No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger Preview-Pocono 400
June 6, 2012
Brad Keselowski
No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
Pocono 400
Pocono Raceway
Sunday, June 10, 2012
TV: TNT at 12:00 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-818 during Sunday’s Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway. Brad Keselowski last drove this chassis to a ninth-place finish at Martinsville Speedway in April.
• No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger in 2012… After 13 points-paying events, Keselowski and the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team are ranked 11th in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) driver and owner point rankings. The team is coming off a 12th-place finish in the FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway last Sunday.
• Most-Recent Winner… Keselowski will go down in the history books as the last NSCS winner on the old Pocono racing surface with his victory on the triangular-shaped track last August. Just days after breaking a bone in his foot in a testing accident, Keselowski scored his second victory of the season to clinch a spot in the 2011 Chase for the Championship.
• A Pocono Family Affair… Keselowski’s father, 1989 ARCA RE/MAX Series champion Bob Keselowski, made his only NASCAR Cup Series start at Pocono Raceway in 1994. Brad’s uncle, Ron Keselowski, picked up a win at the 2.5-mile triangle in the now-defunct USAC stock car division in April of 1974.
•. Have a Beer with Brad… Keselowski will appear at the Luna Rossa located at Route 209 in Gilbert, Pa. on Thursday night at 7 pm. Stop by and have a beer with Brad.
• New Punch Top Can… With a successful legacy as innovators in the beer market, Miller Lite has debuted a new innovation in the Punch Top Can. This new can features a second tab to be opened for a smoother pour with less glug. To help launch this new campaign, Keselowski is featured in a national television advertisement for the Punch Top Can.
• The Rest is History... Penske Racing has enjoyed considerable success at Pocono Raceway. In 81 Cup Series starts, Penske Racing drivers have recorded nine wins, five pole awards and 20 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. Both Penske Racing entries scored top-five finishes in the fall race last year, highlighted by Keselowski’s win.
Brad Keselowski on what to expect this weekend on the new Pocono Raceway surface
“Pocono is definitely going to be interesting. With the new track surface it’s definitely going to change the type of racing that we’ve seen there in the past. Certainly there are a lot of unknowns until we get there and test this week. We anticipate that it’s going to be fast, most likely a one-groove track to start. But until we get there with 43 cars on the track, we just don’t know. Our Miller Lite Dodge has had success on the old Pocono surface. I’m going to kind of miss the style of racing that Pocono brought to the drivers. I understand the change is necessary. We have some tire test data from the Goodyear test that (teammate) AJ (Allmendinger) participated in at Pocono. The rest is up to us to figure the new place out.”
Brad Keselowski on returning to the site of a win
“Any time you go back to a track where you’ve won, or had some kind of success, it gives the driver and his team a little pep in their step. Even though it’s a different racetrack than last fall, this Miller Lite Dodge team is still the last team to win at Pocono. I know everyone takes a lot of pride in that. We were able to duplicate last year’s win at Bristol with another one in March of this year. It’d be great to win another at Pocono and become the first winner on the new surface too. I’ve been going to Pocono since I was a kid to watch my dad and uncle race, so it’s cool to me to be able to add my own history at that track.”
Crew chief Paul Wolfe on Pocono Raceway
“In last year’s race at Pocono we proved that once we get a second crack at a racetrack, we can have success. Now we have to start all over with our notes on the new surface that we’ll see this weekend. No one is really sure what to expect. One thing that should stay the same is that you need to be good off Turn 4 to carry you down the long Pocono frontstretch and into Turn 1. We’re making gains on the Miller Lite Dodge. We’ve found a bit of consistency over the last several weeks. Hopefully that will carry over to Pocono.”