News

Brad Keselowski
No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Charger
Bucyrus 200 presented by Menards
Road America
June 19, 2010

No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Charger News and Notes 
• This Week’s Charger… The No. 22 Penske Racing Discount Tire Dodge Charger team will use chassis PRS-036 during Saturday’s inaugural race at Road America. This is a brand-new chassis to the team.
• The No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Charger in 2010... After 14 races, Keselowski and the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge team currently lead the Nationwide Series driver point standings by 272 points over Carl Edwards. Keselowski has led the standings since his win at Talladega Superspeedway in April.
• A New Series Record... Upon finishing the race at Kentucky Speedway last Saturday, Keselowski extended his NASCAR Nationwide Series record of 81 consecutive races without a DNF (Did Not Finish).
• Series Leader… Keselowski leads the Nationwide Series in top-five finishes (11), top-10 finishes (13) and laps completed. He has completed all 2,749 laps contested this season and has led the field for 522 of those circuits.
• Keselowski Road Course Stats… Keselowski has made six road course starts in his Nationwide Series career, with one top-five finish (Montreal – 2009) and four top-10 finishes. 
• Helping Hand from a Teammate…  Keselowski will not practice his car on Friday as he will be at Infineon Raceway, site of this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race. Penske Racing teammate, Parker Kligerman, will be on-hand for the practice sessions. 
• Non-Companions… Keselowski will fly over 4,500 miles between Road America and Infineon Raceway this weekend. This is the last “non-companion” event until the July 30-August 1 weekend when the Cup Series will be at Pocono Raceway while the Nationwide Series will hold an event at Iowa Speedway.
• Penske Racing History at Road America... While Penske Racing has never made a Nationwide Series start at Road America, cars owned by Roger Penske have made 58 combined starts in six other series at the track: CART, ALMS, Formula 5000, Trans-Am, Can-Am and USRRC. In those starts the teams have recorded eight wins.
• Hauler Parade… George Larrabee, driver of the No. 22 Discount Tire transporter, will take part in Road America’s inaugural Hauler Parade on Wednesday, June 16. The event kicks off at 2:30 p.m. at the Times Printing Company, located at 100 Industrial Drive, Random Lake, WI. The parade then winds along Highway 57 to Road America. For more information, log onto visitsheboygancounty.com.

Brad Keselowski on the inaugural race at Road America
“While it’s a little sad that we aren’t going to the Milwaukee Mile this year, at least we are still going to Wisconsin to race in front of some of the best race fans in the country. Road America is an amazing road course, but it’s also going to be very challenging. It’s very fast, and it has lots of blind spots. The backstretch is almost completely lined with trees. We are going to have to really depend on our spotters. I’ve worked hard on my road course racing over the years and I think we can go there and compete for the win. It would be great to win that first trophy.”

Brad Keselowski on running two road course races in one weekend
“Running two road course races in the same weekend is more difficult than going between a road course and an oval. You would think it would make it easier, but it doesn’t. You have more to memorize. There is more shifting, which can be extremely hard on your hands because they can blister very easily. It’s just a very grueling weekend. It does allow you to stay with the road course mindset for the entire weekend, but other than that it is more of a challenge.”

Crew chief Paul Wolfe on preparing a car for road course racing
“Road course racing is very hard on equipment so you really have to beef up a lot of your suspension pieces to make them last the entire race. Plus, turning right is not something that we do on a regular basis and it takes a completely different setup to do that. I’m not sure that there are many of us that know what to expect when we get to Road America this weekend. It’s a big road course with a lot of high-speed areas. The open practice on Thursday afternoon will be very important for us to establish a baseline. I’m looking forward to it. To be a part of any inaugural race is cool.”