SS GreenLight Racing | NASCAR Xfinity Series Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway | Sparks 300 Fast Facts

No. 07 SS GreenLight Racing Team:

Driver: Joe Graf Jr. (@JoeGrafJr)
Primary Partner(s): G-Coin
Manufacturer: Chevrolet Camaro
Crew Chief: Joe Williams
Sparks 300 Starting Position: 40th (Event Formula)
Driver Points Position: 31st | Owner Points Position: 37th
Engine: Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines (ECR)

Notes of Interest:

Welcome Back: This weekend at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, SS GreenLight Racing and Joe Graf Jr. welcome back G-Coin as the primary partner of the team’s No. 07 Chevrolet Camaro for Saturday afternoon’s Sparks 300 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Talladega marks the ninth race of a multi-race deal where G-Coin, a product that brings gold into the digital age, making it accessible and giving it true utility will be the primary partner.

About G-Coin: Unlike cryptocurrencies, G-Coin is a digital title to a real asset: 1 G-Coin token equals 1 gram of Responsible GoldTM.

G-Coin combines the best qualities of traditional gold – stability, security, value, confidence, and social status – with the benefits of digital innovation, allowing users to easily save, send, and spend gold.

Tech-savvy investors keen to avoid cryptocurrency volatility, or physical storage burden and costs, are now able to purchase G-Coin digital gold tokens. G-Coin tokens can be purchased in increments of 0.01gram, giving individual investors better access to the gold market and the ability to use gold for day-to-day purchases.

G-Coin Wallets give users the freedom to send and receive value instantly, securely, and at no cost from the convenience of your mobile phone.

G-Coin Tip of the Week: A G-Coin token is a digital title of ownership to one gram of a Responsible Gold kilobar stored in a licensed vault.

Holders can redeem the tokens for physical gold on demand*. G-Coin tokens can be sent, spent, gifted or purchased as an investment through the G-Coin wallet.

Same Day Settlements With MoneyGram: G-Coin customers with Tier 3 access can use cash to buy or sell G-Coin tokens at participating MoneyGram locations.

To place a buy or sell order using cash, Tier 3 customers need to select the ‘MoneyGram’ option from ‘Pay With’ that appears on the buy | sell screen. Once the order is placed, customers will receive an email with detailed instructions to follow at participating MoneyGram locations.

For buy orders, customers will have 24 hours to make the payment in cash, which is when the balance on the G-Coin wallet is updated. Buy orders expire after 24 hours so customers will need to place a new order after that time.

For sell orders, customers are responsible for collecting the proceeds of the sale in cash at participating MoneyGram locations. The G-Coin balance will be updated when the sell order has been placed, which is irreversible.

New Sponsor Announcement: SS GreenLight Racing and Joe Graf Jr. will soon introduce a new marketing partner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for two of the final six races of the 2021 season.

The new sponsor is also new to NASCAR and the Xfinity Series scene.

In Loving Memory: This weekend at Talladega and for the remainder of the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, Joe Graf Jr. and SS GreenLight Racing will carry the name of Bray Pemberton on the passenger side name rail of the team’s No. 07 Chevrolet Camaro.

Pemberton passed away on September 8, 2021, after a brief illness.

Pemberton was an instrumental figure in the everyday business and growth of Graf’s motorsports career. He will be deeply missed by all.

Saving You Some Money: As fall has officially fallen, Joe Graf Jr.’s other marketing partner Z Grills still wants to help the NASCAR community save money – but also enjoy the perfect fall barbecue dinner.
With the holidays on the horizon, Z Grills Racing (ZGrillsRacing.com) is offering a 10 percent discount off your TOTAL purchase, using the code NASCAR at checkout.

Joe Graf Jr. Xfinity Series Talladega Superspeedway Starts: Joe Graf Jr. will make his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series start at the 2.66-mile superspeedway on Saturday and looks to improve on his 33rd place finish from April’s Ag-Pro 300 where the SS GreenLight Racing experienced a mechanical failure in the rain-shortened event.

Joe Graf Jr. Xfinity Series Career Superspeedway Nuggets: In nine career NASCAR Xfinity Series Superspeedway races, has completed 606 of the 858 laps available. He holds an average starting position of 21.6 and an average result of 28.1 with a best finish of 11th at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in February 2021.

Joe Graf Jr. ARCA Menards Series Career Superspeedway Nuggets: In three career ARCA superspeedway track races, Graf Jr. has two top-10 finishes. He has been running at the finish of all three races. He holds an average starting position of 15.3 and an average result of 11th with three (3) laps led.

In 2018, Graf Jr. was involved in the closest finish in ARCA Menards Series history at Talladega Superspeedway in a photo finish.

The margin was so narrow in the 69-year history of the series, it was a statistical dead heat, the margin of victory on the computerized scoring monitors showing 0.00 seconds. Only a video replay and the photo finish camera were able to determine Graf finished second by a matter of millimeters.

Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway | Alsco Uniforms 302 Race Recap: In the most recent NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway, Graf’s return in Sin City was short lived.

After starting 21st in his No. 07 Bucked Up Energy Chevrolet, Graf Jr. maintained his top-20 pace at the 1.5-mile speedway, but was one of nearly a dozen victims in a Lap 30 restart incident.

The crash knocked Graf and the SS GreenLight Racing team out of the race with a frustrating 40th place finish.

Put Me In Coach: To strengthen his physique, Joe Graf Jr. began working with new trainer and former NASCAR Cup Series Josh Wise during the 2020 offseason.

In addition to Wise, Graf has also been working with former NASCAR driver and open wheel driver Scott Speed on being more discipline behind the wheel of his No. 07 Bucked Up Energy Chevrolet Camaro.

Sneaker Mania: Along with the adrenaline of the Motorsports competition, Joe Graf Jr. also has a vogue for hype sneakers. In his current collection, he owns and wears at least 85 limited edition sneakers – and his collection continues to grow every month.

The current estimated value of his collection tops $90,000.

From the Pit Box: Industry veteran Joe Williams is Joe Graf Jr.’s crew chief.

He will crew chief his 60th NASCAR Xfinity Series race as crew chief on Saturday afternoon and his fourth at the 2.66-mile superspeedway.

In his previous 59 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, he has collected four top-five and 14 top-10 finishes.

Hello From The Other Side: Graf Jr. has a teammate at SS GreenLight Racing. Veteran Garrett Smithley will drive the No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro on Saturday afternoon for his third start of the 2021 season.

Smithley, 29, is set to make his 140th career NASCAR Xfinity Series start and sixth at Talladega. His best Xfinity track finished occurred in the 2018 Sparks Energy 300, where he finished 10th after starting 34th for JD Motorsports with Gary Keller.

Follow on Social Media: For more on Joe Graf Jr. visit JoeGrafRacing.com, like him on Facebook (Joe Graf Jr.), follow him on Twitter (@JoeGrafJr) and Instagram (@joegrafjr).

For more on SS GreenLight Racing, please like them on Facebook (SS GreenLight Racing) and follow them on Twitter (@SSGLR0717) and visit their website at SSGreenLight.com.

Joe Graf Jr. Pre-Race Quotes:

On Talladega: “I’m looking forward to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend being a little bit of a revival for our SS GreenLight Racing team. We have had incredibly fast speedway cars this season and other than Daytona, we haven’t been able to showcase that for circumstances beyond our control.

“I’m still a little upset that an opportunity to have another good finish at Las Vegas last weekend was robbed from us because we were swept into an accident that happened way too early in the race. Redemption is definitely on my mind Saturday afternoon.”

On Approaching Homestretch: “We have a little over a month left in the 2021 schedule. Our season has not gone the way we planned, but it has not been from a lack of effort, just a variety of circumstances – most beyond our control.

“I really look forward to the rest of the tracks on the schedule the rest of the year and we’re already focused on 2022 and cannot wait to announce those plans soon.”

Race Information:

The Sparks 300 (113 laps | 300.58 miles) is the 28th of 33 NASCAR Xfinity Series races on the 2021 schedule. The 40-car field will take the green flag on Sat., Oct. 2, 2021, shortly after 3:30 p.m. CT (4:30 p.m. ET) with live coverage on the NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90.

About SS Green Light Racing:

As one of the most tenured teams in all of NASCAR, SS GreenLight Racing led by team owner and former driver Bobby Dotter has been a mainstay in the sport fielding entries in either the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series or the Xfinity Series competition since 2001.

SS GreenLight Racing will continue with a two-car program in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2021.