Dodge Motorsports Notes & Quotes
NNS Race Advance New England 200 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Saturday, July 16, 2011
BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 22 Ruby Tuesday Dodge Challenger R/T
Career Stats:
Starts: 156
Wins: 13
Top Fives: 66
Top 10s: 93
Poles: 8
Laps Led: 2,102
Average Start: 15.0
Average Finish: 12.6
2011 Season Stats:
Starts: 17
Wins: 1
Top Fives: 7
Top 10s: 11
Laps Led: 254
Average Start: 8.8
Average Finish: 12.1
New Hampshire Motor Speedway Stats:
Starts: 3
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 2
Top 10s: 3
Laps Led: 64
Average Start: 5.7
Average Finish: 5.0
Highlights:
· Most recent NASCAR Nationwide Series win came last weekend at Kentucky Speedway.
· The reigning NASCAR Nationwide champion.
· Earned Penske Racing its first NASCAR champion last season.
· In 2010, set career-bests in wins (6), top five’s (26), top 10s (29) and poles (5).
· First Nationwide victory came at Nashville Superspeedway (2008).
DODGE QUOTES: “New Hampshire is a fun place to race because it’s one of those tracks where you are racing it as much as you are the competitors. It’s very hard to pass, especially in these Nationwide cars, because you get too loose underneath someone and you don’t have the power to beat them off the corner. You need to be able to maintain forward bite off the corner throughout the race to be successful. The fans in New Hampshire are some of the best on the circuit. We had a really good car there last year and finished second. Hopefully we can better that by one position and take the Ruby Tuesday Dodge to Victory Lane.” Brad Keselowski, No. 22 Ruby Tuesday Dodge Challenger R/T
DID YOU KNOW
· Saturday’s race will be the track debut for the NASCAR Nationwide Series “new car”.
· Brad Keselowski 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.
DODGE IN THE NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
· Dodge won its first Nationwide championship last year when Penske Racing’s Brad Keselowski claimed the driver’s title.
· Dodge is fielding two entries in the Nationwide Series this year from the Penske Racing stable. Sam Hornish Jr. joins teammate Keselowski for a limited race schedule.
· Dodge has 35 wins in the Nationwide Series, seven of which came in 2010.
THE NUMBERS
· Dodge’s Brad Keselowski earned his first NASCAR Nationwide Series win of the season last weekend at Kentucky Speedway. He dominated in his Discount Tire Dodge Challenger R/T, leading 132 of 200 laps en route to his 13th career Nationwide win.
FROM THE CREW CHIEF “New Hampshire has long, flat corners and you tend to fight a tight-handling condition throughout the race. The key is to keep the car turning with good mechanical grip so as to not upset the aero platform. Even though it’s just over one mile in length, aerodynamics still play a big role in racing at New Hampshire. This chassis performed well at Charlotte and we are excited to race it again, especially after the improvements we feel that we’ve made with our program. Brad has tremendous stats at New Hampshire. All that is missing is a win. Hopefully we can give him something to work with this weekend.” Todd Gordon, crew chief, No. 22 Ruby Tuesday Dodge Challenger R/T
