SRT Motorsports – Dodge NSCS Race Advance
AdvoCare 500
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Sunday, Sept. 2, 2012
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DODGE AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
· Dodge has nine NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway – including three of the last five races. Dodge scored three consecutive Sprint Cup Series wins from 2009-10. Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne swept the Cup Series races for Dodge in 2009 with Busch winning again at the spring event in 2010.
· Penske Racing and Dodge claimed six consecutive poles at Atlanta Motor Speedway (2003-2005).
DODGE CHASE CLINCH SCENARIOS
· Dodge can clinch its seventh appearance in the Chase for the Sprint Cup if Penske Racing’s Brad Keselowski leaves Sunday night’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a 49-point advantage over 11th place.
DODGE NEWS AND NOTES
· Dodge’s Brad Keselowski has led a career best 409 laps in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this season. His previous best of 298 came last year.
· Dodge’s Sam Hornish is seeking his first top-10 finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway. In six previous AMS starts, Hornish scored a career best 24th-place finish at the 2008 fall event.
STAT CHECK
· Through 25 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races this season, Dodge’s Brad Keselowski has earned three wins, nine top-five and 13 top 10 finishes this season. He had three wins, 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes in 36 races last year.
THE DODGE BOYS
· Dodge has 215 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins.
· 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 including seven wins twice (2002 and 2006).
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY QUICK FACTS
· Fifty-eight percent of the 104 Sprint Cup races at Atlanta Motor Speedway have been won from a top-five starting position. The last 15 races have been won from a top 12 starting position with an average starting position of 5.3.
2012 RACE REWIND
· Race Four: Brad Keselowski qualified fifth and led 232 laps en route to his first Cup Series win of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway.
· Race 10: Dodge visited victory lane for the second time in 2012 when Keselowski led 10 circuits and survived a green-white-checkered finish after a nine-car mishap with just two laps remaining at Talladega.
· Race 17: Keselowski captured his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory of the season at Kentucky Speedway, leading the final 56 laps en route to victory in the Quaker State 400.
· Race 18: Sam Hornish Jr. assumes the ride of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger for Penske Racing.
· Race 22: Hornish Jr. earns first top-five Cup finish in 2012.
FROM THE ENGINEER – RACING AT ATLANTA “Even though the mile-and-a-half track is the backbone of the Cup Series, there are six mile-and-a-half tracks in the Chase, the Cup series hasn’t visited one in eight weeks. So Atlanta this week will be an important test for any team that hopes to have success in the Championship run. Engineering advancements made this summer in testing should find their way into the Atlanta setups and it ought to be an interesting 500 miles. Some teams that struggle in Atlanta might still be gaining valuable experience for the Chase.” Howard Comstock, SRT Motorsports Engineering
QUOTE OF THE WEEK “Atlanta, probably as much as anywhere we go, places a huge emphasis on strategy. With new tires giving you so much of an advantage, you want to make sure you maximize that ‘sweet spot’ as much as you can. But fuel mileage can come into play as well. It can be somewhat hectic and nerve-wracking at times for a crew chief, but it’s a lot of fun to go head-to-head with the other crew chiefs that way. We’ve really improved our mile-and-a-half program recently. That last time we visited one, Brad and the Miller Lite Dodge ended up in Victory Lane (Kentucky). A fourth win of the year would be nice on Sunday night.” Paul Wolfe, crew chief, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger, on Atlanta Motor Speedway
DODGE QUOTES “I like the fact that Atlanta is a very slick racetrack. You come in to put tires on and you are almost three seconds a lap faster. That’s huge! A guy that will come in and pit one lap earlier than you do will gain almost half a straightaway on you. That puts pit strategy into focus. It’s just a fun place to race. I’ve had a lot of success running the high line at Atlanta. I don’t really think of myself as a driver that prefers the top, but I’ll definitely search around to see where my Miller Lite Dodge is the fastest. That’s why we love racing at Atlanta. You can go wherever your car is working the best.
“For us right now, it’s all about going for wins. We can take some chances and experiment a bit knowing that we are pretty safe as far as making the Chase. We want to go in with the most wins, or at least tied for the most wins. Every point is critical. You look at last year, Tony (Stewart) and Carl (Edwards) tied in points after Homestead. That’s how close it can be so we want all the points we can get before the Chase starts.” Brad Keselowski, No 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
“Just like always at Atlanta, it’ll be important to hit your marks and get a good rhythm going, but it’s also a track that you can search and find a good line to get around the place. Atlanta is unlike several of the tracks we’ve been racing on recently where there was just one fast groove that you needed to stay in. Atlanta is a track where you’ll likely see several different lines working during the course of the race. I really enjoy that aspect of racing there. You can race all over the track – from up at the top to down on the bottom.” Sam Hornish Jr., No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger
