SRT Motorsports – Dodge Sprint Cup Series Race Advance – Michigan
Pure Michigan 400 – Michigan International Speedway
Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012
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DODGE AT MIS
· Dodge has won nine races at Michigan International Speedway: Charlie Glotzbach, Richard Petty (2), Sterling Marlin, Ryan Newman (2), Jeremy Mayfield, Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch.
· Kurt Busch earned Dodge its last win at MIS at the August event in 2010. He started 15th and led 36 laps en route to victory.
· Dodge has six wins at MIS since its return to NASCAR’s premier series in 2001.
DODGE NEWS AND NOTES
· Dodge’s Brad Keselowski has recorded nine consecutive top-10 finishes in the Sprint Cup Series. His six-race scoring average since Pocono in June is 8.8. He has jumped five positions in the Sprint Cup point standings in the last three races.
· Dodge’s Sam Hornish will skip Sprint Cup Series practice and qualifying at MIS to focus on the Nationwide race and driver’s championship in Montreal. Parker Kligerman will pilot the No. 22 Dodge at MIS on Friday and Saturday. Hornish will be making his sixth start in the No. 22. He finished fifth last weekend at Watkins Glen. His best finish at Michigan – fifth – came in the second race in 2009.
THE DODGE BOYS
· Dodge drivers have recorded 215 wins in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
· Dodge teams have posted 55 victories since the manufacturer’s return to NASCAR’s premier series in 2001 after being out of the sport since 1977.
· Dodge has posted wins each season since its return in 2001 including seven wins twice (2002 and 2006).
DODGE HISTORICAL DATA
· First Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win: Lee Petty, 2/1/53, West Palm Beach, Fla., 100 miles, .5-mile track.
· Last Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win: Brad Keselowski, 06/30/2012, Quaker State 400, Kentucky Speedway, 145.607 mph avg. speed.
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.
· Follow Dodge Motorsports on Twitter @teamdodge.
· Sam Hornish started 14th and finished fifth in the No. 77 Dodge with current Penske Racing Competition Director Travis Geisler serving as his crew chief at MIS in 2009.
FAST FACTS
· Brad Keselowski is one of only three Sprint Cup drivers with three wins this season (Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart).
FROM THE ENGINEER “This week, for the second time this season, the series revisits one of the tracks repaved for 2012. Qualifying for the first Michigan race in June saw 40 drivers break the existing track record with a 203 mph pole speed. Impressive, but the speed proved to be too much for the tires. We saw numerous tire problems in the race. This race will see a whole new tire combination and hopefully the end of the trouble. Engineers will be busy all weekend trying to adapt their cars to the tire switch without losing any of the impressive speed we know is here at MIS.” Howard Comstock, SRT Motorsports Engineering
TALKING TIRES AT MICHIGAN INT’L SPEEDWAY “They’ve tweaked on the tire a bit. I wouldn’t say that it’s a drastic departure from what we had in June. The tire is an improvement. Some of the right-side issues that we saw during the race in June with blistering are going to be improved by a thinner tread depth. Same tire, just a little less rubber on it so the tire holds less heat and doesn’t blister as easy.
“I think the speeds will still be up there. I don’t think the speeds will be what we qualified at in June with the softer left side but they’ll be faster than what we raced the last time with the hard left side tires. Travis Geisler, Director of Competition, Penske Racing
INSIDE THE NUMBERS 13 – The qualifying speed at June’s Sprint Cup Series race at MIS was 13 mph faster than it was last August.
DID YOU KNOW?
· Dodge’s Brad Keselowski started fourth in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge for last week’s Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen – his highest starting position all season.
· There will be eight jet dryers on hand at MIS this weekend; it takes approximately 120 minutes to dry the 2-mile track.
FROM THE CREW CHIEF “It’s almost like this is the first race on the new Michigan surface instead of the second. We’re coming back with a different tire than what we raced on in June, which makes our notes obsolete. We did get a chance to test it a few weeks ago and it’s definitely more durable. We won’t have any concerns about it blistering. The key to the weekend is still going to be track position, though. Temps are looking like they will be cooler, meaning the speeds will be up. Increased speeds mean that the cars will become more aero-dependent with no tire falloff, which puts track position at a premium. We’ve worked hard over the last few weeks and we’ve begun to develop a lot of consistency. Another consistent run this weekend should put us there at the end of the race to battle for the win.” Paul Wolfe, crew chief, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T
DODGE QUOTES: “While you never like to change tires from race to race at any racetrack, I think this tire will prove to be a good call for the Miller Lite Dodge. It’s similar to the tire we raced on in June and our car was fast during the race. Our car just didn’t like the first tire and we weren’t great off the truck. But the guys on the team worked their tails off and we actually began to make progress, even before the tire change. I definitely think we were better than a 13th-place car. I’m confident that we will have the necessary speed to contend for the win this weekend. A Cup Series win at Michigan would be a big deal for me and my family.” Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
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“Michigan is my home track and I have many great memories from races there I went to as a kid with my parents. Some of the best days of my childhood were spent there. It’s a track where I have definitely attended more races as a fan than as a driver. Growing up just down the road in Defiance (some 70 miles south of the track in Ohio), MIS is a special place and always will be.” Sam Hornish Jr., No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger
