Catchfence

PREVIEW – Brad Keselowski (No. 88 Degree V12 Chevrolet)

EVENT – Food City 250 (250 laps/ 250 miles)

TRACK – Bristol Motor Speedway (.533-Mile Oval)

DATE – Friday, August 21, 2009

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

THIRD TIME’S A CHARM – Keselowski won his third NASCAR Nationwide Series race last weekend at his home track of Michigan International Speedway. After racing patiently as Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers fought for the lead with two laps to go, Keselowski made a three-wide pass off of turn four to take the lead on the white-flag lap. This was also the third win for primary sponsor GoDaddy.com.

SEASON STATS – Keselowski remains third in the championship standings, 389 back from leader Kyle Busch, but only 50 points from second place Carl Edwards. In 23 races, Keselowski and the No. 88 team have three wins, 12 top-fives, 17 top-10s and one pole award. His average starting position is 13.5 and average finish is 8.1.

KESELOWSKI AT BRISTOL – Keselowski will be making his fifth NASCAR Nationwide Series start for JR Motorsports at Bristol this weekend. He has an average finish of 6.0 and won this event last season with a late-race pass on Clint Bowyer. Keselowski finished 12th at Bristol earlier this season.

DRIVING HIS OWN – This weekend, Keselowski will attempt to make the field in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at BMS. He will be driving his own Brad Keselowski Racing No. 29 Chevrolet. The No. 29 has been raced twice this year at Martinsville Speedway and the Milwaukee Mile by BKR driver Mikey Kile.

SHORT TRACK SPECIALIST – Keselowski has done well at the four short tracks the series has visited in 2009, which include Bristol, Richmond, O’Reilly Raceway Park, and Iowa. At these four tracks, Keselowski has registered one win, three top fives and an average finish of 5.2.

CHASSIS NO. 403 – The No. 88 Degree V12 team will run Chassis No. 403 this weekend in the Food City 250 at BMS. This car was last run at Iowa where Keselowski started 11th and finished first. This is also the car that Keselowski drove to victory at Dover in May.

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.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 what the win at Michigan meant to him) – “I was almost speechless in victory lane because of my excitement. That win meant so much to me and to this team as well. I’ve said it before, but you just have to put yourself in a position for something like that and good things will happen. I saw those two (Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers) racing each other hard for the win. At that point I knew I was either going to take the checkers or wreck, and I’m certainly glad it ended the way it did. I hope it was as exciting for those fans as it was for me in the car. It was awesome that almost all of my family was able to be there in victory lane with me. That’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

KESELOWSKI (on coming back to Bristol) – “I really love coming to Bristol. Not only is it a track where I got a win last year, but we routinely finish well there. There’s just something about night races under the lights that gets everyone a little excited. I think it reminds us as racers of our early careers when we would be at local shorts tracks racing for pride and parts money. I think we can use the momentum from the last couple of weeks to our advantage, and I would love to put some more burn marks down leading up to victory lane this weekend.”

- JR Motorsports Press Release