News

Brad Keselowski
No. 12 Penske Dodge Charger
LifeLock.com 400
Chicagoland Speedway
July 10, 2010

No. 12 Penske Dodge Charger News and Notes
• This Week’s Charger… The No. 12 Penske Dodge Charger team will use chassis PRS-707 during Saturday’s 400-mile race at Chicagoland Speedway. Keselowski raced this chassis to a 14th-place finish at Richmond International Raceway in May.
• No. 12 Penske Dodge in 2010... After 18 events, Keselowski and the No. 12 Penske Dodge Charger team currently sit 25th in the Cup Series driver point standings and 26th in the owner point standings.
• Gaining Momentum for Second Half… After running up front and leading a lap at Daytona, Keselowski and the No. 12 team will look to build on that momentum in the second half of the NASCAR Cup Series season. The team has run well on the 1.5-mile tracks this season.
• Midwest Homecoming… Keselowski places special emphasis on running well when the series visits the Midwestern part of the country. A native of Rochester Hills, Mich., Keselowski – along with his father, uncle and brother – has won numerous short track races throughout the mid-section of the United States over the years.
• Avis Pit Crew Challenge... The Avis Rental Car Company, based in Chicago, will host the second Avis Pit Crew Challenge of the year at its Chicago O’Hare International Airport location on Thursday, July 8. The Avis Pit Crew Challenge is a series of friendly competitions between the No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge crew and the Chicago Avis Quality Assurance pit crew. The event is open to the public and begins at 9:00 am CDT.
• TD Bank 250… Keselowski will make his first appearance in the TD Bank 250 at Oxford (Me.) Plains Speedway on Sunday, July 18. The TD Bank 250 is one of the premier short track races in the country.
• The Rest is History... In 22 combined Cup Series starts at Chicagoland Speedway, Penske Racing has accumulated one win (Ryan Newman – 2003), one pole and two top-five finishes. In addition, Team Penske has garnered two wins, four poles and 10 top-five finishes in 16 combined IndyCar Series starts at the venue.

Brad Keselowski on Chicagoland Speedway
“Chicago is an ever-evolving race track. The transition from day to night moves the groove from the bottom to the top and then back to the bottom. Double-file restarts there are very crazy because you can really hold someone down there on the bottom. There is a lot of back and forth, side-by-side racing and the track has actually become fairly rough over the years. The Midwestern winters have taken their toll on the surface and have made it a little trickier. There is a lot of banking to go with that so it’s very fast. All in all, it’s a great racetrack and I really enjoy it.”

Brad Keselowski on the thoughts of running the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge next year
“I think about driving the ‘Blue Deuce’ for Miller Lite about every day. It’s an awesome opportunity for me and I hope that I can continue to perform in the manner that Kurt and Rusty have performed in that car over the years. Obviously they have a very big presence in the Chicago area so this track, much like Michigan (International Speedway) with Dodge, will become a very important track for me. I really enjoy coming up here and it would be cool to come to Chicago and win with Miller Lite.”

Crew chief Jay Guy on Chicagoland Speedway
“Chicagoland Speedway is not like the other 1.5-mile tracks that we visit. The backstretch is one continuous curve and that makes the exit of Turn 2 and the entry of Turn 3 very important. Essentially, you aren’t holding a straight wheel for very long during a lap at Chicago. It’s a very fast race track too. The aero department has worked really hard to make this a strong car for us. We’ve been working on building lighter, faster cars and this is one of the best we’ve produced so far.”