News

THE RACE

U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway (.875-mile oval, Newton, Iowa)
Saturday, August 2, 8:00 PM ET
 
THE CAR

The No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang
Driven by Brad Keselowski

THE NEWS AND NOTES

The No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang
 
· LONG DISTANCE DOUBLE: Brad Keselowski returns to the driver seat of the Discount Tire Ford Mustang this weekend for his seventh “double duty” race weekend of the season. This one is unusual in that it is a non-companion race weekend, which means that Keselowski will fly almost 4,000 miles to race 650-miles between Pocono and Iowa.

· EXCEPTIONAL AVERAGE: Through six NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) starts in 2014, Keselowski has a top-four-average starting position and a 1.8-average finish. He has not finished outside of the top-three this season and has an astonishing 1.4-average start over the past five races. The 2010 NNS Champ also owns two victories at Iowa Speedway and has not finished outside of the top-four in four starts.

· TWO FOR SIX: In six starts, Keselowski has two NNS victories this season and each of those wins preceded a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory the following day. Thus far this season, Keselowski is the only driver to sweep a NNS/NSCS race weekend.

· CLOSING IN ON OWNERS POINTS: The No. 22 Discount Tire Ford team has been making steady gains in its quest for the top spot in the NNS Owners’ Point standings. The Team Penske squad currently sits just eight points off series leaders Joe Gibbs Racing.

· ESCALATING RECORDS: After winning the NNS race at New Hampshire a couple of weeks ago, Keselowski now sits sixth in all-time NNS victories category with 29 career wins to his credit. He needs just two more checkered flags to catch fifth-place Jack Ingram.
 

THE Q & A

BRAD KESELOWSKI, NO. 22 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD
 IOWA HAS BEEN A GOOD TRACK FOR YOU. WHAT IS IT ABOUT IOWA THAT SUITS YOU SO WELL?

“When you go to a track for the first time and win, it leaves a favorable impression. Since then we’ve done well there and it is a track that I enjoy running. The Discount Tire team has steadily built itself into one of the premier teams in the series and things are starting to click for us this season. Looking at our results this year, it has been pretty solid and we are looking to continue that trend this weekend.”

JEREMY BULLINS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 22 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD

WILL MISSING ONE PRACTICE IMPACT THE TEAM’S PERFORMANCE THIS WEEKEND?

“While we’d prefer to utilize all available track time, we are fortunate to have a driver with Brad’s abilities in the car. From the team’s perspective, it speaks to how important the Nationwide program is to Brad that he’s willing to commute back and forth from Pocono to run this race. When you have a guy who wants to win that badly, it’s up to us to give him the car to do that, and we work hard every week to take cars to the track that are capable of winning. Hopefully, we can put it all together and get this Discount Tire Ford Mustang in victory circle on Saturday night and make the flight back to Pocono worth it.”