2011 CHASE FOR THE NASCAR SPRINT CUP
Chase Race No. 7 – Martinsville Speedway – Sunday, Oct. 30
• Brad Keselowski – No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T
Martinsville
o Has one top-10 finish in three previous starts.
o Finished 19th in the spring event.
o Has completed 99.9 percent of possible laps (1,506 of 1,508).
o Average Finish: 13.7
Chase
o Third in the series championship standings 18 points behind leader Carl Edwards and four behind second-place Matt Kenseth. Leads fourth-place Tony Stewart by one point and fifth-place Kevin Harvick by eight.
o Has scored four top-five finishes.
o Has led laps in five of the six races.
o Average Finish: 8.3
Season
o Has three wins, 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes.
o Recorded eight top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in last 15 races.
o Started from the pole at Charlotte in May.
o Scored 214 points in five-race span to move from 23rd after Loudon to 11th following his victory at Bristol.
o Has led laps in 17 of the 32 races.
o Has been running at the finish 31 straight races.
o Average finish of 14.2
• Kurt Busch – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T
Martinsville
o Has one win, two top fives and four top 10s in 22 starts.
o Finished 16th in spring event.
o Won 2002 fall race at Martinsville by .460 seconds over Johnny Benson. Rallied from 36th-place starting position to lead 111 laps en route to victory.
o Won pole for the 2006 fall race.
o Has led 377 laps and completed 97.2 percent of all possible laps (10,709 of 11,019 laps) at the .526-mile track.
o Average Finish: 21.1
Chase
o Eighth in the championship standings, 52 points behind the leader.
o Won at Dover, one of four drivers to win a Chase race.
o Has led laps in five of first six races.
o Average Finish: 15.2
Season
o Has two wins along with eight top-five and 16 top-10 finishes.
o Only Sprint Cup driver to remain in the top 10 in the series point standings all 32 races this season.
o Started from the pole three consecutive races.
o Led laps in 19 of 32 races for 713 laps
o Won Bud Shootout and Gatorade Duel #1 at Daytona; finished fifth in 500.
o Average Finish: 13.3
Results: Chase Race No. 6 – Talladega Superspeedway – Sunday, Oct. 13
Summary: Brad Keselowski made a good choice in a drafting partner in Dave Blaney as the two challenged for the win in the two-lap dash to the checkered flag following the ninth caution of the race. Keselowski ended up fourth, his best restrictor plate finish of the season and second top-five in 11 career plate races. He won at Talladega in 2009. It was his fourth top-10 in six Chase races and moved him to third in the standings, 18 points behind leader Carl Edwards. Kurt Busch saw his championship hope fade after being involved in an accident off Turn 2 on lap 175 of the 188-lap race. Bobby Labonte spun and came back up the track directly in the path of Busch, heavily damaging the No. 22 Dodge. Busch finished 36th. He’s eighth in the standings, 52 points behind the leader.
• Brad Keselowski – No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T
o Qualified: 16th Finished: 4th
o Points Position: 3rd Gain/Loss: +3 Behind Leader: -18
o Average finish in six Chase races: 8.33
• Kurt Busch – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T
o Qualified: 14th Finished: 36th
o Points Position: 8th Gain/Loss: -1 Behind Leader: -52
o Average finish in six Chase races: 15.2
Results: Chase Race No. 5 – Charlotte Motor Speedway – Sunday Oct. 15
Summary: Kurt Busch rallied from two laps down to score a 13th-place finish, best among Dodge drivers. Busch was zapped twice by untimely caution flags moments after making scheduled green-flag pit stops. He dropped one position to seventh in the standings, 27 points behind leader Carl Edwards. Brad Keselowski also had his share of misfortune, but salvaged a respectable 16th-place finish. Keselowski fell to sixth in the Chase, 25 points behind the leader. Ironically, both Busch and Keselowski have completed 99.93 percent of all possible laps in the five Chase races (1,572 of a possible 1,573).
• Brad Keselowski – No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T
o Qualified: 26th Finished: 16th
o Points Position: 6th Gain/Loss: -2 Behind Leader: -25
o Average finish in five Chase races: 9.20
• Kurt Busch – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T
o Qualified: 20th Finished: 13th
o Points Position: 7th Gain/Loss: -1 Behind Leader: -27
o Average finish in first five Chase races: 11.00
Results: Chase Race No. 4 – Kansas Speedway – Sunday Oct. 9
Summary: Brad Keselowski led Team Dodge with a third-place finish. Keselowski won at Kansas in June and backed up that performance with his third top five in the four Chase races. He started 12th and steadily worked his way to the front, eventually leading the race for five laps. He gained two positions in the point standings, climbing up to fourth, 11 points behind leader Carl Edwards. Kurt Busch qualified 17th and finished 13th after leading the race once for six laps. Busch dropped to sixth in the standings and is 16 points behind the leader.
• Brad Keselowski – No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T
o Qualified: 12th Finished: 3rd
o Points Position: 4th Gain/Loss: +2 Behind Leader: -11
o Has completed every lap of last 11 Sprint Cup races.
• Kurt Busch – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T
o Qualified: 17th Finished: 13th
o Points Position: 6th Gain/Loss: -2 Behind Leader: -16
o Led at least once in first four Chase races.
Results: Chase Race No. 3 – Dover International Speedway – Sunday Oct. 2
Summary: Kurt Busch earned his second Sprint Cup Series win of the season, defeating Jimmie Johnson by 0.908 seconds. Busch qualified on the outside pole, led 90 laps en route to his 24th NSCS win of his career – his first at the Monster Mile. The win vaulted Busch five positions in the Chase standings. He’s currently tied with Tony Stewart for third, nine behind co-leaders Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards. Mid-race mechanical issues with a power steering belt relegated Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski to a 20th-place place finish. Keselowski dropped three positions to sixth-place in the standings, 14 behind the leaders.
• Kurt Busch – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T
o Qualified: 2nd Finished: Race Winner
o Points Position: 3rd Gain/Loss: +5 Behind Leader: -9
o Led five times for 90 laps
• Brad Keselowski – No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T
o Qualified: 15th Finished: 20th
o Points Position: 6th Gain/Loss: -3 Behind Leader: -14
o Has led at least one lap in each of the first three Chase races.
Results: Chase Race No. 2 – New Hampshire Motor Speedway – Sunday, Sept. 25
Summary: Brad Keselowski led Team Dodge with a runner-up finish. He started ninth but was running just outside the top 20 through the first half of the 300-lap event. Crew Chief Paul Wolfe used race strategy, choosing not to pit on lap 174 under caution, to gain track position. Fuel mileage keyed Keselowski’s runner-up finish, a career best at Loudon. It vaulted him to third in the Chase standings. Teammate Kurt Busch qualified fifth, but lost track position early and was never able to recover as the race had only three cautions. Busch finished 22nd and dropped to ninth in the Chase standings.
• Brad Keselowski – No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T
o Qualified: 16th Finished: 2nd
o Points Position: 3rd Gain/Loss: +3 Behind Leader: -11
o Eighth to-10 finish in last nine Sprint Cup starts.
• Kurt Busch – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T
o Qualified: 5th Finished: 22nd
o Points Position: 9th Gain/Loss: -5 Behind Leader: -28
o Worse finish since Michigan (34th) in August.
o Led once for four laps.
Results: Chase Race No. 1 – Chicagoland Speedway – Monday, Sept. 19
Summary: Brad Keselowski finished fifth in his first career Chase race. He qualified fifth and was a top-12 car most of the race. He managed to stretch his fuel window for the race’s final 53 laps, something several other lead-lap cars were unable to do (four ran out of fuel). Kurt Busch qualified third, led the most laps (64) en route to a sixth-place finish.
Keselowski started the Chase 11th in the standings, 12 points behind the leader. Busch started the Chase nine points behind the leader in seventh.
• Kurt Busch – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T
o Qualified: 3rd Finished: 6th
o Points position: 4th Gain/Loss: +3 Behind Leader: -11
o Seventh top-five and 15th top-10 of the season.
• Brad Keselowski – No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T
o Qualified: 6th Finished: 5th
o Points Position: 6th Gain/Loss: +5 Behind Leader: -14
o Seventh consecutive top-12 finish.
o Career-best Chicagoland finish.
2011 Dodge Motorsports Driver Statistics
Driver Rank Points Behind Starts Poles Wins Top 5s Top 10s Earnings
Brad Keselowski 3 2219 -18 32 1 3 10 14 $4,673,287
Kurt Busch 8 2185 -52 32 3 2 8 16 $5,458,326
Robby Gordon 34 251 — 23 0 0 0 0 $2,134,791
DODGE AT MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
• Dodge has 10 victories at Martinsville Speedway, the most recent by Rusty Wallace in the 2004 spring race. Richard Petty and Bobby Isaac are tied for the most Dodge wins at Martinsville, each with two victories. Dodge won both races at Martinsville in 1975 with Petty capturing the spring race and Dave Marcis winning the fall event.
• Since rejoining the Cup series in 2001, Rusty Wallace is the most recent Dodge driver to win at Martinsville (2004 spring race).
• Dodge has 11 poles at Martinsville, led by Bobby Allison and Neil Bonnett (2). Bonnett swept the pole for both Martinsville races in 1977 driving a Jim Stacy-owned Dodge Charger.
• Two Dodge drivers have captured pole positions at Martinsville since the manufacturer return to the Cup Series: Ryan Newman (2004 fall race) and Kurt Busch (2006 fall race).
