News

Brad Keselowski
No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
STP 400
Kansas Speedway
Sunday, April 22, 2012
TV: FOX at 12:30 PM ET   Radio: MRN/Sirius Channel 90

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-822 during Sunday’s STP 400 at Kansas Speedway. This is a new chassis to the No. 2 fleet.
• No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger in 2012… After seven points-paying events, Keselowski and the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team are ranked 15th in the 2012 driver point standings and 16th in the owner point rankings. The team is coming off a 36th-place finish in the Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway last Saturday night.
• Defending Winner… Forgive Keselowski if he is feeling a bit nostalgic this weekend. One year ago, he entered the spring race weekend at Kansas with only one series win. Using fuel strategy and a fast Miller Lite Dodge, Keselowski scored his first Cup Series win with Penske Racing in the 2011 STP 400. The win served as a launching pad to two more victories on the season and a spot in the 2011 Chase for the Championship, where he finished fifth in the final series standings.
• Truckin’… Keselowski will compete in his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race of the season this weekend at Kansas in the No. 19 Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation Ram. If Keselowski can find his way to Victory Lane on Saturday afternoon, he will join two exclusive driver groups. A total of 20 drivers have won a race in all three touring series and Keselowski could join that group with a win. However, a smaller group awaits the 28-year-old. Keselowski can also join his father, Bob Keselowski, as the only father-son duo to win a NCWTS race.
• It’s Miller Time… The featured tag line on the rear bumper of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge this weekend in Kansas is “It’s Miller Time.” One of the most-recognized slogans in recent memory, “It’s Miller Time” can be found within many popular culture references. MillerCoors decided to bring back the slogan last month.
• The Rest is History... Penske Racing has competed in every NASCAR Cup Series event held at Kansas Speedway since the racetrack opened in 2001. In that first event, Ryan Newman and Rusty Wallace finished second and fourth, respectively, to capture two of the organization’s five top-five finishes at the track. In 28 combined starts, Penske Racing drivers have captured two wins (2003 – Ryan Newman, 2011 – Keselowski), 10 top-10 finishes and have led 509 laps at Kansas Speedway.

Brad Keselowski on his career since his win at Kansas Speedway last June
“As a racecar driver, it’s really hard to try to reflect back on past successes as you are trying to continue to move forward and progress. I’ve always said that past success, or failure for that matter, doesn’t guarantee anything for the future. There is no doubt, though, that this Miller Lite Dodge team is in a different place than we were prior to the race at Kansas last spring. I think, going back to our (NASCAR) Nationwide Series championship year in 2010, Paul and I always knew we could get it done at this level. He has done a great job in building a very good team, which makes all the difference. Now, we go to the track expecting to be one of the cars to beat. It’s really just a cool feeling to know that we are continuing the proud tradition of the ‘Blue Deuce’ and I think the best is yet to come.”

Brad Keselowski on how Kansas Speedway compares to other mile-and-a-half ovals
“Kansas is quite a bit different than some of the more traditional mile-and-a-half tracks, like Charlotte and Texas. It’s really similar to Auto Club Speedway in California. There are obvious differences in size as California is a two-mile track. The straightaway speed is not quite the same, but the corners are really similar. You can also run all over the track at Kansas, from the high lane to the low lane. It’s a great racetrack. It’s obviously going to be a completely different racetrack when we go back in the fall, following the resurfacing project. I’m sure they will do a great job and we’ll continue to have good racing at Kansas.”

Crew chief Paul Wolfe on Kansas Speedway
“We’ve been very happy with our race setup at Kansas and I think our stats from last year prove that. A win and a third-place finish is about as good as it gets. Our focus, as it was last fall, will be on qualifying. Even though we won the spring race from the 25th position, track position is very important. Once we got Brad out front in that race, it was almost like we gave him a completely different Miller Lite Dodge. If we can qualify up front, I’m confident that Brad can keep the car up there all day and we can be there at the end.”