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[/media-credit]SRT Motorsports – Dodge NNS Race Advance
Ford EcoBoost 300
Bristol Motor Speedway
Saturday, March 17, 2012
SAM HORNISH JR. – No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challenger Crew Chief: Chad Walter
Career Stats: Starts: 36 Wins: 1 Top Fives: 2 Top 10s: 8 Poles: 0 Laps Led: 122
2012 Season Stats: Starts: 3 Wins: 0 Top-Fives: 0 Top 10s: 2 Poles: 0 Laps Led: 7
• Sixth in NNS championship standings, 33 behind leader Elliott Sadler and 11 behind fifth-place Cole Whitt.
• Scored a respectable 14th-place finish on the lead lap in one previous Nationwide start at Bristol in 2008 fall race.
• Made two NNS short tracks starts in 2011 with one top-10 finish (at Richmond).
BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger Crew Chief: Jeremy Bullins
Career Stats: Starts: 171 Wins: 17 Top Fives: 75 Top 10s: 105 Poles: 12 Laps Led: 2,788
2012 Season Stats: Starts: 3 Wins: 0 Top Fives: 2 Top 10s: 2 Poles: 0 Laps Led: 34
• One win and four top-10 finishes in five short track races in 2011. Has six top-10 finishes in nine NNS starts at BMS.
• Won 2008 fall race at Bristol, edging Clint Bowyer by 1.025 seconds.
DODGE QUOTES: “I really like Bristol. Having good pit stops is the real big thing there. It’s a lot about track position. You just need to be smart, have a good handling Challenger and run hard. You’re going so fast that you can’t hardly slow down when something happens ahead of you. ” — Sam Hornish, Jr.
“When I think about NASCAR racing, I think of Bristol: small track, high banks, fast, really challenging with 43 of the best cars. I wish we had more tracks like it.” — Brad Keselowski
THE BRISTOL NUMBERS
• Dodge has three Nationwide wins at Bristol: Ryan Newman (2005 fall), Kasey Kahne (2007 fall) and Justin Allgaier (2010 spring).
• Dodge has 12 top-five and 23 top-10 finishes at BMS.
• Two Dodge drivers have won poles at Bristol: Ryan Newman (2006 fall) and Brad Keselowski (2010 spring).
• The number of Dodge drivers to finish inside the top 10 in a NNS race at BMS is three (most recently in 2006 fall race).
DODGE IN THE NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
• At least one Dodge driver has finished in the top 10 in 14 of the last 15 NNS races at Bristol.
• Dodge is fielding two full-time entries in the series this year. Sam Hornish Jr. is competing for the series championship while Brad Keselowski and Parker Kligerman are sharing duties in the second Penske Racing entry.
• Dodge claimed its first NASCAR championship in 2010 when Penske Racing’s Brad Keselowski captured the driver’s title.
• Dodge has 41 wins in the series including seven in each of the last two seasons. A Dodge has started from the pole 48 times.
FROM THE CREW CHIEF “If you’re a racer you love Bristol, end of story. I’ve been able to be a part of a couple of wins there. It’s a racer’s racetrack, it’s a rhythm racetrack, it’s a luck racetrack, and it’s a handling racetrack. It’s a special place to race and we love going there. When you get out of there with a decent car and a decent finish, you feel like King Kong at the end of the day.” – Chad Walter, Crew Chief, No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challenger
