SWEET HOME ALABAMA: Mobile, Ala. native Cale Gale will be making his fourth start this season for Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) for the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Previously this season Gale scored a 23rd-place finish at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in the season opener, a 20th-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway and most recently a career-best finish of eighth at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway in his 14th career Nationwide Series start.

ROOKIE HONORS: Gale has earned top Rookie of the Race honors in his last two starts (Atlanta and Nashville) in the Nationwide Series as the top-finishing Rookie of the Year Contender.

ROUND TWO: Gale will attempt to make his first start at Talladega in the Nationwide Series, but this will mark his second appearance at the famed superspeedway. Last October Gale piloted the No. 2 KHI Chevrolet in the truck series to a 22nd-place finish. Gale started from the 19th position and completed 91 laps of the 94 lap race. This time around Gale looks to gain more seat time and improve his finish.

LOOKING FOR REPEAT: Next to winning the 2007 Truck Series Championship, last year’s Nationwide Series finish at Talladega is one that few at KHI have yet to forget. KHI won the race with Bobby Labonte in the No. 77 KHI Chevrolet and Tony Stewart finished a close second in the No. 33 KHI car. Not only did KHI claim the top two positions, but gained their third restrictor plate win. The two previous restrictor plate wins came during the 2005 and 2006 season openers in Daytona with Stewart and the No. 33 team. This year KHI returns to Talladega with only one car in the race, but will be looking to return to victory lane again with Rookie of the Year Contender Gale.

BEFORE THE RACE: QUOTES WITH DRIVER CALE GALE:

Being from Alabama, is there added pressure to perform well at Talladega in front of your home crowd?
“Obviously I want to perform well there. I want to go out and do the best I can and hopefully circumstances will be in our favor at the end. KHI won this race last year with Bobby (Labonte) and Tony (Stewart) finished second, making it a one-two finish for KHI. That’s more pressure on me because we are returning with only one car this time. Wally (Rogers, crew chief) has already told me he is ready for a win, so Talladega would be a great place to start.”

The last time you were on track you finished eighth, your best career Nationwide Series finish, and received top Rookie of the Race honors. Does this add momentum as you jump back behind the wheel at Talladega?
“I’m just excited to get back in the 33 car and hope to have a better performance than Daytona. This car is the same Kevin (Harvick) ran at Daytona and since then, we have made some adjustments to the body to help improve the car. After Daytona, we felt things could be better and worked hard to improve the car before heading back to the superspeedways. The main thing is to stay in line, hang in the draft and hopefully have a shot at the end of the day.”

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