SRT Motorsports – Dodge NSCS Race Advance
AdvoCare 500
Phoenix International Raceway
Sunday, 11, 2012
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DODGE NEWS AND NOTES
· Dodge’s Brad Keselowski is second in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, seven points behind Jimmie Johnson.
· Dodge is seeking its first win at Phoenix International Raceway in Sprint Cup competition.
· Dodge has four poles at PIR since returning to NASCAR’s premier series in 2001 (Ryan Newman – 3, Kasey Atwood).
· Dodge’s Brad Keselowski has a race average finish of 5.3 through the first eight races of the Chase. For all 34 races, his average finish is 10.1.
· Dodge’s last NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win this season was at Dover on Sept. 30 (Race 3 of the Chase) when Brad Keselowski led 14 laps at the 1-mile track en route to his second Chase win.
DODGE DRIVERS IN THE CHASE – PHOENIX
· 2004: Two Dodge drivers earned Chase berths – Ryan Newman and Jeremy Mayfield. Newman started from the pole and finished second, Mayfield started 24th and finished 21st.
· 2005: Dodge was represented by three drivers in the Chase – Ryan Newman, Rusty Wallace and Jeremy Mayfield. Newman finished 12th, Mayfield 24th and Wallace 29th.
· 2006: Kasey Kahne started 11th and finished seventh.
· 2007: Kurt Busch was the lone Dodge in the Chase. He started ninth and finished 12th.
· 2008: There were no Dodges in the 2008 Chase field.
· 2009: Kurt Busch started second, led 69 laps and finished sixth. Kasey Kahne started fourth and finished 15th.
· 2010: Kurt Busch, the only Dodge driver in the Chase, qualified third and finished ninth.
· 2011: Brad Keselowski led Dodge with an 18th-place finish while Kurt Busch was 22nd.
THE DODGE BOYS
· Dodge’s has five victories in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this season – all by Brad Keselowski (Bristol, Talladega, Kentucky, Chicagoland and Dover).
· Dodge seeks its first Sprint Cup Series championship since 1975 (Richard Petty).
· 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).
2012 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Standings 1. Jimmie Johnson 2339 7. Denny Hamlin -73 2. Brad Keselowski -7 8. Tony Stewart -80 3. Clint Bowyer -36 9. Martin Truex Jr. -80 4. Kasey Kahne -58 10. Tony Stewart -83 5. Matt Kenseth -72 11. Kevin Harvick -101 6. Jeff Gordon -72 12. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -151
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 Charlotte 20 11 139 1st / +7 Kansas 25 8 0 1st /+7 Martinsville 32 6 8 2nd /-1 Texas 8 2 75 2nd/-7
QUOTE OF THE WEEK “We’ll probably need to win one of the next two races. I feel like Phoenix is a whole different animal. I know you want to bring the stats up where he’s so dominant. But they repaved last year, so it’s not the same track. So I don’t feel like a notebook there is that significant. Other than the past two races there where we’ve been just as good in both races, I felt like we may have been a little better in the fall than he was, and he was probably a little better in the spring. Looking at it that way, I’d say it’s probably a head’s up match going into Phoenix and probably the same going into Homestead. We just need to win the head’s up matches.” Brad Keselowski, No 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
“With the success we’ve had there in the Nationwide Series cars since they changed the track, it’s easy to understand how much we are looking forward to getting back in a Cup car there. We’re hoping for a very competitive weekend at PIR in our Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Charger. Phoenix has certainly held a lot of history as far as my career goes. Wouldn’t that be the icing on the cake if we can pull it off and get the Shell-Pennzoil Dodge into Victory Lane there on Sunday afternoon? That would be a dream come true, for sure.” Sam Hornish Jr., No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger
ON THE NEW PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL SURFACE “During the testing they had there in August last year, there definitely was a fine line you had to make in getting around the place. If you got just a minimal bit out of the groove, you paid the price. We remember well because our Penske Racing Cup teams brought home some torn up race cars after that test. So, it was like we all were coming in there expecting the worst-case scenario to unfold there last November. After getting there and logging laps on the track, I developed my own theory as to what had happened. It was a slick new surface that was made even more difficult to negotiate due to an incredibly hard tire and possibly some substance they had used in the process.” Sam Hornish Jr., No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger
“Sam has always liked the tracks where the turns are different and you have to compromise in your setups. It’s a track where you don’t depend so much on the ‘aero aspect’ like you do at the bigger tracks. I understand that the track has continued to use their tire-rotator machine and other methods since we were there in the spring in an effort to get the track even better. I think every time we go there, the racing groove will continue to widen. It will be interesting to see if we get a second groove really going there this weekend. It’s a great track in a splendid location and the fan support there is tremendous.” Todd Gordon, Crew Chief, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger
FROM THE ENGINEER “Only two races remain in the 2012 season and race engineers face different challenges as they prepare their teams for the championship run. Phoenix and Homestead are completely different and have to be approached that way. When the series visited the newly-reconfigured Phoenix track last fall, the racing was all about finding grip on a new and slippery surface. But by the time we visited Phoenix in February this year, the track had seasoned enough that grip was no longer the biggest issue. Track position and fuel economy were. If that sounds familiar, it’s because track position and fuel economy have steadfastly been the two biggest engineering challenges the teams have faced since we started racing at the speedway in the desert in 1988. Which Phoenix we’ll find when the series returns this weekend may be up for debate but engineers will certainly make plans for a track position and fuel economy event, just in case.” Howard Comstock, SRT Motorsports Engineering
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: Keselowski visited victory lane for the second time, avoiding a nine-car mishap with two laps remaining to win at Talladega.
· Race 17: Keselowski claimed his third Sprint Cup Series 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 at Daytona.
· Race 25: Keselowski clinches his second consecutive berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with a third-place finish at Atlanta.
· Race 27: Keselowski opens the Chase with his fourth win of the season (Chicagoland); takes three-point lead over Jimmie Johnson in the Chase standings.
· Race 28: Keselowski sixth at Loudon; trails by one.
· Race 29: Keselowski leads the final 10 laps en route to his second Chase win (Dover); retakes point lead by five.
· Race 30: Keselowski finished seventh at Talladega but extends point lead to 14.
· Race 31: Keselowski leads 139 laps, finishes 11th at Charlotte; lead in Chase standings trimmed to seven points by Johnson.
· Race 32: Keselowski maintains a seven-point advantage over Johnson after finishing eighth at Kansas.
· Race 33: Keselowski finished sixth at Martinsville after qualifying 32nd. Falls to second in Chase standings. Trails Johnson by two points.
· Race 34: Keselowski qualifies eighth and finished runner-up to Johnson who extended his point lead to seven.
