 |
Photo courtesy of Autostock |
Brad Keselowski No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger Alliance Truck Parts 250 Michigan International Speedway
No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger News and Notes
• This Week’s Challenger… The Penske Racing Discount Tire Dodge Challenger team will use chassis PRS-216 during Saturday’s Alliance Truck Parts 250 at Michigan International Speedway. Keselowski last drove this chassis to a third-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway in April.
• The No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger in 2011... After 14 events, Brad Keselowski and the reigning champion No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger team are ranked ninth in the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) owner point standings. The team is coming off a 30th-place finish in the STP 300 two weeks ago at Chicagoland Speedway after engine issues forced them to retire early from the event.
• Three’s Company... Keselowski owns two NNS wins at MIS, the third track where he has produced multiple NASCAR victories (Talladega and Nashville are the others). This weekend, the Rochester Hills, Mich., native will attempt to grab his third MIS win, which would give him more NNS wins at his home track than any other driver in the series. Keselowski has also won the last two consecutive NNS races at Michigan.
• We Don’t Need No Stinking Clutch… At lap 62 of last year’s NNS event at Michigan, Keselowski radioed that he had no clutch left in his No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger. Fortunately, the issue had no bearing on the outcome of the race as Keselowski cruised to his 10th career NNS victory while proclaiming over the radio that he “didn’t need no stinking clutch.”
• Keselowski Speedway Stats… In 89 speedway starts in the Nationwide Series, Keselowski has accumulated five wins, 38 top-five finishes, 53 top-10 results and four pole awards. In addition, he has led the field for 995 laps at tracks between one and two miles in length.
• Follow Brad on Twitter… Fans can now follow Keselowski on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/keselowski. Followers can get a glimpse inside his everyday life while keeping up-to-date on the latest Cup Series and Nationwide Series news for the Penske Racing driver.
• Meet Brad Keselowski… Keselowski will make a public appearance at the Discount Tire store located at 1483 East U.S. Highway 224 in Adrian, Mich., on Thursday, June 16 beginning at 4 p.m. EDT.
Brad Keselowski on going for three straight NNS wins at Michigan International Speedway
“It felt really good to dominate the way we did at Michigan last year with the new Discount Tire Dodge Challenger. As a driver, you dream about having cars that drive like that one did. That win helped validate the win from 2009 because I heard a lot about that race being given to me. All you can do is put yourself in position for wins and that’s what I felt I did in that race. Last year, there was no doubt who had the best car. We definitely need a win in 2011 and I can’t think of a better track to pick one up than Michigan. We should have a pretty strong notes package from last year that should help us roll right off the truck with speed. It would be pretty sweet to get three in a row at my home track.”
Crew chief Todd Gordon on preparing a car for Michigan International Speedway
“I think our intermediate track program is starting to come around to the point where I feel like we should be competing for wins. We’re just missing that little bit to put us over the top. Michigan should provide us with a good track to make that leap. We had an off-weekend while the Cup cars were in Pocono, but I don’t think very many of us took a vacation. We were all focused on getting as prepared as we can for this weekend because of the importance that is placed on running well at Michigan, especially after the dominating win by this team there last year. Michigan, for the Nationwide Series cars, is all about momentum and keeping the car wound up the entire lap. It’s a big, wide racetrack that is very forgiving, which is the reason that it is a favorite of the drivers and teams.”
