SAM HORNISH JR. – No. 12 Wurth Dodge Challenger Crew Chief: Chad Walter
Career Stats: Starts: 38 Wins: 1 Top Fives: 2 Top 10s: 8 Poles: 0 Laps Led: 122
2012 Season Stats: Starts: 5 Wins: 0 Top Fives: 0 Top 10s: 2 Poles: 0 Laps Led: 7
• Fifth in Nationwide championship standings, 54 points behind leader Elliott Sadler and 20 behind fourth-place Trevor Bayne.
• Claimed a seventh-place finish in 2011 fall race, his best finish in four previous starts at TMS.
• Has three top-10 finishes in four most recent 1.5-mile races, completing 1,198 of 1,200 possible laps (99.83 percent).
BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger Crew Chief: Jeremy Bullins
Career Stats: Starts: 173 Wins: 17 Top Fives: 77 Top 10s: 107 Poles: 12 Laps Led: 2,825
2012 Season Stats: Starts: 5 Wins: 0 Top Fives: 4 Top 10s: 4 Poles: 0 Laps Led: 71
• Six top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 11 Nationwide starts at TMS, including seven consecutive top 10s.
• Owns six consecutive top fives at TMS dating back to 2005 spring race.
• Has scored THREE wins and six top-10 finishes in seven most recent races on 1.5-mile tracks.
DODGE QUOTES: “I’ve had some success at Texas in the past. It’s definitely got a lot of speed and it’s a fun place to run, that’s for sure. It’s a place I’ve always enjoyed going to because not only has the on-track stuff been pretty good, but the fans there have always been pretty good to me.” — Sam Hornish, Jr.
“Texas is an extremely fast track in any kind of car, but no stock car gives you the sensation of speed that the Nationwide Series car does. It actually feels faster than a Cup car.” — Brad Keselowski
DODGE IN THE NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
• DID YOU KNOW? Chad Blount (fifth-place) scored the first top five for Dodge at TMS in 2003.
• Dodge is fielding two full-time entries in the series this year. Sam Hornish Jr. is competing for the series championship while Brad Keselowski and Parker Kligerman are sharing the driving duties in the second Penske Racing entry.
• Dodge claimed its first NASCAR championship in 2010 when Penske Racing’s Brad Keselowski captured the driver’s title.
• Dodge has 41 wins in the series including seven in each of the last two seasons. The first Nationwide Series win came in 2002. In 2005, Dodge has 11 wins in the series. A Dodge has started from the pole 48 times.
FROM THE CREW CHIEF
“Our Discount Tire Dodge Challenger has to be very balanced and very stable because you go very fast at Texas. You do go very fast there. The track’s got some age to it, some character, some bumps, and transitions; your car has got to be very stable for the driver to feel comfortable enough to go fast on it. At Texas we’re able to carry that speed for a lot longer throughout a run.”
— Jeremy Bullins, Crew Chief, No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger
