No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Preview - Good Sam RV Insurance 500
August 3, 2011
Brad Keselowski
No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
Good Sam RV Insurance 500
Pocono Raceway
August 7, 2011
TV: ESPN at 1 PM Radio: MRN at 12 PM
No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger News and Notes
• This Week’s Charger… The No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team will race chassis PRS-759 during Sunday’s Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono Raceway. This is a brand-new chassis to the No. 2 fleet.
• No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge in 2011... After 20 points-paying events, Keselowski and the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team are ranked 21st in the NASCAR Cup Series (NSCS) driver and owner point standings. The team is coming off a ninth-place finish in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last week. Keselowski is positioned just 16 points outside of the top 20 and a possible spot in the Chase for the Championship,
• Head2Head Knockout… Keselowski is one of 32 drivers competing in the DIRECTV Head2Head Knockout on ESPN.com beginning this weekend at Pocono. This “March Madness” style bracket challenge will raise money for each driver’s favorite charity. Keselowski will participate on behalf of the Paralyzed Veterans of America.
• Meet Brad… Keselowski will make an appearance at Luna Rossa Cafe located on Route 209 in Gilbert, Pa., on Thursday, August 4 at 7:00 pm ET. .
• Triple Hopping the Triangle… The featured tag line on the bumper of the “Blue Deuce” this weekend at Pocono will be “Triple Hopping the Triangle.” Triple hop brewing is the process that gives Miller Lite its award-winning, great taste. Pocono Raceway has long been known as the “Tricky Triangle” for its unusual triangle shape.
• The Rest is History... Penske Racing has enjoyed considerable success at Pocono Raceway. In 79 Cup Series starts, Penske Racing drivers have recorded eight wins, five pole awards and 18 top-five finishes. The organization made its first start at the track in August of 1975 with Bobby Allison behind the wheel of the No. 16 entry.
Brad Keselowski on this weekend’s race at Pocono Raceway
“Now that we are starting to go back to tracks a second time, I really expect the Miller Lite Dodge team to be more competitive than we were on the first visit. Pocono this weekend will give us a chance to see what we learned from the race in June. I thought we had a car that could run in the top-five in that race, but we broke a shock mount early on and that basically ended our chances for a good finish. Our flat track program has been pretty solid this year. I was really proud of our performance at Indianapolis last weekend. That gives me confidence that we can go to Pocono and get a strong result. We’ve seen it before where someone runs well at Indy and they’re able to come right back and do the same at Pocono because the tracks do have some similarities.”
Brad Keselowski on racing for one of the wild card slots for the Chase
“First off, congratulations to Paul Menard and his team on their win last weekend in Indianapolis. If Kurt (Busch) or I couldn’t win the Brickyard for Mr. Penske, it was cool to see that team do it. That being said, it is going to make it that much harder to get into the Chase as a wild card. That team is one more team with one win that is in front of us in the standings. I’ve said all along that I think it will take two wins to assure a wild card spot. Now it’s pretty much a given. That’s now our focus. We have some tracks coming up where I think we can pick up another win, beginning this weekend in Pocono.”
Crew chief Paul Wolfe on preparing for the second race of the season at Pocono
“We have a much bigger notes package heading into the second race at Pocono. That gives us a lot of confidence that we can improve on our effort from June. Going back to these tracks for a second time – and getting better results – is very important to the growth process of this team. We didn’t qualify as well as we would have liked in the first race, but I thought we had a great racecar. Unfortunately we had a mechanical failure that kept us from a good race finish. There has definitely been improvement in this team over the last few months. I see us carrying that into Pocono this weekend.”