Dodge Motorsports Notes & Quotes – Chase Note No. 8 – Texas

Dodge Motorsports Notes & Quotes

NSCS Chase Note No. 8

Texas Motor Speedway

Friday, Nov. 4, 2011

2011 CHASE FOR THE NASCAR SPRINT CUP

Chase Race No. 8 – Texas Motor Speedway – Sunday, Nov. 6

·      Brad Keselowski – No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T Texas o  Led 32 laps and finished 18th in the spring race at TMS.  o  Best finish in six starts is 14th in the 2010 spring race. o  Has been running at the finish in all six starts. o  Has completed 96 percent of the total possible laps (1,924 of 2,004). o  Average Finish: 23.7 Chase o  Fourth in the series championship standings, 27 points behind leader Carl Edwards and six behind third-place Kevin Harvick. o  Has scored four top-five finishes in seven Chase races. o  Led laps in five races and led at least one lap in five events. o  Average Finish: 9.57 Season o  Has three wins, 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes. o  Wins at Kansas1, Pocono2 and Bristol2. o  Recorded eight top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in last 16 races. o  Won pole position for Coca-Cola 600 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 33 races. o  Has been running at the finish 32 straight races. o  Average finish of 14.3

·      Kurt Busch – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T Texas o  Has one win, three top fives and 11 top 10s in 17 previous starts. o  Won 2009 fall race by 25.686 seconds over second-place Denny Hamlin. o  Led 50 laps and finished 10th in spring race. o  Best start of third twice (most recently at the 2009 fall race). o  Has just one DNF at Texas. o  Completed 97.9 percent of all possible laps (5,568 of 5,688). o  Has led 235 laps at the 1.5-mile speedway. o  Average Finish: 13.58

Chase o  Eighth in the championship standings, 58 points behind the leader.  o  Won at Dover, one of five drivers to win a Chase race. o  Has led laps in five of first seven races. o  Average Finish: 15.0

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 33 races this season. o  Started from the pole three consecutive races. o  Has led 713 laps in 19 races. o  Kicked off 2011 season by winning Bud Shootout and first Gatorade Duel; finished fifth in the Daytona 500. o  Average Finish: 13.3

Results:  Chase Race No. 7 – Martinsville Speedway – Sunday, Oct. 30 Summary:  Brad Keselowski saw a top-10 finish disappear in the final laps of the TUMS Fast Relief 500.  Keselowski was running eighth for the restart following the 18th caution of the day, a three-lap shootout to the checkered flag.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. made contact with Denny Hamlin, shoving Hamlin into Keselowski, sending the Miller Lite Dodge for a spin.  He was credited with a 17th-place finish, but dropped to fourth in the Chase standings, 27 points behind leader Carl Edwards.  Kurt Busch overcame two spins and rallied from a lap down to score a 14th-place finish in the season’s final short track race.

·      Brad Keselowski – No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T o    Qualified:  3rd                          Finished:  17th o    Points Position:  4th                Gain/Loss:  -1              Behind Leader:  -27 o    Average finish in six Chase races:  9.57

·      Kurt Busch – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T o    Qualified:  8th                          Finished:  14th    o    Points Position: 8th                  Gain/Loss:  0                Behind Leader:  -58 o    Average finish in six Chase races:  15.00

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    Eight top-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.

DODGE AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY ·  Dodge has three wins at Texas (Kurt Busch – 2009, Kasey Kahne – 2006 and Ryan Newman – 2003). ·  Dodge earned three consecutive poles at Texas (Ryan Newman made it a sweep in 2005 and Kasey Kahne started from the pole in the 2006 spring race). ·  Dodge has the only Sprint Cup win from the pole at the 1.5-mile track (Kasey Kahne – 2006).