Dodge Motorsports Notes & Quotes – NNS Race Advance – Richmond

Dodge Motorsports Notes & Quotes

NNS Race Advance

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Richmond International Raceway

Friday, Sept. 9, 2011

BRAD KESELOWSKI: RED HOT AT RICHMOND ·  Dodge’s Brad Keselowski has posted five consecutive top-five finishes at Richmond International Raceway in Nationwide Series competition entering Friday night’s race.  His win at the 2010 spring event was a dominant performance as the Penske Racing driver led 189 of 252 laps. ·  In 10 career Nationwide Series starts at Richmond, Keselowski has led 294 laps, more laps led than at any other venue on the current Nationwide schedule.

DODGE NEWS AND NOTES ·  Dodge has one Nationwide Series win at Richmond – Brad Keselowski – 4/30/2010. ·  Dodge’s last Nationwide Series win came Aug. 13 at Watkins Glen when Keselowski’s teammate Kurt Busch drove the No. 22 Discount Tire/Ruby Tuesday Dodge Challenger to victory. ·  Keselowski scored a seventh-place finish last weekend at Atlanta in his return to the Nationwide Series after being sidelined four races by a broken left ankle sustained during a testing accident at Road Atlanta.

BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 22 Ruby Tuesday Dodge Challenger R/T Career Stats (Richmond): Starts:                          10 Wins:                          1 Top Fives:                      5 Top 10s:                        5 Poles:                            0 Laps Led:                      294 Average Start:                15.7 Average Finish:              15.9

Career Highlights: ·  Keselowski’s last NASCAR Nationwide Series win came at Lucas Oil Raceway (Indy). ·  He is 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).

DID YOU KNOW? ·  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 Int’l Speedway.

FAST FACTS

·  Brad Keselowski has two wins and four top 10s in his last five NASCAR Nationwide Series starts.  The wins came at Kentucky and Lucas Oil Raceway (Indy).

·  In 160 career Nationwide starts, Keselowski has 14 wins, 67 top fives, 96 top 10s, and 10 poles.

·  Dodge has 37 wins in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

FROM THE CREW CHIEF “Richmond is a track that suits Brad’s aggressive driving style.  If your car is working like you want, you can really charge the corners because they are so wide and sweeping. Just like any short track, we’ll make sure we keep forward bite in the car all night.  Brad has been impressive at Richmond over the last couple of years, both in the Nationwide Series and in the Cup Series.” Todd Gordon, crew chief, No. 22 Ruby Tuesday Dodge

FROM THE DRIVER “I feel as though I have a good understanding of what I need to run well at Richmond and that makes it easy to communicate that to my crew chief and team.  As a result, we’ve been able to put together some good finishes at Richmond.  To me, it’s the ultimate short track.  There is a reason that most drivers put it right at the top of their list of favorite tracks.  It’s night racing, under the lights, which is similar to what most of us grew up doing.  You can run side-by-side and rub fenders and do all of the things that the fans want to see.  It’s just an exciting race track and I feel like we can put the Ruby Tuesday Dodge in Victory Lane this weekend.”

Brad Keselowski, No. 22 Ruby Tuesday Dodge Challenger RT