Catchfence

PREVIEW – Brad Keselowski (No. 88 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet)

EVENT – Kroger 200 (200 laps/ 137.2 miles)

TRACK – O’Reilly Raceway Park (.686- Mile Oval)

DATE – Saturday, July 25, 2009

TV/ RADIO BROADCAST INFO – ESPN2 (coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 7:30 p.m. EST)

SEASON STATS – Keselowski remains third in the championship standings, 377 points behind leader Kyle Busch. In 19 races, Keselowski and the No. 88 team have one win, nine top-fives, 13 top-10s and one pole award. His average starting position is 14.0 and average finish is 9.1.

KESELOWSKI AT ORP – Keselowski is making his third Nationwide Series start this weekend at O’Reilly Raceway Park for JR Motorsports. In his two previous starts, Keselowski has one top-10 finish which came back in 2007.

RECORD-BREAKER – Keselowski’s qualifying time last weekend of 33.158 seconds was good enough to set the record at Gateway International Raceway. Incidentally, Reed Sorensen posted the same lap speed and time, but because the No. 88 team is ranked higher in owner’s points, Keselowski was awarded the pole and track record.

GOOD FINISHES WITH GODADDY.COM – So far this season, Keselowski has enjoyed solid finishes when GoDaddy.com is on the hood of the No. 88 Chevy. Since the first Nashville race in June, Keselowski has one win, five top-fives, six top-10s and an average finish of 3.5 when GoDaddy.com is the primary sponsor.

THE BENEFIT OF TEAMMATES – On the weekends that Keselowski is teamed with a driver in the JR Motorsports No. 5 Chevy, he has an average start of 16.8 and average finish of 10.1. Of the four teammates Keselowski has had so far in 2009, he has done the best when Scott Wimmer is behind the wheel of the No. 5 with an average finish of 7.0. Wimmer will be driving the No. 5 Fastenal Chevy for JRM this weekend at ORP.

CHASSIS NO. 528 – The No. 88 GoDaddy.com team will run Chassis No. 528 this weekend in the Kroger 200. This car was last raced at New Hampshire in June where Keselowski started seventh and finished third.

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 www.RealFanOfTheYear.comto 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.)

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KESELOWSKI (on going back to ORP) – “I have been going to races at ORP for many years- I think since about 1993. I was just a kid back then, but I was helping with my family’s Truck Series team so I’m very familiar with the track and I’ve always liked it. Going back there definitely reminds me of those times with the family team. It’s a great little short track with a lot of character and one where I would definitely like to get a win. I picked a really great time to get my first pole last weekend because our pit stall position will carry over from Gateway to ORP and that will only serve to benefit this team in our quest to get back to victory lane. I’m excited to have GoDaddy.com back as my primary sponsor this weekend too because we just seem to do well when they are on the hood.”

KESELOWSKI (on having Scott Wimmer back as a teammate) – “While it’s sometimes a challenge to have a number of different drivers as teammates in the No. 5 car, it’s good to know that I will always have a good one. The amount of experience and talent behind the wheel of that car is awesome and this weekend with Scott (Wimmer) is no different. He’s had success at ORP and I’m excited to work with him there this weekend. It’s just good to know I have someone else in the garage to kind of hash things out with- the track, the handling of the car and stuff like that. Sometimes they will see something that I don’t and vice versa.”

- JR Motorsports Press Release