Dodge Motorsports NSCS Race Advance
Ford 400
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Sunday, Nov. 21, 2010
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DODGE AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY
• Dodge has one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Bill Elliott – 2001).
• Former Dodge driver Bill Elliott (2001) and current Dodge driver Kurt Busch (2002) are the only two Cup Series winner’s at HMS to start from the pole.
• Kurt Busch has earned two poles at Homestead-Miami Speedway, both prior to joining Penske Racing. Busch’s two poles tie him with Jimmie Johnson for the most at HMS.
THE DODGE BOYS
• Dodge has 207 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories.
• Dodge’s most recent win came at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. Kurt Busch led 252 of 400 laps en route to victory in the Coca-Cola 600. It was his second win of the 2010 season.
• 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.
• First Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win: Lee Petty, 2/1/53, West Palm, Fla., 100 miles, .5-mile track.
• Last Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win: Kurt Busch, 5/30/2010, Charlotte, 600 miles, 1.5-mile track.
HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY NUGGETS
• Sam Hornish will compete in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races this weekend at HMS. His last Nationwide Series start was at the 2008 Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2008. Hornish will be driving the No. 26 Dodge Charger for Penske Racing.
DID YOU KNOW
• Kurt Busch is the youngest pole winner at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Busch earned the pole at the 2002 event at the age of 24 years, 13 months, 3 days.
DODGE IN THE CHASE: HOMESTEAD-MIAMI
• 2004: Kurt Busch, driving for Roush Racing at that time, finished fifth to clinch the Sprint Cup title by eight points over Jimmie Johnson. Dodge drivers in the Chase were Ryan Newman and Jeremy Mayfield. Newman started third and finished 30th after being involved in an accident. Mayfield started 20th and finished 35th.
• 2005: Ryan Newman qualified second, led four times for 33 laps and finished seventh. Jeremy Mayfield started 13th and finished 10th and Rusty Wallace was 13th at the checkered flag.
• 2006: Kasey Kahne earned Dodge its first pole at HMS, led five times for 90 laps and finished fourth. He moved up to eighth in the final Chase standings.
• 2007: Kurt Busch was the lone Dodge driver in the Chase. He started fifth in the season finale, led 34 circuits and finished second. He was seventh in the final standings.
• 2008: There were no Dodges in the 2008 Chase field.
• 2009: Kurt Busch started 12th, led 43 laps and finished fourth while Kasey Kahne finished 17th. Busch finished fourth in the Chase standings and Kahne 10th.
KURT BUSCH – INSIDE THE CHASE NUMBERS
• Busch is competing in the Chase for the Sprint Cup for the fifth time: 2004 – Champion, 2005 – 10th, 2007 – seventh and 2009 – fourth.
• Busch is 10th in the Chase standings after finishing ninth at Phoenix last weekend. He is 388 points behind the leader.
• Busch was ranked fourth, 211 points behind the leader, after nine races in the 2009 Chase.
• Busch has one win at Homestead-Miami. He started from the pole at the 2002 event and led 28 laps en route to victory.
• Through nine Chase races this year, Busch’s average finish is 16.8.
• Has competed in 68 Chase races since 2004 (47 have been in a Dodge) with 16 top-five and 34 top-10 finishes.
• Career totals at Homestead-Miami Speedway include one win, four top-fives, and four top 10s. His average start is 15.8 with an average finish of 19.6.
• Has scored top-five finishes in four of last seven Homestead races. He has led 92 laps at HMS.
FAST FACT
Only twice since 1975 has the Sprint Cup point lead changed in the final race of the season – 1979 and 1992. In 1979, Richard Petty overcame a two-point deficit to win by 11 over Darrell Waltrip. In ‘92, Alan Kulwicki overcame a 30-point deficit to win by 10 over Bill Elliott.
DODGE MOTORSPORTS ENGINEERING QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“It seems fitting that the season should end at a mile and a half track. This is the 10th time we’ve run on one this year, far more than any other configuration. But Homestead- Miami’s secret to being different from all the rest is that it has graduated banking in the corners, and the higher you run on the track, the more banking you get to take advantage of. So the engineering choice here is always, ‘Do I set up the car to run low, the shorter way around the track, or do I set up the car to run high, a longer distance around but more banking and more momentum?’ Yet another engineering choice to make.”
Howard Comstock – Dodge Motorsports Engineering
DODGE DRIVER QUOTES
“We’re coming in there ranked 10th in the points and really need to finish up the season in the top 10 in the standings. Only the top-10 drivers get stage time at the banquet out in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks. It would be a cool deal and very appropriate if we have the opportunity to take to the stage and publicly thanks all our sponsors. We’re celebrating the five great seasons with MillerCoors and starting the new chapter with Shell-Pennzoil and would love to have the opportunity to get up there and thank them all for their support.”
Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
“I like Homestead-Miami Speedway; it’s been one of my favorite places for many years. Unlike other intermediate venues that are tri-ovals, both ends of the track are exactly the same with two straightaways in between. The way you get into the corners at Homestead is unlike anywhere else. It’s a unique track and a great place to have the final race of the season.
Sam Hornish Jr. No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger
“This year has been a year of progression and learning, for sure. I feel like we are building equity here at Penske Racing. We want to definitely be better. It’s hard to put a grade on that. I think that some of the efforts we put in could have yielded better results, but a lot of that was just bad racing luck. Other weeks we haven’t performed well and have had good luck to get decent finishes. So that makes it hard to put a grade on the season. We still have work to do to get to where we want to be, and that is contending for wins and a spot in the Chase.”
Brad Keselowski, No 12 Penske Dodge Charger
