Dodge Motorsports Notes & Quotes

NSCS Race Advance

26TH Annual HELUVA GOOD! SOUR CREAM DIPS at The Glen Watkins Glen International

Sunday, Aug. 14, 2011

DODGE NEWS AND NOTES . Dodge’s Kurt Busch is looking to sweep both Cup Series road course tracks on the 2011 regular-season schedule. Busch earned his first road course victory in June at Infineon Raceway, leading 76 of 110 laps. . Busch finished second at The Glen last year, his career best at the track. It was his third consecutive top-10 finish at the seven-turn course with an inter-loop and fifth consecutive inside the top 20.

WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL . Dodge started 1-2 at the 2006 Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen; Kurt Busch started from the pole, led 38 laps before finishing 19th. Kasey Kahne started second in the Dodge Dealers Dodge from Evernham Motorsports. . Dodge’s Brad Keselowski finished 20th last year in his first Sprint Cup race at The Glen. . Robby Gordon’s last Cup victory came at Watkins Glen; he led 30 laps en route to victory in 2003. Gordon has an average finishing position of 13.3 at Watkins Glen International – the best of all 23 Cup Series tracks he has competed on.

2011 DODGE SPRINT CUP REWIND . Race 1: Kurt Busch won the season-opening Bud Shootout and a Gatorade Duel at Daytona International Speedway. . Races 12-15: Dodge earned four-consecutive poles. . Race 13: Keselowski wins Kansas. First Dodge win of the season . Race 16: Busch dominated at Infineon. Earned first win of season and first road-course victory of his career. . Race 21: Keselowski, racing with a broken left ankle, earns his second win of the season and first at Pocono Raceway.

THE DODGE BOYS . Dodge has 210 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories. . Dodge’s most recent win came last weekend at Pocono Raceway. Dodge’s Brad Keselowski led 19 of the 200 laps en route to victory. The victory was the third for Dodge in 2011. . Dodge teams have posted 50 victories since the manufacturer’s return to NASCAR’s premier series in 2001 after being out of the sport since 1977. . Dodge has posted wins each season since its return in 2001 including seven wins twice (2002 and 2006).

INSIDE THE NUMBERS . Dodge’s Brad Keselowski earned his second Sprint Cup Series win of the season last weekend at Pocono and moved up three positions to 18th in the driver standings. With two wins, Keselowski is now the No. 1 driver eligible for one of the two wild card births in the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup.

DID YOU KNOW . Robby Gordon leads current Dodge drivers with one win, seven top-five finishes at Watkins Glen. Gordon will be driving a new Dodge Charger that was just completed in the Robby Gordon Motorsports shop.

FROM THE ENGINEER “It’s gotten to the point we just assume in this series that the Watkins Glen road race can be won by strategy and fuel economy. Both are extremely important for a win, but the reason we can focus on those two elements is because the rest of the components in the Sprint Cup cars are so good that we have that luxury. It wasn’t so many years ago that transmission, rear axle, brake, and engine problems would spell the end of the day for many good teams, but that’s much less the case today. Engineers have come up with answers to many durability problems with better materials, coatings, lubricants, and cooling devices, that today’s Sprint Cup car looks indestructible by comparison. Winning teams have turned their focus to a good setup, smart strategy, and great fuel economy while assuming that they have already achieved the best in durability.” Howard Comstock, Dodge Motorsports Engineering

ODDS AND ENDS . Dodge’s Kurt Busch moved up two positions to fourth in the Sprint Cup point standings after his third-place finish at Pocono last weekend. Busch is the only driver in the Sprint Cup Series who has been in the top 10 in the season point standings every race. He has won a Cup race in each of his first 10 seasons – the second longest active streak amongst current Cup Series drivers. . With Keselowski’s win at Pocono Raceway he is now qualified for the 2011 Sprint Summer Showdown and a chance to win $1,000,000 for himself, his charity and a fan if the Penske Racing driver can win the Sprint Cup race on Sept. 4 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

STAT OF THE WEEK . Kurt Busch has led laps in nine of the last 10 Sprint Cup races and has an average finish of 8.4 in those races.

DODGE MOTORSPORTS QUOTE OF THE WEEK “With the performance we had out at Sonoma (Infineon) back in June, that really revs up our outlook heading back into Watkins Glen again for Sunday’s race. We’re coming in there going full steam ahead in our quest to sweep the road course races this season. If we can show the level of strength we’ve enjoyed the last few times out, I certainly think we’ll have a good shot of doing it.” Kurt Busch, driver, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T

DODGE QUOTES “Like I’ve been telling people since last year, this weekend’s race at Watkins Glen has been locked in on our radar screen. To race with (Juan Pablo) Montoya and (Marcos) Ambrose like we did there last year was definitely a confidence-builder. Those two guys come from a different world when it comes to road course racing. We got by Ambrose at the end and were closing in on Montoya.” Kurt Busch, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T

“At the Glen you need to concentrate on where you can brake heavily and where you can put the power down when you need to so that you carry big runs down the straightaway. To me, Watkins Glen is more of a stock car driver’s road course. You can throw your car around a little more than Sonoma, especially with the new runoff areas, because you don’t have to worry about getting stuck in the sand traps anymore. I’m still learning how to be a better road course racer, but it’s starting to click with me.

“I felt much better on Monday after a good night’s rest. A win is good medicine too. It’s just going to take time to let everything heal properly. Good racecars make it very easy on you when you’re hurt or sick and Paul (Wolfe, crew chief) has been building excellent cars this season. If there is a silver lining to the wreck at Road Atlanta, it’s that we weren’t testing our primary car for Watkins Glen. It’s still in one piece and it’s the same car that we finished inside the top-10 with at Sonoma. It will still be uncomfortable in the car this weekend, but I’ll have to man up one more time because we don’t have time to let injuries get in the way of making the Chase.” Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T