PREVIEW – Brad Keselowski (No. 88 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet)
EVENT – NAPA Auto Parts 200 (74 laps/ 200.466 miles)
TRACK – Circuit Gilles Villenueve (2.709-Mile Road Course)
DATE – Sunday, August 30, 2009
TV/ RADIO BROADCAST INFO – ESPN2 (coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 2:00 p.m. EST)
SEASON STATS – Keselowski remains third in the championship standings, 303 points behind leader Kyle Busch. In 24 races, Keselowski and the No. 88 team have three wins, 13 top-fives, 18 top-10s and two pole awards. His average starting position is 13.0 and average finish is 7.9.
SECOND POLE AWARD – Last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, Keselowski earned his second pole of the season with a speed of 120.566 mph. Keselowski finished third in the event after leading three times for 43 laps.
KESELOWSKI AT MONTREAL – Keselowski will be making his second NASCAR Nationwide Series start for JR Motorsports at Circuit Gilles Villenueve this weekend. In his only previous start at the road course, Keselowski started 28th and finished 12th. Keselowski has three other starts at road courses for JR Motorsports including two at Watkins Glen and one at Autodromos Hermanos Rodriguez where he has three top-10 finishes.
BRINGING THE HEAT – Over the last five races of the long summer stretch, Keselowski has earned more points (853) than any other driver in the series. This makes sense considering over the last five races, Keselowski has earned two wins and four top-fives with an average finish of 3.6.
MERCI, RON – This weekend will mark the final time this season that Keselowski will race with Ron Fellows as a teammate. Fellows will pilot the No. 5 Fastenal Chevy for JRM and this is the second time Keselowski has had him as a teammate in Montreal. When Keselowski and Fellows have been on track under the JRM banner, Keselowski has one top-10 finish and an average finish of 10.5.
CHASSIS NO. 368 – The No. 88 GoDaddy.com team will run Chassis No. 368 this weekend in the NAPA
Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villenueve. This car was last run at Watkins Glen earlier this season where Keselowski started 14th and finished ninth. This car was also raced in Montreal last season.
“DALE JR’S GREAT GIVEAWAY” TO AWARD MORE THAN 60 PRIZES – JR Motorsports announced the beginning of its six-week online promotion, “Dale Jr.’s Great Giveaway”, in which fans can register at www.DaleJrsGreatGiveaway.com to win 60prize packages. Beginning Aug. 14th, prizes will be distributed each week for six weeks. The prizes include gift certificates, product packages, autographed merchandise, personal driver meet-n-greets, and race-weekend giveaways. 12 of JR Motorsports’ sponsorship partners donated the prizes. Registration began on Aug. 7th, and runs through Sept. 18th. For complete rules, regulations, and a list of all 60 prizes please visit www.DaleJrsGreatGiveaway.com.
EDUCATION FOR ELI: With the effort and support of the entire NASCAR community, a college fund has been set up for Eli Ross, the 2-year-old grandson of late motorsports journalist David Poole, who passed away on April 28. Anyone interested in contributing to the “Education for Eli” fund can do so by sending donations to the following address:
Eli Samuel Ross
Bank of Stanly
Attn: Misty Nordan
P.O. Box 539
Oakboro, NC 28129
(Please make checks payable to “Eli Ross Account” at Bank of Stanly.)
For more information, please call the Bank of Stanly at 704.485.3435.
DEGREE V12 CHALLENGE – NASCAR fans can now team up with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski in the Degree V12 Challenge. The Degree V12 Driving Challenge features five road races that give players a unique and exciting online race experience. Players compete against each other for a chance to win a variety of prizes including a trip to the Degree V12 300 in Atlanta on September 6, 2009 and a chance to meet Dale Jr. Visit www.DegreeRacing.com to register for the Degree V12 Challenge and begin racing to win. (No purchase necessary. Must be 18 to enter. Void where prohibited. Ends 12/27/09. Visit www.DegreeRacing.com for complete rules.)
IN SEARCH OF REAL FANS: The search continues for the Hellmann’s NASCAR Real Fan of the Year! Three contest winners have been chosen so far, but there are still four more spots on the car and fans can log on to a href=”http://www.RealFanOfTheYear.com “>www.RealFanOfTheYear.com to enter for their chance to win. Finalists will get to meet Dale Jr. and have their face on the hood of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Nationwide Chevrolet this October for the Dollar General 300 race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. (No purchase necessary. Must be 18 to enter. Void where prohibited. Ends 8/31/09. Go to www.RealFanOfTheYear.com for complete rules.)
KESELOWSKI (on how well the No. 88 team has done over the summer stretch) – “I said all during the spring how important this long stretch of summer races would be to how we would finish at the end of the year. This team has worked so hard and we have been able to get the results to back that up. We had a slight hiccup at Chicagoland, but were able to make up for it with the wins at Iowa and Michigan. Looking at the big picture, I think we still have a shot at the points championship and we are going to continue to work toward that end. There is still a lot of good racing to come before the season is done and I know this team has more wins in its future.”
KESELOWSKI (on returning to Montreal) – “Montreal is such a great city and I’m excited that we get the chance to go back there this year. We get to stay right in the downtown area and there are so many great restaurants and things to do. The racing is great too. I love to be challenged and this track definitely offers a challenge. Last year having the rain made things even more interesting and we were still able to come away with a solid finish. I’m hopeful that the weather will hold off for us this year, but regardless, I think we are going to be able to put on a good show for the fans that come out on Sunday.”
- JR Motorsports Press Release