Catchfence

HISTORICAL DATA
• Total Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Wins: 202
• First Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win: Lee Petty, 2/1/53, West Palm, Fla.,
100 miles, .5-mile track.
• Last Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win: Kurt Busch, 03/08/2009, 2009 Kobalt
Tools 500, 127.573 mph avg. speed.
• First Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win at Richmond: Lee Petty, 04/19/1953,
1953 Richmond 200, 45.535 mph avg. speed.
• Last Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win at Richmond: Kasey Kahne, 05/11/2005,
Chevy 400, 100.316 mph avg. speed.

DODGE AT RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
• Dodge has 17 wins at Richmond including three since the manufacturer returned
to NASCAR’s premier series in 2001.
• Kasey Kahne won from the pole in the 2005 spring event at Richmond, his first
Sprint Cup victory.
• Kurt Busch is one of four current drivers with six top 10s at RIR.
• Lee Petty drove a Dodge to victory in the first NASCAR race at Richmond
in1953; a 200-lap event on what was then a .5-mile dirt track.
• Dodge winners at Richmond include Lee Petty, Buck Baker, David Pearson, Cotton
Owens, Bobby Allison, Richard Petty, Dave Marcis, Neil Bonnett, Ryan Newman,
Jeremy Mayfield and Kasey Kahne.
• David Pearson posted three straight wins in a Dodge at RIR (1965-66).

THE DODGE BOYS
• Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) is the current NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series point leader. The last time he led the points was after Las Vegas in
March 2005, 149 races ago.
• Dodge’s most recent win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was Kurt Busch’s
victory in the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 8. All seven
Dodge teams running the full 36-race Sprint Cup schedule are inside the top-35
in 2009 owner points: Kurt Busch (1st), Kasey Kahne (14th), David Stremme
(22nd), Reed Sorenson (24th) AJ Allmendinger (27th), Elliott Sadler (28th) and
Sam Hornish Jr. (31st).
• Kasey Kahne recorded the 200th win by Dodge in the Sprint Cup Series with his
victory in the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway last season.
• Kurt Busch’s top-12 media opportunity this week will be Friday at 4:15 p.m. in
the infield media center. It will feature an announcement regarding a new
fund-raiser for the Kurt Busch Foundation.

DODGE DRIVER NOTES & ANECDOTES
• Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) has finished 23rd or better in
the first nine races in 2009. He has finished 11th or better in seven of the
nine events.
• Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger) has one win, two top-five and five
top-10 finishes at Richmond.
• AJ Allmendinger (No. 44 PVA.org Kings Cup Dodge Charger) will be making his
fifth career start at RIR.
• Sam Hornish Jr. (No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger) earned his first career top-10
finish two weeks ago, a ninth at Phoenix.
• David Stremme (No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge Charger) will be making his sixth
start at RIR, but first for Penske Racing.

DID YOU KNOW?
• Eleven of the last 12 races at Richmond have been won from a top-10 starting
position.
• Richard Petty is the youngest driver to win a Cup race at Richmond, doing so
on April 21, 1961. He was 23 years, 9 months, 21 days. He totaled 13 wins in
63 Richmond starts.
• Kurt Busch was 20th in the point standings heading into the 2008 spring event
at Richmond.
• Kasey Kahne was 13th in the driver standings after nine races last year. He’s
currently 14th, 33 points out of 12th.
• Elliott Sadler (No. 19 Stanley Tools Dodge Charger) has a career-best Richmond
finish of seventh (2005).
• Reed Sorenson (No. 43 McDonald’s McCafe Dodge Charger) started fifth and
finished 12th in last year’s spring event at Richmond.

DODGE QUOTES

“Whether our results show it or not, I feel like we’re usually a pretty fast
car. We’re usually real close to a top-10 or top-15 car. The wreck at
Talladega hurt us in the points and that was a deal that you just can’t control.
Richmond, Charlotte, Dover and Darlington – all those tracks I’ve ran well at.
This could be a good month or month and a half for us to get back to where we
need to be and hopefully back in the top 10 in points.”
Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger

“I’ve always enjoyed competing at Richmond because it’s a multi-groove racetrack
and that makes for exciting racing for drivers and fans alike. Patience is
always important at short tracks because the goal is to be there in the end.
We’ve made great strides in our short-track program – my first top-10 in Cup
Series competition came just a couple of weeks ago in Phoenix – and I am excited
to continue the momentum of this No. 77 at a track where I have had great
success in the past.”
Sam Hornish Jr., Mobil 1 Dodge Charger

“I like Richmond. It’s getting better and better as the asphalt gets older
because the groove seems to be getting wider and wider. We can now run two-wide
around the track and you can move around the track to make your car better or
worse. Richmond is one of the coolest tracks where you can run side by side and
give a good show to the fans. It’s a good size track with just enough banking
to give it some speed and really good racing.”
Reed Sorenson, No. 43 McDonald’s McCafe Dodge Charger

Richmond is a great track. I think it is fast enough for fans to feel our speed
but its small enough where we can beat and bang. We need to get back on track
at Richmond and get back to running well. We just got caught up in someone
else’s wreck at Talladega. It’s a long season and you know you are going to go
through some stuff like this.”
AJ Allmendinger, No. 44 PVA.org King’s Cup Dodge Charger

“Richmond is a great place. It is a wide track so you can pass, unlike some of
the other short tracks we go to. It is crucial to not use up the brakes early in
the race as they are paramount. You carry a lot of speed into the corners and
need to be able to get the car slowed, pointed and be able to get back on the
gas early to have a competitive car. It is a great track for the fans as well as
the competitors and I am looking forward to Saturday night.”
David Stremme, No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge Charger

“I am excited about going to Richmond this weekend after our top-10 run in
Phoenix. There are a lot of things we learned in that race that we can apply
this weekend in Richmond. Our team is really starting to gel and this Saturday
night will be another important test for us. With the compacted two-day
schedule, there is not a lot of time to work on the car, so having a good
starting point will be very important.”
Travis Geisler, Crew Chief, No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger

“We have a ton of momentum heading into this weekend and our goal for the
weekend is to keep that going,” said Tryson. “We’re bringing the car we raced at
Phoenix with us. Kurt really likes the car and we all are confident that we can
get the job done with it and reach our goal at Richmond on Saturday night.”
Pat Tryson, Crew Chief, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger

- Darnell Communications For Dodge Motorsports, Press Release