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[/media-credit]SRT Motorsports – Dodge NSCS Race Advance
Pocono 400
Pocono Raceway
Sunday, June 10, 2012
www.media.chrysler.com www.twitter.com/teamdodge
DODGE AT POCONO RACEWAY
· Dodge has seven wins at Pocono Raceway: Richard Petty (1974, 1976), Bill Elliott (2002), Ryan Newman (2003), Kurt Busch (2007) Kasey Kahne (2008) and Brad Keselowski (2011)
· Dodge’s Kurt Busch dominated the 2007 fall race at Pocono en route to victory, leading 175 of 200 laps in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge.
· Dodge has started from the pole three times at Pocono since its return to Sprint Cup racing in 2001: Bill Elliott (2002), Ryan Newman (2003) and Kasey Kahne (2008).
· Dodge holds the track qualifying record at Pocono: Kasey Kahne, June 2004 (52.164 sec. 172.533 mph).
DODGE NEWS AND NOTES
· Brad Keselowski returns to Pocono Raceway where he won last August despite fracturing his left ankle in a accident while testing at Road Atlanta
· Dodge’s finishes first (Keselowski) and third (Kurt Busch) in the fall event last year. Keselowski led 19 of the 200 laps en route to his first Pocono win.
FROM THE ENGINEER – “Engineers that like fast tracks are going to love Pocono. The complete repave of the facility since last summer is going to lead to incredible speeds on the two-and-a-half-mile, three-turn triangle. With the longest straightaways in Sprint Cup racing, Pocono has always been relatively fast. Now, with plenty of grip in the flat corners, speeds are expected to go up exponentially. But with the added speed comes added stress on driveline parts, especially the engine. Engineers that like fast tracks are going to get everything they want and maybe more at Pocono this week.” Howard Comstock, SRT Motorsports Engineering
DODGE QUOTES: “Pocono is definitely going to be interesting. With the new track surface, it’s definitely going to change the type of racing that we’ve seen there in the past. Certainly there are a lot of unknowns until we get there and test this week. We anticipate that it’s going to be fast, most likely a one-groove track to start. But until we get there with 43 cars on the track, we just don’t know. Our Miller Lite Dodge has had success on the old Pocono surface. I’m going to kind of miss the style of racing that Pocono brought to the drivers. I understand the changes are necessary. We have some tire test data from the Goodyear test that A.J. participated in at Pocono. The rest is up to us to figure the new place out.” Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge
“The new racing surface is as smooth as glass and they did a great job in repaving the track. What’s so cool is that they kept the distinctive character of the track, but were able to eliminate all the bumps. The speeds are certain to rise and it’ll be really interesting to see how it will race when we get all the cars out there and get after it.” A.J. Allmendinger, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge
DID YOU KNOW?
· The Dodge Charger street car is the only rear-wheel-drive model in Sprint Cup Series competition that is available with a V-8 engine.
· SRT Motorsports includes all of Chrysler Group’s NASCAR
· Dodge Motorsports can be followed on Twitter at @teamdodge.
· There will be 10 jet dryers available for track drying this weekend at Pocono; it takes approximately 120 minutes to dry the 2.5-mile track.
· There have been 73 cautions in the first 13 races this year that includes 29 for accidents, 24 for debris and eight for spins. There were 111 cautions after 13 races in 2011.
FROM THE CREW CHIEF: “We were very pleased with how the April tire testing went. For our Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Team, it was great to get the track time on the new surface. They did a really nice job with the repaving. The racing surface is about as smooth as they could make it, but we did notice that the long Pocono pit road maintained the undulation that it’s always had.
“The trip to Pocono for the test was the first time I had ever been there, so it allowed me to get a good read on how everything is laid out. We welcome the additional testing on Wednesday and Thursday and hope it’ll offer answers to questions we have.” Todd Gordon, crew chief of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger, on the new racing surface at Pocono Raceway
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
· 0 – There have been no caution-free Sprint Cup races at Pocono.
· 6 – There have been six sweeps (win both races) at Pocono.
· 68 – All previous Sprint Cup races at Pocono have been scheduled for 500 miles; the distance was reduced to 400 miles starting with this weekend’s Pocono 400.
· 142 – Dodge won the first race at Pocono Raceway. Richard Petty led 142 of 192 laps at the rain-shortened Purolator 500 in 1974.
