Early Race Run-In Ends Hopes of Daytona Victory

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (2/13/11) – Joey Coulter entered this weekend’s Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway with high hopes in kicking off his 2011 five-race sponsorship with Rip It Energy Fuel along with a great finish. Coulter, a veteran of the ARCA Racing Series tour, knows all to well the high stakes gamble, tight-quartered superspeedway racing Daytona provides. Unfortunately for the Miami Springs, FL native an early race debacle with a competitor would take him and his No. 16 Rip It Energy Fuel, Darrell Gwynn Foundation Chevrolet from contention.

“Daytona (Int’l Speedway) can be a brutal track, one you love, hate and love to hate all at the same time,” commented Coulter. “I knew coming into this weekend that we had a very competitive car, that drafted very well. My Crew Chief, Michael Chapman, has done an awesome job in his inaugural event with our team, and our test/practice results proved that.”

Coulter’s race weekend started Thursday (2/10/11) with the series’ extended practice session. Coulter Motorsports Crew Chief Michael Chapman created a game plan with Coulter, which saw the Rip It Energy Chevy make several single car runs in preparation for qualifying. Following their single car runs, Coulter made two drafting runs before finishing out practice. He would find himself eleventh quickest on the board at 48.983 seconds at 183.737 MPH. Coulter would back that up Friday (2/11/11) during Menards Pole Qualifying, where the 20-year old would post the 13^th fastest time at 49.314 seconds at 182.504 MPH.

“After a productive three-day test here in January, I felt our practice and qualifying efforts were right on par with what we had expected,” commented Chapman. “We built this car for speed in the draft along with aerodynamic comfort, so we expect Saturday’s (2/12/11) race to go very well. Joey (Coulter) has done a great job thus far, and his feedback is phenomenal. I look forward to seeing our Rip It Energy Fuel Chevrolet up front.”

Taking the green flag to start the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200, Coulter had his eyes set on the front, but knew a cautious and precise approach was necessary. An early caution on lap three gave Coulter a chance to relay to his team that his car feels “really good and it is sucking up better.” Restarting 14^th at lap 9 Coulter quickly jumped in line with the draft. He stayed locked onto the bumper in front of him, pushing the pack, when a slow car in front checked up, causing a domino effect for the cars behind. Coulter caught the tail end of the effect, having nowhere to go he was forced into the car in front of him.

During the ensuing lap 17 caution, Chapman brought Coulter to pit road for two fresh right side Hoosier tires, fuel, and to assess the damage. With a caved in nose, the team quickly finished their work and got the No. 16 Rip It Energy Fuel, Darrell Gwynn Foundation Chevrolet back on track in 21^st. Immediately after taking the green flag, Coulter radioed in that the car was overheating. With water temperatures soaring from 220 to 265 by lap 36, veteran NASCAR driver/spotter Tim Fedewa found Coulter an open hole on the track to try and cool off his car. A lap 45 caution gave Coulter the chance to come down pit road for some much-needed attention.  The team pulled all of the tape off the grill and raised the hood to add water to the radiator before sending him back out to take the green flag on lap 51 in 28^th.

Coulter, still on the lead lap and with his sights set high, began to once again work his way into the draft. He soon realized his car’s nose damage was inhibiting him from sucking up to the lead cars. Chapman, knowing the caved nose was the factor, called Coulter back to pit road during the lap 56 caution. The Coulter Motorsports crew quickly affixed an aluminum nosepiece, filling the void in the nose. Coulter restarted 32^nd on lap 62. He spent the final laps working with several drafting partners and avoiding any wrecks en route to a hard fought 21^st place finish in his No. 16 Rip It Energy Fuel, Darrell Gwynn Foundation Chevrolet.

“Our finish in tonight’s race does not do any justice to how well our car was running and where we should have finished,” said a frustrated Coulter. “My guys worked their tails off all week and gave me a great car, but this is the nature of Daytona, that I completely understand and respect. I want to thank Rip It Energy Fuel for coming back on board this year and I can not wait to get to Talladega in two months.”

Watch for Joey Coulter in his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut, in the No. 22 Darrell Gwynn Foundation, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Silverado this Friday, February 18, 2011 at Daytona International Speedway. You can catch all of the action of the NextEra Energy Resources 250 LIVE on SPEED at 7:30 pm ET.

You can also get LIVE updates wherever Coulter Motorsports travels by following on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CoulterMtrsprts

Please log onto www.LiftUpEllie.com to help support the Potvin family.

Also please be sure to support Coulter Motorsports sponsors at:

Tempest Cycles: www.tempestcycles.com

MAD Industry: www.areumad.com

About Rip It Energy Fuel

Rip It Energy Fuel by National Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: FIZZ) is available in fifteen exhilarating flavors, including three sugar-free varieties. Great-tasting and power-packed, Rip It provides REAL energy for REAL people at a REAL value. In an office, on the job, on a mountain, riding waves, doin’ flips, doin’ tricks, jammin’ all night, crammin’ all night, whatever your life calls for, Rip It is there to fuel you.  Crack open an ice-cold Rip It Power and Feel the REAL Taste of BOLD energy surge through your body. Or maybe you prefer the sweet taste of Sugar FREE Citrus X to slap your tongue back to life. Rip It Energy Fuel has the complete line of Regular and Sugar FREE flavors in both 16 oz cans and energy shots to make Rip It a REAL part of your everyday life.