Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Keselowski Hoping For Career Best Finish at Martinsville Sunday

Last 'Real' hurdle for the No. 2 this week at Martinsville (Getty)
Brad Keselowski
No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
Tums Fast Relief 500
Martinsville Speedway
Sunday, October 28, 2012

TV: ESPN at 1:00 PM ET Radio: MRN/Sirius Channel 90

No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger News and Notes

• This Week’s Charger… The No. 2 Miller LiteDodge Charger team will race chassis PRS-831 during Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. This is a brand-new chassis to the No. 2 fleet.

• No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger in 2012… After six races in the 2012 Chase for the Championship, including victories at Chicagoland and Dover, Keselowski and the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge team lead theNASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) driver and owner point standings by seven points over Jimmie Johnson. The team is coming off an eighth-place finish in the Hollywood Casino 400 last weekend at Kansas Speedway.

• Quality Pass Leader… Keselowski continues to lead the Cup Series in Quality Passes with 2,001, 160 more than second place. He also ranks inside the top 10 in Fastest Speed In Traffic (Third), Laps Led (Fifth), Laps In The Top 15 (Fifth) and Fastest Laps Run (Sixth).

• Motor City Motivation… Fiercely proud of his Detroit roots, Keselowski will keep one eye on the World Series this week as the Detroit Tigers attempt to win their first World Series title since 1984. A native of Rochester Hills, Mich., Keselowski is trying to become the first Detroit-area-born driver to deliver a NASCAR Cup Series championship to the home of the Big Three auto manufacturers.

• Stretch Run… In his last 16 races, Keselowski has only two finishes outside the top 10, including three wins. In addition, no Penske Racing driver has led the Cup Series point standings this late in the season in the organization’s illustrious history.

• It’s Miller Time… The featured tag line on the rear bumper of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge this weekend at Martinsville is “It’s Miller Time.” One of the most recognized marketing slogans in recent memory, “It’s Miller Time” can be found within many popular culture references. MillerCoors decided to bring back the slogan earlier this year.

• The Rest is History… Martinsville Speedway is a track where Penske Racing has enjoyed its share of success over the years. In 90 starts, the organization has earned six wins (all by Rusty Wallace), five poles, 20 top-five and 35 top-10 finishes at Martinsville. Wallace made Martinsville his personal playground in the Miller Lite car as he did not finish outside of the top three in eight consecutive races from September of 1992 through April of 1996.

Brad Keselowski on racing this weekend at Martinsville Speedway

“Martinsville is a place that I’ve learned to enjoy. Bristol is a place that I took to immediately, but Martinsville requires finesse that can only be learned with track time. I never considered myself a great short-track driver, but one thing that helped me when I got to this level was that my dad made me travel around to different tracks when I was growing up. I raced a lot of different short tracks in the Midwest and that made me more comfortable when I got into the upper levels of NASCAR. Those lessons will come in handy this weekend. Both the 48 car and the 11 car will be fast, but I expect us to be as well. Our team has made great strides at Martinsville over the years. We qualified well and had a great race there in the spring (ninth-place result). We probably deserved a top-five finish on that day. If we can have the same kind of run on Sunday, I’m confident we can keep our spot at the top of the standings.”

Crew chief Paul Wolfe on Martinsville Speedway
“We have a brand-new Miller Lite Dodge this weekend and I’m excited about its potential. We were able to test at Rockingham and came away very pleased. One key for me is that we are racing on the same tire we’ve been on for the last two Martinsville races. The left rear tire is very important for forward bite at Martinsville so it’s nice to know we can use some of our older notes. Track position is paramount, so we know we need to qualify well. It’s still Martinsville so anything can happen, but Brad likes racing there and we are a confident team heading into this weekend. We really haven’t gotten the finishes we deserve there in past years. If you keep running in the top five or the top 10, good things will happen. Hopefully that is the case this weekend.”

--  Penske Racing Press Release

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