday, 9:05 p.m. EST and will be shown live on the SPEED Channel. The race will take place at 2:00 p.m. EST on the ESPN 2 Network.

NEXT EVENT NEWS:
WHERE: Atlanta Motor Speedway; Hampton, GA
WHAT: Nicorette 300 (195 laps, 300 miles)
WHEN: March 8th, 2008; 2:00 p.m. EST
NETWORK: ESPN 2 Network; PRN & Sirius Satellite Radio Networks