Dodge Motorsports Notes & Quotes
NNS Race Advance Nashville 300
Nashville Superspeedway Saturday, April 23, 2011
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DID YOU KNOW
. Nashville is the first of eight stand-alone race weekends this season that the Nationwide Series does not compete at the same track with the Sprint Cup Series.
. Brad Keselowski’s first Nationwide victory came at Nashville Superspeedway in 2008.
DODGE IN THE NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
. Dodge won its first Nationwide championship last year with Brad Keselowski claiming the driver’s title. It was the first NASCAR title for Penske Racing.
. Dodge has 34 Nationwide Series wins since 2002.
BRAD KESELOWSKI
– No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger R/T
Career Starts: 146
Wins: 12
Top Fives: 62
Top 10s: 87
Poles: 8
Career Highlights:
. Last NASCAR Nationwide Series win came at Gateway last fall (10 races).
. Reigning NASCAR Nationwide Series champion
. Earned Penske Racing its first NASCAR championship last season.
. Set career-best results in 2010 in wins (6), top fives (26), top 10s (29) and poles (5).
. Set a NASCAR record 102 consecutive Nationwide Series races without a DNF (Did Not Finish) that ended at this year’s season-opening race at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
BRAD KESELOWSKI AT NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY
. Has two wins, six top five and six top-10 finishes in eight-career Nashville NNS starts.
. Highest starting position: Second – June 2008
. Highest finishing position: Win – June 2008, 2010
. Average starting position: 17.2
. Average finishing position: 11.8
. Laps Led: 163
2011 NNS SEASON BEST . Start: 2nd (Texas) Race Finish: 2nd (Texas)
DODGE SPEAKS “We’ve spent the last year redefining and building the Dodge brand. Now we’re going to show customers what the future of Dodge will look like. At Dodge, we’re passionate about driving; we look forward to it. We think a car should have a personality, be powerful and fun. We’re going to put that Dodge mojo into the entire lineup, from compact cars to minivans to SUVs and everything in between.” Ralph Gilles, President and CEO – Dodge Car brand, Chrysler Group LLC
DODGE QUOTES: Nashville 300 “I always look forward to going to Nashville Superspeedway. It has always been one of my favorite race tracks. You can really be aggressive because there is so much room to race. Obviously, it’s a special place for me because I won my first Nationwide Series race there in 2008. We came back in the second race there last year and had one of the best cars we had all year. It didn’t qualify that well, but I was pretty confident that we would win the race. I never like to pick favorite tracks, but Nashville is a place that I feel like I can go there on any given night and win. There is always a big contingent of employees from Discount Tire at Nashville that know how to get everyone fired up. I can’t wait.”
Brad Keselowski, No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger R/T
FROM THE PITBOX “Nashville is pretty unique in that it is almost a 1.5-mile track, but it’s concrete. Most of our concrete tracks aren’t speedways, so that provides a few challenges. Everybody will fight for the bottom of the track at the start of the race, but the groove will widen as the cars run. Most importantly, you need to have a car that is balanced for long and short green-flag runs. There is usually a caution with a few laps remaining that will setup a shootout to the finish, so you have to be prepared for that. Brad has been very good at Nashville in his career and we need to give him a car that he can use to pick up his third Gibson guitar (winner’s trophy).” Todd Gordon, Crew Chief, No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger R/
