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[/media-credit]SRT Motorsports – Dodge NNS Race Advance
Aaron’s 312
Talladega Superspeedway
Saturday, May 5, 2012
SAM HORNISH JR. – No. 12 Detroit Genuine Parts Dodge Challenger Crew Chief: Chad Walter
Career Stats: Starts: 40 Wins: 1 Top Fives: 3 Top 10s: 9 Poles: 0 Laps Led: 122
2012 Season Stats Starts: 7 Wins: 0 Top Fives: 1 Top 10s: 3 Poles: 0 Laps Led: 7
• Claimed his first top-five finish of the season last week at Richmond (fifth-place).
• Fourth in Nationwide standings, 53 points behind leader Elliott Sadler.
• Only previous NNS start at Talladega came in 2011. Led twice for two laps and finished 13th.
• Will be making his fifth career NNS restrictor plate start.
• Has completed all but one lap in seven races this season (1,419 of 1420 possible laps, 99.92 percent).
BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger Crew Chief: Jeremy Bullins
Career Stats: Starts: 175 Wins: 17 Top Fives: 77 Top 10s: 107 Poles: 12 Laps Led: 2,825
2012 Season Stats: Starts: 7 Wins: 0 Top Fives: 4 Top 10s: 4 Poles: 0 Laps Led: 71
• Won 2010 NNS race at Talladega.
• Has two top five and three top 10s in four Talladega NNS starts and has led a lap in each of the those races.
• Claimed top-10 finishes in the last three consecutive NNS races at Talladega.
DODGE QUOTES: “If you can win at Daytona or Talladega, you really enjoy that because they’re great places to win with a lot of history. You don’t have to have the best car. You just got to have a little bit of luck and put yourself with the right people. Last year, we led laps and got spun by two different people just because you can push so hard that it caved our rear bumper in. Instead of being able to slide around the rear bumper, they basically just turned the car. That’s a little frustrating. I still like it because it’s a different kind of racing. You’re going to be in a pack for most of the day.” — Sam Hornish, Jr.
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY NUMBERS
• Dodge has one win at the 2.66-mile superspeedway (Brad Keselowski in 2010).
• Dodge has five to-five and 10 top-10 finishes at Talladega.
• Two or more Dodge drivers have finished in the top five only once at Talladega: Keselowski (win) and Johnny Borneman III (fifth-place) in 2010.
DODGE IN THE NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
• A Dodge driver has scored top-10 finishes in four of the last five NNS races at Talladega.
• 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 the driving 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. The first Nationwide Series win came in 2002. In 2005, Dodge had 11 wins in the series. A Dodge has started from the pole 48 times.
FROM THE CREW CHIEF “I’m looking forward to Talladega. Sam is very good in the draft. We’ve got a great teammate with Brad Keselowski in the No. 22 Dodge Challenger. To be honest with you, you’ve got what you’ve got. NASCAR is constantly working on the rules package trying to make it exciting for the fans and safe for the drivers. I can’t wait to get to Alabama.” — Chad Walter, Crew Chief, No. 12 Detroit Genuine Parts Dodge Challenger
