MALSAM MAKING FIRST VISIT TO WATKINS GLEN FOR NASCAR NATIONWIDE RACE

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Aug. 4 2010) — Even with just seven NASCAR Nationwide Series starts under his belt there are not many venues the series visits that Tayler Malsam hasn’t been to before because of his time in the NASCAR truck and ARCA stock-car series.

That won’t be true for much of the month of August, as the 21-year-old from Sammamish, Wash., will make his inaugural visits to two of the next three tracks where he is slated to drive the No. 10 Iron Horse Jeans Toyota for Braun Racing.

The first of those new venues is Watkins Glen International this Saturday. The Zippo 200 at The Glen will be televised by ESPN beginning with the NASCAR Countdown show at 10:30 a.m. (PT). Earlier on Saturday, qualifying will be covered on ESPN2 at 6 a.m. (PT), and Friday’s practice will be shown on ESPN2 at 11 a.m. (PT).

So how does a young driver prepare to race at a track he’s never been to before, especially a tricky 2.45-mile, 11-turn road course like Watkins Glen?

“I’m going to buy the latest NASCAR video game, log some laps on that this week and memorize the track,” Malsam said with a laugh. “I grew up racing road courses and (crew chief) Stewart Cooper has some road course experience as well. It’s no different than an oval, it’s how good your car is, how good it turns in the corners.”

NASCAR has been racing at the Glen for 53 years, and Saturday’s event marks the 17th visit of the Nationwide Series. It is also the second of three road courses the series — and Malsam — will race at this year. Malsam finished 15th in the race at Road America on June 19 at Elkhart Lake, Wis., and he is also scheduled to race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal on Aug. 29.

Also slated to make his debut at Watkins Glen is former Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve, who will drive the No. 32 Dollar General Toyota for Braun Racing. Villeneuve has made three previous Nationwide Series starts for Braun, most recently at Road America where he qualified second and was in contention for the win before retiring with an electrical problem on the final lap.

Villeneuve is also scheduled to drive the No. 32 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which is named for his late father who was also an F1 racer. Asked if he would ask Villeneuve for advice at Watkins Glen and in Montreal, Malsam said: “I’ll definitely pick his brain as much as I can, try to learn from him.”

In between making his debuts at those two road courses, Malsam and the Nationwide Series will return to Michigan International Speedway, a track the Northwest native knows well from ARCA and NASCAR truck series starts, on Aug. 14. Due to prior scheduling agreements at Braun Racing, Malsam is not slated for the series race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Aug. 20.