Virginia 529 College Savings 250
Richmond International Raceway
Friday, April 27, 2012
SAM HORNISH JR. – No. 12 Wurth Dodge Challenger Crew Chief: Chad Walter
Career Stats: Starts: 39 Wins: 1 Top Fives: 2 Top 10s: 8 Poles: 0 Laps Led: 122
2012 Season Stats: Starts: 6 Wins: 0 Top Fives: 0 Top 10s: 2 Poles: 0 Laps Led: 7
• Fourth in Nationwide Series championship standings, 34 points behind leader Elliott Sadler.
• Has gained three positions in the standings in the last three races.
• Completed 99.91 percent of laps this season (1,169 of 1,170), fourth best among Nationwide regulars.
• Best career start (second-place) came at RIR in 2011 spring race.
• Has one top 10 in three previous RIR starts (seventh-place in 2011 spring race).
BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 22 Discount Tire/SKF Dodge Challenger Crew Chief: Jeremy Bullins
Career Stats: Starts: 174 Wins: 17 Top Fives: 77 Top 10s: 107 Poles: 12 Laps Led: 2,825
2012 Season Stats: Starts: 6 Wins: 0 Top Fives: 4 Top 10s: 4 Poles: 0 Laps Led: 71
• Won 2010 spring race at RIR, leading 189 of 252 laps and edging Greg Biffle by just .261 seconds.
• Won pole for the 2011 fall race at RIR.
• Finished fifth or better in five of last six NNS races at RIR.
DODGE QUOTES: “Richmond races are a lot more like a mile-and-a-half because the track is smooth enough and wide enough that you can get around there on the top. You can get around other people on the top when they are a little bit free in or free off because you’re able to roll the center with a little bit more speed than they can. It helps extenuate their loose off because now they have to hold the car down a little bit more to give you that room coming off the corner. People get annoyed there sometimes because of the fact they feel like you’re not giving them enough room.” — Sam Hornish, Jr.
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY NUMBERS
• Dodge has one Nationwide win at RIR (Brad Keselowski, 2010 spring race).
• A Dodge has started from the pole four times at RIR.
• Dodge has nine top-five and 23 top-10 finishes at RIR.
• There will be five jet dryers on hand for track service; it takes approximately 90 minutes to dry the track.
DODGE IN THE NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
• DID YOU KNOW? The most Dodge drivers to finish in the top 10 in a Nationwide race at Richmond are four (in the 2005 spring race).
• Dodge is fielding two full-time entries in the series this year. Sam Hornish Jr. is competing for the series championship while Brad Keselowski and Parker Kligerman are sharing the driving duties in the second Penske Racing entry.
• Dodge claimed its first NASCAR championship in 2010 when Penske Racing’s Brad Keselowski captured the driver’s title.
• Dodge has 41 wins in the series including seven in each of the last two seasons. The first Nationwide Series win came in 2002. In 2005, Dodge had 11 wins in the series. A Dodge has started from the pole 48 times.
FROM THE CREW CHIEF “There’s plenty of room at Richmond to race each other clean if you want to, if you choose to go that route. Usually a couple of grooves will come in and you can make some passes on the top; you can get some runs on guys off the bottom. We’re taking the same car we ran at Phoenix and felt like we were in position to win by the end of that race. I’m pretty excited about going there.” –Jeremy Bullins, Crew Chief, No. 22 Discount Tire/SKF Dodge Challenger
