DODGE AT DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
· Dodge has five wins at Dover: Richard Petty (2), Ryan Newman (3).
· Richard Petty gave Dodge its first Dover victory at the 1974 Delaware 500. He led 491 of the 500 laps.
· A Dodge has started from the pole 12 times at Dover. The first by Bobby Isaac (129.538 mph) in 1970 and most recent by Ryan Newman (152.925 mph) at the spring event in 2007.
· Dodge drivers Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski are both seeking their first Sprint Cup win at Dover.
DODGE NEWS AND NOTES
· Robby Gordon’s next scheduled race in the No. 7 Dodge Charger R/T is the Coca-Cola 600. The No. 7 Fast Five/SPEED Energy Dodge will be at Dover this weekend with the driver TBA.
· Kurt Busch has not been outside the top 10 in the Sprint Cup point standings this season. Season high: First (Weeks 3 & 4) Season Low: 8th (current).
· Brad Keselowski earned his first Sprint Cup top 10 of the season Saturday night at Darlington, finishing third.
THE DODGE BOYS
· Dodge has 207 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories.
· Dodge’s most recent win came at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kurt Busch led 252 of 400 laps en route to victory in the 2010 Coca-Cola 600. He also won the Sprint All-Star Race the week prior to the 600.
· Dodge claimed two Sprint Cup victories in 2010.
· Dodge teams have posted 47 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).
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
· Dodge swept both Cup Series races at Dover in 2003.
· Penske Racing has collected six wins at Dover – Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman each with three wins.
· Only one of Kurt Busch’s 22 Cup Series wins has come from the pole – Homestead (2002).
DOVER NUGGETS
· Only 13 of the 82 Cup Series races at Dover have been won from the pole, 26 from the front row.
· The track qualifying record at Dover was set by former Dodge driver Jeremy Mayfield (22.288 sec./161.522 mph).
· The 1971 Mason-Dixon 500, won by Bobby Allison, was the only caution-free race at Dover.
DODGE HISTORICAL DATA
· First Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win at Dover: Richard Petty, 9/15/1974, Delaware 500, 113.64 mph avg. speed.
· Last Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win at Dover: Ryan Newman, 9/26/2004, MBNA 400, 119.067 avg. speed.
DID YOU KNOW?
· Kurt Busch made his NASCAR Sprint Cup debut at Dover in 2000 (prior to joining Penske Racing). He started 10th and finished 18th in the fall event. He also competed in the Craftsman Truck Series event that weekend, posting a victory in his only start in a truck at ‘The Monster Mile’. He will make his 22nd Sprint Cup start at Dover on Sunday.
2011 SPRINT CUP SERIES SEASON BEST
· Kurt Busch Start: 2nd – Phoenix Finish: 5th – Daytona
· Brad Keselowski Start: 9th – Phoenix Finish: 3rd – Darlington
· Robby Gordon Start: 30th – Daytona Finish: 16th – Daytona
FROM THE ENGINEER: HOWARD COMSTOCK – DODGE “From the “Lady in Black” last week at Darlington, to the “Monster Mile” of Dover this week, is a pretty challenging two week stretch for the Sprint Cup teams. The asphalt 1.36 miles of Darlington is fast and slippery and the one-mile concrete high banks of Dover are just as fast. The banked corners of Dover are so high that the drivers have to use the term “land” when they talk about how the car transitions from the relatively flat straightaways to the incredibly tall banking they impact at each end of this speedway. Controlling the car on corner entry will be a big part of the engineering challenge that the teams will face this week. If you can control corner entry then you can carry momentum through the corner and set up for that next straight-away dash.”
FROM THE CREW CHIEF “It was nice to score a solid finish last weekend (at Darlington) after some of the tough breaks that we’ve caught this year. We know that we have to make our race cars faster, but to see our team come together and keep digging and take a 15th-place car to a top-three car is a step in the right direction. It’s really competitive out here and when your car isn’t perfect, you need to win the attrition battle and grind your way to positive finishes.” Paul Wolfe, crew chief, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T
DODGE MOTORSPORTS QUOTE OF THE WEEK “Coming back to Dover is really cool. I’ve run these tracks on the Nationwide and Truck series enough to have a pretty good comfort level in the Cup Series. Dover is a place that I had success on and it’s a great track to race on. A lap around Dover is pretty spectacular. That rollercoaster feeling you get climbing and falling off the corners is amazing. I feel pretty confident going back there and I’d like to think that Dover is one of my better tracks.” Brad Keselowski, driver, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T
DODGE QUOTES “To be successful at Dover, you have to stay on top of the changing track conditions during the race. It’s a track where your car can start getting tighter and tighter as the track gets rubbered in and we’ll go in there this weekend definitely with that situation on our minds when it comes to our race setup.
“We’ve had some strong cars there, especially over the last couple of years. We’ve led laps and been in contention for the win several times, but just haven’t been able to pull it off. It’s one of the tracks that we’ve been most consistent in making the right adjustments through the race and we’re certainly hoping that trend continues there this weekend. Kurt Busch, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T
“What makes Dover so difficult is the fact that it has so much load – you’re asking the car to do a lot of different things. Then you combine the way that the track’s concrete rubbers-in and it really makes your front tires slick. It’s always a challenge to find front grip and what you end up doing is taking away rear grip. That just makes it more challenging to drive when your car gets sideways. With the track being concrete, it makes you become a more disciplined driver. It’s the fine balance between driving your car hard and finding the finesse that you need to drive hard through the center of the corner.” Brad Keselowski, No 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T
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