News

Brad Keselowski
No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
Crown Royal presents the Matthew and Daniel Hansen 400
Richmond International Raceway
April 30, 2011

No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger News and Notes
• This Week’s Charger… The No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team will use chassis PRS-736 during Saturday’s Crown Royal presents the Mathew and Daniel Hansen 400 at Richmond International Raceway (RIR). Keselowski last drove this chassis to a 15th-place finish at Phoenix International Raceway in February.
• No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge in 2011... After eight events, Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team sit 27th in the Cup Series driver and owner point standings. The team is coming off a 33rd-place finish in the Aaron’s 499 two weeks ago at Talladega Superspeedway.
• Keselowski NASCAR History at Richmond International Raceway… In addition to his three career Cup Series starts at RIR, Keselowski has made nine career NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) starts at the .75-mile oval. In those starts, Keselowski has accumulated one win and four top-five finishes, while leading 294 laps. He scored the win in the 2010 edition of this race. The Rochester Hills, Mich. native has also made one NASCAR Camping World Series start at the RIR oval, which came in 2005 in his family-owned, K-Automotive entry.
• Man Up, Choose on Taste… The featured tag line on the bumper of the “Blue Deuce” this weekend in Richmond will be “Man Up, Choose On Taste.” The great taste of Miller Lite has consistently racked up awards at beer festivals around the world.
• Starting Up Front at Richmond… In three starts at the RIR oval, Keselowski has never qualified outside the top-10. This represents Keselowski’s highest average starting position for any track on the Cup Series schedule.
• Fast Five Movie… Dodge is an official partner of the Fast Five, a 2011 street racing action film directed by Justin Lin that opens in theaters this weekend. It is the fifth film in The Fast and the Furious film series and the fourth installment in terms of chronology preceded by Fast & Furious. For more information visit http://www.dodge.com/en/fastfive/.
• The Rest is History... Penske Racing has a long and storied Cup Series history at the RIR oval. The first start for the organization came in March of 1976 when Bobby Allison qualified on the pole for the Richmond 400, before he gave way to relief driver Neil Bonnet for the race. Bonnet drove the No. 2 to a third-place finish. In 79 Richmond starts, Penske Racing has five wins (Rusty Wallace – 4, Ryan Newman – 1), five poles and 27 top-five finishes.

Brad Keselowski on this weekend’s race at Richmond International Raceway
“I feel really good about our Penske Racing program on the short-track side.  I think our cars have shown some speed. We haven’t gotten the finishes that we’d like in our Miller Lite Dodge, but we’re doing the right things.  We were strong at Bristol and got caught up early in a wreck. We were strong at Martinsville and just didn’t quite put the whole race together. I feel like if we put an entire race together not only can we run well, we’ll have an opportunity to win at Richmond.”

Brad Keselowski on how growing up on the short tracks helps him prepare for Richmond
“Coming from the short tracks of Michigan and Ohio really helps me when we go to places like Richmond. The track has characteristics of several places where I cut my racing teeth. But what helped me out the most was the competition that raced up there. You had to learn to get tough or go home. I learned a lot of lessons on the short tracks back home that helped make me into the racecar driver I am today. I love racing under the lights on Saturday night because it reminds me a lot of those days.”

Crew chief Paul Wolfe on preparing for Richmond International Raceway
“Richmond is a fast short track that has a lot of challenges. It almost drives like a speedway because the corner speed is very high. It takes the right balance of having the car turn in the center without giving up forward drive off the corner. Fuel mileage and pit strategy come in to play at times so you need to make sure you stay on top of that throughout the race. Richmond is a track where a driver can make a big difference and I feel that plays into our hands with Brad behind the wheel.”