Dodge Motorsports NSCS Race Advance 5-HOUR Energy 500 Pocono Raceway Sunday, June 12, 2011
DODGE AT POCONO RACEWAY
. Dodge has six wins at Pocono Raceway (Richard Petty (1974, ’76), Bill Elliott (2002), Ryan Newman (2003), Kurt Busch (2007) and Kasey Kahne (2008).
. Dodge’s Kurt Busch dominated the 2007 fall race at Pocono en route to victory, leading 175 of 200 laps in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge.
. Dodge has started from the pole three times at Pocono since its return to Sprint Cup racing in 2001 (Bill Elliott – 2002, Ryan Newman – 2003 and Kasey Kahne – 2008).
. Dodge holds the track qualifying record at Pocono (Kasey Kahne, June, 2004 – 52.164 sec., 172.533 mph).
DODGE NEWS AND NOTES
. The No. 7 SPEED Energy Dodge Charger will compete this weekend at Pocono. Scott Wimmer will drive the Robby Gordon Motorsports entry.
. Dodge’s Brad Keselowski earned his second career Sprint Cup Series win last weekend at Kansas Speedway. His first came at Talladega in 2009.
. Dodge has earned back-to-back poles at the last two Sprint Cup races. Keselowski earned his second-career pole at Charlotte two weeks ago while teammate Busch earned his 13th career pole last weekend at Kansas.
. Last Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win at Pocono: Kasey Kahne, 06/08/2008, Pocono 500, 125.209 mph avg. speed.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
. Kurt Busch is the only Sprint Cup series driver who has been in the top 10 in driver points all season. Only three drivers have remained inside the top 12 through the 13 races (Busch, Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart).
. Kurt Busch has the longest current streak of consecutive races – 42 – in the NSCS Top-12 – starting at race eight (Texas) of 2010 through race 13 of 2011.
DID YOU KNOW?
. Dodge won the first race at Pocono Raceway. Richard Petty led 142 of 192 laps at the rain-shortened Purolator 500 in 1974.
. Dodge’s Kurt Busch has top-10 starts at Pocono in three of his last four races. He has 12 top-10 starts in 20 races.
. Penske Racing has reached victory lane eight times at Pocono Raceway and has a total of 67 Sprint Cup wins.
. There have been 29 different race winners at “The Tricky Triangle” and 36 different pole winners.
. There have been six season sweeps at the 2.5-mile track.
. There have been no caution-free Sprint Cup races at Pocono.
. Banking is different in each turn at Pocono: 14 degrees in Turn 1, eight degrees in Turn 2 and six degrees in Turn 3.
ODDS AND ENDS
. Kurt Busch has earned two perfect Driver Ratings of 150.0 at Pocono Raceway. His first was in 2005 (July) when he led 131 of the 203 laps en route to victory. His second came in 2007 (July) when he led 175 laps and collected his first win of the season.
2011 CAUTION STATS
. There have been 111 cautions in the first 13 races this season – 51 for accidents and 23 for debris; 551 of 4,348 laps have been under the yellow flag.
. The 111 cautions in the Sprint Cup series during the first 13 races of 2011includes 51 for accidents, 23 for debris and 19 for spins.
2011 SPRINT CUP SERIES SEASON BEST
. Kurt Busch Start: Pole – Kansas Finish: 4th – Charlotte
. Brad Keselowski Start: Pole – Charlotte Win – Kansas
. Robby Gordon Start: 30th – Daytona Finish: 16th – Daytona
POCONO RACEWAY BEST
. Kurt Busch Start – 2nd – (2005-both, 06,07) Finish – Win – (fall 2005, fall ’07)
. Brad Keselowski Start – 11th – (2010) Finish – 20th – (2010)
Brad Keselowski
No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T Birthdate: 02/12/1984 Wins/Starts: 2/66 Hometown: Rochester Hills, Mich. Crew Chief: Paul Wolfe Highlights:
. Enters his second full-time season with Penske Racing; first season driving the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
. Most recent winner in the Sprint Cup Series (Kansas)
. Earned first career Sprint Cup win at Talladega in 2009
. 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion
Kurt Busch
No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T Birthdate: 08/4/1978 Wins/Starts: 22/377 Hometown: Las Vegas, Nev. Crew Chief: Steve Addington Highlights:
. 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion
. Has made the Chase field five of seven seasons
. Finished 11th in 2010 Chase standings
. Posted top-10 finishes in first four races in 2011
. Has led laps in four of last five Pocono starts
DODGE QUOTES “Pocono is one of those tracks that is so different. It has its own identity with the three corners being very different. Turn 1 is very bumpy – high-banked, high-speed. And then you get to Turn 2. I think that’s the most important turn at Pocono, the tunnel turn. That corner get real slick and as the race progresses, it’s tough to gain time through there – it’s easy to lose time. And then you have the long, sweeping Turn 3 that’s a challenge. Some drivers love the place, some drivers hate it. I’ve had a good amount of success there; it’s one of those places where if you get it, you get it. If you don’t, you’re always fighting that uphill battle.” Kurt Busch, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T
“I’m so proud to be a part of this Miller Lite team and all the hard work that goes into getting our cars to the racetrack every week. You know, this season got off to a slow start. We had a lot of new faces that were working together for the first time. We expected a few growing pains. Now I really feel that we are starting to fire on all cylinders. We’ve been very competitive for much of the last month, but we didn’t catch any breaks. On Sunday we, again, put ourselves in position to race for the win. This time things went our way. All we can do is keep putting ourselves in position to win and good things will happen.” Brad Keselowski, No 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T
DODGE MOTORSPORTS QUOTE OF THE WEEK “I’m a big fan of the rule NASCAR implemented, putting winners in the last two spots (in the Chase). I think that serves the sport very well. And hopefully, we’ll be able to capitalize on it. But there are no guarantees of that. I feel pretty confident that it’s going to take two wins to guarantee your way into it. So obviously we’ve got to do this (win) again, and that isn’t easy. I like the system and I feel good about our chances. We’ve just got to keep moving forward. That’s what it’s all about.” Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T
