(Courtesy Gillett Evernham Motorsports)

Patrick Carpentier has never been to Darlington Raceway, but he's been reading about it.

The open wheel veteran but NASCAR rookie bought a NASCAR history book at a Daytona bookstore in February. When he's not racing the No. 10 LifeLock Dodge or spending time with wife Anick and two young children, the Quebec native has read about the drivers, machines and tracks that made NASCAR one of the world's fastest growing sports.

While Carpentier studies his new sport's history, he's been adding to its international appeal. At Richmond, he earned the No. 10 Gillett Evernham Motorsports team its best qualifying spot of the year, when he took the fourth position. He's qualified for the last five races despite not visiting three of the five tracks.

The 36-year-old hopes to continue the impressive qualifying streak this weekend in Darlington. . Carpentier believes the limited testing opportunities on the track's new surface might level the playing field between the rookie and NASCAR veterans.

TV and Radio Times: Qualifying is set for Friday at 5:15 p.m. (ET) on SPEED TV and MRN Radio. Race time on Saturday is 7:20 p.m. (ET) on Fox and MRN Radio.

DRIVER PATRICK CARPENTIER QUOTES:


ON DARLINGTON: "Darlington is going to be very interesting, to say the least. This will be another track that I haven't been to. But I'm excited to go to a track with as much history as Darlington has. A lot of the legends of the sport have raced there. Guys like Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker and David Pearson. I've been reading my NASCAR history book and those guys put down a lot of laps around that track. I was looking at pictures of how close they ran up against the wall in the corners. I was like, `are you serious?' I wish they could tell me some of their secrets. I know I'll need some tips to make this race.

"I hope the new racing surface will help level the playing field for me. I don't think the track has seen anything other than testing, so when we get to race conditions things may be different. The track will be a lot smoother and faster than it was in the past. Getting my first Darlington stripe will be really cool. Hopefully, it's not too big. Elliott Sadler told me if you don't get a stripe on your car, you're not going fast enough. If that's true, I hope we have the whole right side of the car full of stripes."

A BRIEF RECAP OF LAST WEEK: "As a team, we're moving on. We had high hopes last weekend after qualifying so well. That didn't really work out in the race though. We just got caught up in something that wasn't our mess. It happens in racing. We're keeping our heads up and our eyes focused on the upcoming races. The LifeLock crew is testing at Charlotte on Monday and Tuesday this week. GEM has a history of running well at Charlotte and we want to use the test to make the most of that race.


NOTES
Chassis
* Carpentier will be driving chassis No. 232. Backup is No. 218.

Darlington Raceway
* This is Carpentier's first trip to Darlington Raceway.
* He has been preparing for the track by utilizing a race simulator, watching races and even reading up on the history of the track.
* Carpentier must qualify on time since he is outside the top-35.

2008 Season
* Carpentier started 4th at Richmond - his best start of the season.
* He has successfully qualified for the last five consecutive races on speed.
* The Quebec-native earned his first Cup Series restrictor plate finish at Talladega.
* His 28th place finish at Texas was his best finish of the 2008 season.
* Additionally, the36-year-old earned Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors after Texas.
* Carpentier has started every race that he has had a chance to qualify for, excluding only the Daytona 500.
* The LifeLock Dodge is 43rd in Owner Points, 264points away from the top-35.

History
* Carpentier began his career with Gillett Evernham Motorsports at Watkins Glen last season.
* Carpentier's accomplishments outside of NASCAR include two Champ Car World Series wins, three CART victories and a Toyota Atlantic Championship.

Gillett Evernham Motorsports
* Ray Evernham served as Jeff Gordon's crew chief from 1992-'99 winning 47 races and three Cup championships.
* Evernham founded Evernham Motorsports in 2000 and began first full season of competition in 2001 serving as the cornerstone of Dodge's return to NASCAR.
* George Gillett Jr. became co-owner with Evernham in October 2007. Gillett also owns the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL and the Liverpool soccer team in the English Premier League.
* Gillett Evernham Motorsports campaigns Kasey Kahne in the No. 9, Patrick Carpentier in the No. 10, and Elliott Sadler in the No. 19 in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition.
* The organization also fields the No. 9 in NASCAR Nationwide Series races with its Sprint Cup drivers plus rookie Chase Miller.
* Gillett Evernham Motorsports owns 13 victories and 24 poles.

Carpentier Career Record