SRT Motorsports – Dodge NSCS Race Advance
Bank of America 500
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012
www.srtmotorsports.com www.media.chrysler.com www.twitter.com/teamdodge
DODGE NEWS AND NOTES
· Dodge has 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Buddy Baker recorded four wins at the 1.5-mile track while Richard Petty and Kasey Kahne posted three victories each. Others taking Dodge to victory lane include LeeRoy Yarborough, Charlie Glotzbach, Sterling Marlin, Jamie McMurray and Kurt Busch.
· Dodge’s Brad Keselowski has one pole and one top-five finish in six career Sprint Cup starts at CMS. He has scored top-10 finishes in 13 of his last 14 starts with an average finish of 6.14.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK “While much of the racing world is focused on the fact there are six races left in the 2012 Chase, team engineers are focused on the fact that with the realigned 2012 schedule, four of those final six races are on 1.5-mile tracks. We’ve already raced six times on 1.5-mile tracks this year, so there shouldn’t be many surprises to engineers. However, just because tracks are the same in length doesn’t mean they race the same. This weekend’s race at Charlotte will take a different setup than Kansas next week or Texas in three weeks. Engine technology will be similar, aerodynamic technology will be similar, but chassis technology will be vastly different. These are three important 1.5-mile tracks coming up on the schedule. Engineers will be focused on the differences in them, not the similarities.” Howard Comstock, SRT Motorsports Engineering
FAST FACTS
· Dodge’s Brad Keselowski has won on two 1.5- mile tracks this season – Kentucky and Chicagoland.
2012 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Standings 1. Brad Keselowski 2179 7. Tony Stewart -46 2. Jimmie Johnson -14 8. Martin Truex Jr. -48 3. Denny Hamlin -23 9. Greg Biffle -49 4. Kasey Kahne -36 10. Kevin Harvick -49 5. Clint Bowyer -40 11. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -51 6. Jeff Gordon -42 12. Matt Kenseth -62
THE KESELOWSKI ‘CHASE FILE’ Race Start Finish Laps Led Points Chicagoland 13 1 76 1st / +3 New Hampshire 15 6 4 2nd / -1 Dover 10 1 14 1st / +5 Talladega 22 7 0 1st/ +14 Avg. 15 3.75 23.5 1.25/5.25
THE DODGE BOYS
· Dodge’s Brad Keselowski leads the Chase standings after four of the 10 races. He has a 14-point advantage over Jimmie Johnson. Keselowski has won two of the four Chase races – Chicagoland and Dover. He has an average finish of 3.75 over the first four races of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
· Dodge has 217 wins in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
· Dodge teams have recorded 57 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, 09/30/2012, AAA 400, Dover International Speedway, 125.076 mph avg. speed.
DODGE DRIVERS IN THE CHASE – CHARLOTTE
· 2004: Ryan Newman and Jeremy Mayfield represented Dodge in the Chase. Newman started from the pole and finished 14th. Mayfield was in a wreck and finished 30th.
· 2005: Ryan Newman led the three-car Dodge contingent with a seventh-place finish. Jeremy Mayfield was 11th and Rusty Wallace 24th.
· 2006: Kasey Kahne was the only Dodge driver in the Chase. He led 134 laps en route to victory, sweeping both point-paying events at CMS that season.
· 2007: Kurt Busch was the lone Dodge representative in the Chase. He started eighth, led 13 laps before finishing 26th.
· 2008: There were no Dodges in the 2008 Chase field.
· 2009: Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne represented Dodge in the Chase. Kahne started third and finished third, leading 67 laps in the race. Busch finished 10th.
· 2010: Kurt Busch was the only Dodge entry in the 12-driver chase. He started 15th and finished 30th.
· 2011: Both Dodge drivers from Penske Racing made the chase. Kurt Busch finished 13th and Brad Keselowski was 16th.
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. takes over as the driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger for Penske Racing.
· Race 25: Keselowski clinches his second consecutive berth in Chase with a third-place finish at Atlanta.
· Race 27: Keselowski opens the Chase with his fourth win of the season; leads the standings by three points.
· Race 28: Keselowski runs sixth at Loudon; drops to one point behind Chase leader Jimmie Johnson.
· Race 29: Keselowski leads the final 10 laps en route to his second Chase win and fifth victory of the season. Takes five-point lead in standings.
· Race 30: Keselowski’s Blue Duce battered in 25-car mishap but finishes seventh at Talladega. Leads Chase by 14 points.
DODGE QUOTES – BANK OF AMERICA 500 – CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY “Having a 14-point lead heading into Charlotte is pretty big, for sure. Once we are done at Charlotte we’ll be halfway through the Chase, and while there is still a lot of racing left to go, it’s better than having to dig out of a hole. Charlotte is a place where the results don’t necessarily show how much this Miller Lite Dodge team has improved there. We were finally able to break through with a top-five finish back in May. We should be even better this time around. Our record this year on the intermediate tracks is very solid. With 1.5-mile tracks making up the majority of the rest of the Chase schedule, I’m pretty happy that we were able to come out of Talladega with a nice lead because I think we are set up for a good second half to the Chase.” Brad Keselowski, No 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
“We aren’t taking a brand new car to Charlotte this weekend, but it’s a car that has shown a lot of speed and potential. We’ve learned a lot about Charlotte over the two years that Brad and I have been working together on the Miller Lite Dodge. I feel like this is our best chance yet to get a Cup win there. We’ve got a long row to hoe before the end of the year and we’re going to have to beat some of the guys at the top of the standings this weekend. Just because we have a 14-point lead doesn’t mean we can back off. That’s why you saw Mr. Penske, Tim Cindric and I at the NASCAR hauler after the race at Talladega. Last year the championship was tied, based on points. We are going to fight for all we can get because it could come down to a point or two.” Paul Wolfe, crew chief, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
“We’re hoping to have an incident-free weekend at Charlotte. We’ve had some solid cars in the races on the mile-and-a-half tracks – cars strong enough to run well up in the top 10. We know that if we continue to do that, the top-five and top-10 finishes are right around the corner. One thing is for sure and that’s the importance of running well on these tracks. Of the six races remaining this season, we’re headed to Charlotte, Kansas, Texas and Homestead before the year is through. If we can get the consistency going, we can definitely end our 2012 season on a high note.” Sam Hornish Jr., No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger
“We had solid top-10 runs going in the intermediate track races heading into Charlotte and had to settle for 11th-place finishes. “We’ve been really strong on that type of track since Sam came on to drive our Shell-Pennzoil Dodge. We’re confident we can have another strong performance at Charlotte this weekend. As for the expectations for this weekend, It’s the same old challenging race track. We hope to qualify well and get a good spot on pit road. We look to execute like we need to. But most of all, we hope to be able to adapt and make the necessary adjustments through the race like we have to. We have to stay on top of the changing track conditions and what it calls for chassis-wise. If we can accomplish that, we can come out of there with an excellent result.” Todd Gordon, crew chief, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger
