News

Brad Keselowski
No. 12 Penske Dodge Charger
Emory Healthcare 500
Atlanta Motor Speedway
September 5, 2010

No. 12 Penske Dodge Charger News and Notes
• This Week’s Charger… The No. 12 Penske Dodge Charger team will use chassis PRS-733 during Sunday night’s Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS). Keselowski drove this chassis to a 20th-place finish at Pocono Raceway in August. 
• No. 12 Penske Dodge in 2010... After 24 events, Keselowski and the No. 12 Penske Dodge Charger team currently sit 25th in the Cup Series driver and owner point standings.
• Atlanta Rewind… Keselowski was in position for the first top-five finish of the year at AMS in March, but a late-race incident, while running in the fifth position, resulted in a 36th-place finish. After starting the race from the 28th position, Keselowski made his way to the front of the field by utilizing the “high line” around AMS. 
• Keselowski NASCAR History at Atlanta… In addition to his lone Cup Series race at AMS, Keselowski has made three career starts in the Nationwide Series and three starts in the Camping World Truck Series at the 1.54-mile AMS oval. His career-best Atlanta finish of fourth came in the Nationwide Series race last year.
• The Rest is History... Penske Racing made its first start at AMS on March 26, 1972 with the late Mark Donohue finishing 15th. In 84 combined starts at the track, the organization has three wins (Rusty Wallace – 1993 and Kurt Busch – 2009-2010), eight poles and 10 top-five finishes.

Brad Keselowski on racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway
“I like the fact that Atlanta is a very slick racetrack. You come in to put tires on and you are almost three seconds a lap faster. That’s huge! A guy that will come in and pit one lap earlier than you do will gain almost half a straightaway on you. That puts pit strategy into focus. It’s just a fun place to race. I had a lot of success with the high line in the spring race. I don’t really think of myself as a driver that prefers the top, but I’ll definitely search around to see where my car is the fastest. That’s why we love racing at Atlanta.”

Brad Keselowski on Atlanta moving to one Cup Series date in 2010
“Things change in racing - the one constant is change, as they say. You look at Atlanta and it has been a fixture on the schedule for a long time. It’s hosted over 100 races, which is pretty incredible. It even hosted three in one year. There is no doubt that Atlanta is in a tough market, but I think this move will help them out in the long run. It should help sell the single Labor Day event out. If we can continue to put on the racing that has defined Atlanta over the years, I think the fans will come back and it will return to two dates.”

Crew chief Jay Guy on preparing for the second race at Atlanta Motor Speedway
“Atlanta is a place where we know we can run well. We did it in the spring race. Obviously we are not going to be able to bring that same car back this weekend, but we feel like we have improved our cars drastically from March to the point where we might not have used that car this weekend anyway. Brad enjoys Atlanta a lot. He likes to work his car in on the bottom, but he’ll move up when the second groove comes in. We’ll give him a setup that will allow him to do both. From on top of the pit box you have to be mindful of your tire wear. We usually see some long green-flag runs at Atlanta and you don’t want to leave your driver out there too long on old tires because you’ll end up losing valuable seconds to guys that have fresh rubber.”