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[/media-credit]SRT Motorsports – Dodge NSCS Race Advance
Capital City 400 presented by Virginia is for Lovers
Richmond Int’l Raceway
Saturday, April 29, 2012
DODGE AT RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
· Dodge has 17 Sprint Cup wins at Richmond including three since the manufacturer returned to NASCAR’s premier series in 2001.
· Lee Petty drove a Dodge to victory in the first NASCAR race at Richmond in 1953.
· Dodge winners in addition to Petty include Buck Baker, David Pearson, Cotton Owens, Bobby Allison, Richard Petty, Dave Marcis, Neil Bonnett, Ryan Newman, Jeremy Mayfield and Kasey Kahne.
DODGE NEWS AND NOTES
· A.J. Allmendinger earned Dodge its first Coors Light Pole Award of the year last weekend at Kansas Speedway, the second of his career (Phoenix – 2011). He finished seventh last spring at RIR, a career best. In 10 previous starts, he’s recorded two top-10 finishes.
· Brad Keselowski’s best Sprint Cup finish at RIR (12th) came last September. He has started in the top 10 in four of five previous races at the .75-mile track.
· The most recent Dodge victory at RIR came in the spring event in 2005 with Kasey Kahne taking the win.
RACE NUGGETS
· In 15 short track starts in the Sprint Cup Series, Dodge’s Brad Keselowski has tallied two wins, two top-fives, four top-10s and led 349 laps.
· Brad Keselowski and A.J. Allmendinger each recorded season-best finishes on short tracks; Allmendinger (2nd) at Martinsville and Keselowski (Win) at Bristol.
· There will be five jet dryers available for use this weekend. It takes approximately 90 minutes to dry the .75-mile track after a significant rainfall.
FROM THE ENGINEER – RACING AT RICHMOND
“After two Sprint Cup races on the mile-and-a-half tracks in Kansas and Texas, the last two weeks, the series visits the short track in Richmond this weekend. Some people want to call Richmond a small speedway, but believe me, it’s raced like a short track lately. When we ran at Richmond last September, the race tied the record for cautions (15), a far cry from the three we saw at Kansas last week and two at Texas the week before. The number of caution flags in the series might be down overall this season, but I wouldn’t get caught engineering like that this week. Short runs, long runs, I’d be ready for anything.” Howard Comstock, SRT Motorsports Engineering
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
· 4 – The number of times Brad Keselowski has started outside of the top 15 this season. His best start of fifth came at Bristol where he won.
· 6 – The number of different race winners in the first eight Sprint Cup races this season.
· 22 – The number or Sprint Cup Series races that have been won from the pole at RIR.
DID YOU KNOW?
· The Dodge Charger street car is the only rear-wheel-drive model in Sprint Cup Series competition that is available with a V-8 engine.
· SRT Motorsports includes all of Chrysler Group’s NASCAR racing efforts for Dodge and RAM.
· Dodge is an Official Passenger Car of NASCAR.
· SRT Motorsports is competing for championships in all three NASCAR touring series in 2012.
THE DODGE BOYS
· Dodge drivers have 213 wins in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
· Dodge teams have posted 53 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 QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
“It’s the stability of the race team around me. I know it’s there. Because of that, I put more pressure on myself, because I know the equipment is there. Brad (Keselowski) and Paul Wolfe show it every weekend. It’s a constant battle working on patience for me. I’m definitely not very good at that. It really helps to have Mr. Penske and everybody be so patient and not expect (it) right away. They know it takes time. And for me, it gives me more confidence going into a race weekend just because I know the organization that I’m around, the equipment that I’m around and I know the sponsors that we have and everything that goes into it. For me, I’m just trying to work on patience. I want (it) now. These guys deserve to win races. They’re use to it. I want to win races for the whole organizations. I think it’s a constant battle that I’m trying to work on.”
A.J. Allmendinger, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T, on if this is the best equipment he’s ever driven in NSCS.
DODGE QUOTES “Coming from the short tracks of Michigan and Ohio really helps me when we go to places like Richmond. The track has characteristics of several places where I cut my racing teeth. But what helped me out the most was the competition that raced up there. You had to learn to get tough or go home. I learned a lot of lessons on the short tracks back home that helped make me into the racecar driver I am today. I love racing under the lights on Saturday night because it reminds me a lot of those days.”
Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T
“Richmond is a fast short track that has a lot of challenges. It almost drives like a speedway because the corner speed is very high. It takes the right balance of having the car turn in the center without giving up forward drive off the corner. Fuel mileage and pit strategy come in to play at times so you need to make sure you stay on top of that throughout the race. Richmond is a track where a driver can make a big difference and I feel that plays into our hands with Brad behind the wheel.”
Brad Keselowski, crew chief, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T
“Yeah, we’re getting closer. We just need to get faster throughout a whole race. We’re still working together and I think that’s what people don’t really understand. It’s tough to be a brand new crew chief in the Cup Series along with a driver coming to a race team for the first time. To figure out what we need together and things like that. The good thing is that the Penske organization builds fast racecars. Dodge is a huge supporter or ours. We know when we do figure it out, we have the potential to win a lot of races. It’s just tough getting to that point. I put all the pressure on my shoulders to be there now.” A.J. Allmendinger, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T, on how close the No. 22 team is to getting that first NSCS win this year.
