SRT Motorsports — Dodge NSCS Race Advance – Bristol Motor Speedway
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[/media-credit]SRT Motorsports – Dodge NSCS Race Advance
Food City 500
Bristol Motor Speedway
Sunday, March 18, 2012
DODGE AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
· Brad Keselowski is the most recent winner at Bristol Motor Speedway. Keselowski qualified eighth, led 89 laps en route to his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win of the 2011 season at the .533-mile track in August.
· Dodge has seven Sprint Cup wins at Bristol: David Pearson, Bobby Allison (2), Richard Petty (2), Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski
· Dodge has eight poles at BMS: Bobby Isaac, Neil Bonnett, Ryan Newman (2), Kasey Kahne, David Pearson, Richard Petty and Kurt Busch.
· Dodge holds the BMS track qualifying record, set by Ryan Newman in 2003 (14.908 seconds at 128.709 mph).
· A Dodge has finished first, second or third in seven of the last 12 Sprint Cup race at “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile Track” and inside the top 10 in 10 of the last 12 races.
DODGE NEWS AND NOTES
· Dodge unveiled its 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Dodge Charger last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (picture above).
· Brad Keselowski currently has the 11th-best NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver rating amongst active drivers at BMS.
· Dodge will be seeking its first Sprint Cup Series win of the season Sunday at BMS.
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.
· Bristol Motor Speedway is the 4th largest sports venue in America, and the 8th largest in the world, with a capacity of up to 165,000.
DODGE HISTORICAL DATA
· First Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win: Lee Petty, 2/1/53, West Palm Beach, Fla., 100 miles, .5-mile track.
· Last Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win: Kurt Busch, 10/2/2011, AAA 400, Dover Motor Speedway, 119.413 mph avg. speed.
THE DODGE BOYS
· Dodge has 212 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins.
· Dodge teams have posted 52 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).
QUICK FACTS
· There will be four jet dryers available for use this weekend; it takes approximately 60 minutes to dry the .533-mile track.
· There were 10 cautions for 75 laps in last year’s spring race at BIR. The track record is 20 which has happened three times, most recently 8/23/03.
· The track surface at BIR was changed from asphalt to concrete in 1992 prior to the fall event.
· Every race at Bristol Motor Speedway has been scheduled for 500 laps, except for both races in 1976 and the second in 1977, which were 400 laps.
· Sprint Cup Series race winners have started from the pole position 22 times at Bristol Motor Speedway.
FROM THE ENGINEER – RACING AT BRISTOL “I think the question that’ll be on every engineer’s mind this week is which Bristol are we going to see? When the Sprint Cup Series visited Bristol in March of 2011, the pole speed was 128.014 mph. When we ran Bristol in August of 2011, the pole speed was 122.811 mph. On this fast, tight, high-banked oval, the possibility of a six mph spread in top speeds is enough to give any engineer nightmares. Faster speeds by that margin mean different gearing, different suspension travel, and different tire loads, not to mention less time for your driver to react to a chassis that’s not perfect. There will be plenty of things that all of the engineers in the series are going to have to be ready for this week.” Howard Comstock, SRT Motorsports Engineering
HE SAID IT “This is a race of champions. I can’t believe it. There are races that pay more money and races with more prestige, but this is the coolest damn one of them all.” –Dodge driver Brad Keselowski (After winning at BMS last August)
DODGE QUOTE OF THE WEEK “Every time I race at Bristol, I learn a little bit more about how I need to drive it and what I need to make the car better to drive it right. It’s just a good overall balance. You need to be maybe just a tick tight, but you can’t be too tight. You definitely need the back end in the race track through the center and up off the corner.” A.J. Allmendinger, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T
DODGE QUOTES “The way our first three races have gone this season, I’d look at a solid top-10 run there on Sunday as being a win for us. We’ve run well and had strong race cars so far, but we haven’t been able to put an entire race together yet. We need to get through Sunday’s race without having the incredible bad luck we’ve had so far.” A.J. Allmendinger, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger
“Well, Bristol is just one of the tracks that I just circle every year on my calendar and so I can’t wait to go there and it’s true. The feeling that got walking into that place the first time is the feeling I still get to this day and it’s to me what this sport is all about. And I’ve said this before when I was in victory lane, there are tracks that have more prestige or pay bigger purses, but to me Bristol, it’s the deal. It’s the place I look up to.” Brad Keselowski, No 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
“A.J. really likes the high-banked concrete tracks and he’s quick to let you know that. Tracks like Bristol and Dover just seem to suit his style. With the 2 car (teammate Brad Keselowski) winning there last fall and AJ coming on really strong there last year, we’ll have a good notebook to work off of heading into Bristol this weekend.” Todd Gordon, crew chief, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger
NASCAR Upholds Appeal From Hendrick Motorsports, Hendrick To Continue Appeal Process
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[/media-credit]On March 13, 2012, the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel heard the appeal on the penalties assessed to the No. 48 team at Daytona International Speedway. The panel, which consisted of John Capels, Leo Mehl and Dale Pinilis, decided to uphold the penalties.
“The unanimous decision of the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel was to uphold the original penalties assessed by NASCAR,” the statement from NASCAR says.
The penalties upheld were a six week suspension for both crew chief Chad Knaus and car chief Ron Malec from the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events, plus probation till May 9th. They also upheld the fine of $100,000 to Knaus, along with the 25 driver points and owner points taken away.
According to NASCAR, they did not agree with the shape of the c-posts and requested that they be changed. The C-post is a piece of paneling towards the back of the car that connects the roof to the rear quarterpanel. The team modified the piece to gain an aerodynamic advantage.
As per original their press release, the posts were “in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4J (any determination by NASCAR officials that race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules detailed in Section 20 of the rule book or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the event); and 20-2.1E (if in the judgment of NASCAR officials, any part or component of the car not previously approved by NASCAR that has been installed or modified to enhance aerodynamic performance will not be permitted – unapproved car body modifications).”
Upon section 15 of the rule book, Hendrick Motorsports has the right to continue the appeal process, appealing the decision to the National Stock Car Racing Chief Appellate Officer. Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick has already announced that his team will exercise this right.
“The panel was generous with its time today, and we appreciated the opportunity to talk through our concerns,” Hendrick says as per a team press release. “We feel strongly about this issue and will continue to pursue it at the next level.”
Hendrick Motorsports feels that they have a good appeal as NASCAR determined the car was illegal before being put under templates.
“The templates were never actually put on the car,” Knaus said during his media appearance at Phoenix International Raceway. “It was a visual inspection at that point. We never even got the opportunity to actually present that under templates. It is unfortunate, there is a bit of subjectiveness to it and that is why we are going through the appeal.”
Knaus says that will be brought up during the appeal as they “will just have to talk about it at that point. NASCAR does a good job; they have a good set-up structure and a good set of standards that are in black and white, some areas that are not.”
It has also been noted that the same piece had been ran on the car for all four restrictor plate races last year by Rick Hendrick. Knaus said the same thing when asked about that.
The work that the No. 48 team did was “accordingly” within the templates, but not to NASCAR’s specifications. NASCAR has also made it clear to teams that they do not like them modifying parts “between the templates” and have told Knaus that before, suspending him six weeks in 2007 for modifying the front fenders.
On that topic, Ken Howes, VP of Competition for Hendrick Motorsports, told SBNation.com that the template doesn’t quite cover every square inch of the car and there is nothing written in the rule book to stop them. The rule book just states that the car must fit the templates that NASCAR specifies.
While the appeal process continues, Hendrick Motorsports notes that there will be no personnel changes made as both Knaus and Malec will remain on the pit box this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.
