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Verizon Team News and Notes
• This Week’s Verizon Dodge … Justin Allgaier will pilot Penske Racing chassis PRS-207 in Friday evening’s Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway. This is a brand new Verizon Dodge Challenger that will be put through its first paces this weekend at Richmond.
• Through 26 Races … With 26 races of the 2010 season in the record books, Allgaier has accumulated one pole, one win, six top-five and 14 top-10 finishes, an average starting position of 12.4 and an average finish of 12.7. Allgaier has led 133 laps of competition and has completed 96.8 percent of the laps contested (4,536 of 4,684) so far this season.
• Get to the Points … Allgaier ranks fourth in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship point standings heading into this weekend’s event at RIR. He trails current point leader and Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski by 742 points, and third-place contender Kyle Busch by 191 points.
• Best in Class … Allgaier’s fourth-place position in the point standings is best among full-time, Nationwide Series-only drivers. Allgaier leads fellow Nationwide-only driver Trevor Bayne, currently ranked seventh, by 439 points.
• Allgaier at Richmond … In three previous NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at RIR, Allgaier has one top-10 finish. Additionally, the 24-year-old driver has an average starting position of 22.3, an average finish of 20.3, and has completed 85.4 percent of the laps contested (642 of 752) at the .75-mile oval.
• Testing, 1-2-3 … Prior to heading to Richmond, Allgaier and the No. 12 team went to Gresham Motorsports Park for a test session on Wednesday, September 1.
• Short Track Averages … In 12 previous Nationwide Series starts at tracks under one mile in length, (Bristol Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway, O’Reilly Raceway Park, Memphis Motorsports Park and RIR) Allgaier has one pole, one win, two top-five and five top-10 finishes, an average starting position of 13.8, an average finish of 16.5, has completed 2,808 of 3,011 of the laps contested and has led 98 laps.
• Last Time Out … Allgaier struggled early with a multitude of handling issues in last Saturday night’s Great Clips 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but chassis adjustments made by the Chad Walter-led crew helped the third-year driver keep ahead of the changing track conditions to log a 13th-place finish. 
• Penske Racing in 2010 … With 26 races completed in the 2010 season, Penske Racing’s two NASCAR Nationwide Series entries have recorded six poles, five wins, a combined 24 top-five and 35 top-10 finishes. Penske Dodges have completed 9,219 of 9,368 laps contested, and have been atop the leaderboard for 1,055 laps with drivers Allgaier and Keselowski.
• Penske Racing at Richmond … In 10 previous Nationwide Series starts at Richmond International Raceway, Penske Racing entries have recorded one win, three top-five and four top-10 finishes. Penske Dodges have been atop the leaderboard for 199 circuits in their time at Richmond, and have completed 82.8 percent of the laps contested (2,165 of 2,509).
• Meet the Driver … Fans can meet Allgaier on Thursday, September 9 from 6 – 7 p.m. EDT at the Verizon Wireless store located at 7264 Mechanicsville Turnpike in Mechanicsville, Va. The following day, he will sign for fans at the Penske Racing souvenir trailer, located in the midway at RIR, from 2:05 – 2:35 p.m.
• Welcome Home, Jay … Jay Hackney, front tire changer, is the only native Virginian on the No. 12 Verizon Dodge team. Hackney was born and raised in Haysi, located about 360 miles west of Richmond.

Justin Allgaier on Richmond International Raceway
“I feel that racing at Richmond is as good as it gets. The fans get to see good, close racing - and it’s at night, which makes it that much better. You carry a lot of speed down the straightaways, and when you get to the corner it feels like you almost come to a complete stop. It’s a fun track, I wish there were more like it on the circuit, but I think that if someone tried to create a similar track, they’d have a hard time perfecting it the way that it’s been done there. It truly is a unique race track, and a lot of fun to drive.”

Crew chief Chad Walter on Richmond International Raceway
“I absolutely love racing at Richmond. It’s a very challenging track, but it’s without a doubt a racer’s race track. We’ve been pretty successful with our new-car program thus far, so we’ll look to expand on that this weekend. We’ll certainly head to Richmond with confidence knowing that Penske Racing has adapted well to the Challenger transition. We had a successful test last week at Gresham, and we feel like we learned some things there that will translate to Richmond this weekend.”