SRT Motorsports – Dodge NSCS Race Advance – Dover
AAA 400
Dover International Speedway
Sunday, Sept. 30, 2012
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DODGE AT DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
· Dodge has six wins at Dover, including two Chase race victories – Richard Petty (2), Ryan Newman (3) and Kurt Busch. Newman scored the first ever Chase victory at Dover in 2004 while Busch lead 44 laps en route to victory last fall.
· Dodge has started from the pole 12 times at Dover. The first was by Bobby Isaac (129.538 mph) in 1970 and the most recent by Ryan Newman (152.925 mph) at the spring event in 2007.
2012 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Standings
1. Jimmie Johnson 2096 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -26
2. Brad Keselowski -1 8. Kevin Harvick -31
3. Denny Hamlin -7 9. Greg Biffle -33
4. Tony Stewart -10 10. Martin Truex -34
5. Kasey Kahne -15 11. Matt Kenseth -35
6. Clint Bowyer -15 12. Jeff Gordon -45
THE DODGE BOYS
· Dodge’s Brad Keselowski is currently second in the Chase standings, one point behind Jimmie Johnson, after two rounds of the 10-race playoff. Keselowski won the opening round of the Chase at Chicagoland.
· Dodge has 216 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins.
· Dodge teams have posted 56 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).
DID YOU KNOW
· Since his win at Kentucky Speedway in July, Dodge’s Brad Keselowski has scored 11 top-10 finishes in his last 12 Sprint Cup starts, an average finish of 7.0. His only non-top 10 finish during the streak was a 30th-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway.
2012 RACE REWIND
· Race Four: Brad Keselowski qualified fifth and led 232 laps en route to his first Sprint Cup win of the season at Bristol.
· Race 10: Dodge visited victory lane for the second time in 2012 when Keselowski led 10 circuits and avoided a nine-car mishap with just two laps remaining at Talladega.
· Race 17: Keselowski claimed his third Cup win of year at Kentucky Speedway, leading the final 56 laps.
· Race 18: Sam Hornish Jr. assumes the ride of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger for Penske Racing.
· Race 22: Hornish earns first top-five in the No. 22 Dodge, finishing fifth at Watkins Glen.
· Race 25: Keselowski earns second consecutive berth in Chase for the Sprint Cup with third-place finish at Atlanta.
· Race 27: Keselowski scores his fourth win of the season, moves into first-place in Chase standings.
· Race 28: Keselowski runs sixth at Loudon, trails series leader Jimmie Johnson by one point.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK “When the Sprint Cup Series visits the Monster Mile this week, we as engineers have to be sure we prepare for the fall event, not the spring visit. You would think that the concrete track surface we hear so much about would add enough consistency to the race that both events would run the same but that’s not usually the case. The weather tends to be much cooler and drier on the fall weekend and that creates higher speeds, better grip levels and worse fuel economy for the cars. Setups have to change to compensate for the differences and so does the race strategy. Add those elements to the fact that a Chase race is a totally different event than a race early in the season and you can see how both Dover visits require unique setups as well as perspectives.” Howard Comstock, SRT Motorsports Engineering
DODGE DRIVERS IN THE CHASE – DOVER
· 2004: Dodge earned its first Chase victory as Ryan Newman led 325 laps en route to victory. Dodge started 1-2 with Chase contender Jeremy Mayfield earning the pole and Newman starting second. Mayfield finished seventh.
· 2005: The three Chase-eligible Dodges of Jeremy Mayfield, Ryan Newman and Rusty Wallace finished in the top-seven with Wallace leading the way in third.
· 2006: Kasey Kahne was the only Chase-eligible Dodge driver. He finished 38th after being involved in an early-race mishap.
· 2007: Kurt Busch was the Dodge representative in the Chase. He qualified fourth and finished 29th.
· 2008: There were no Dodges in the 2008 Chase field.
· 2009: Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne were the Dodge representatives among the elite 12. Busch finished fifth and Kahne eighth in the second race of the 2009 Chase.
· 2010: Kurt Busch was the single Dodge entry. He started eighth and finished fourth at the “Monster Mile” in the second event in the 10-race Chase.
· 2011: Kurt Busch led 90 laps to earn his first win at the Monster Mile to move within nine points of Chase lead. Teammate Brad Keselowski finished 16th.
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, 09/16/2012, GEICO 400, Chicagoland Speedway, 143.363 mph avg. speed.
2012 SPRINT CUP SERIES SEASON BESTS
· Brad Keselowski Start: 2nd (Bristol) Finish: 1st (Bristol, Talladega and Kentucky, Chicagoland)
· Sam Hornish Jr. Start: 8th (Daytona) Finish: 5th (Watkins Glen)
DODGE QUOTES “There is no question that Dover is probably our weakest track in the Chase. We’ve had some good, not great, cars there in the past. I let a top-10 finish slip away there last year when I stalled the car on pit road late in the race. So we know we can get a solid finish, but we’re going up there to win the race. I know (crew chief) Paul (Wolfe) has really targeted Dover for the last several weeks, really putting a lot of emphasis on it. I’m confident we can go up there and keep ourselves in the championship conversation. This Miller Lite Dodge team took a great step last week at Loudon. We took a fifth to 10th-place car and finished sixth with it. That’s what championship teams do.” Brad Keselowski, No 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
“I’m sure a lot of people look at us and say ‘they run well at Bristol, they should do the same at Dover.’ That’s just not necessarily the case. They may look the same, but Dover is its own animal. The speeds are higher and the loads are much greater. I definitely feel we are making progress at Dover and I’m really excited about this weekend. Brad is the kind of driver that can excel there and we should see that this weekend. He’s as focused as I’ve ever seen him. We still need to qualify better, especially this weekend. Dover is a place where it’s very difficult to make up track position. But I can guarantee that everyone will get our best shot this weekend.” Paul Wolfe, crew chief, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
“Our approach is that Penske Racing has one team out there with two cars. With where we are in the season, our priority number one is to do whatever we can to help our teammates win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship. Brad (Keselowski), Paul (Wolfe) and all the guys over on the Miller Lite ‘2 car’ are our team players who are on the big stage. Our job is to contribute all that we can in helping them claim the big trophy when we get down to Homestead in November.” Todd Gordon, crew chief, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger
