Catchfence

Dodge Motorsports

• Total Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Wins: 203
• First Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win: Lee Petty, 2/1/53, West Palm Beach, Fla., 100 miles, .5-mile track.
• Last Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win: Kasey Kahne, 06/21/2009, Infineon Raceway, 71.012 mph avg. speed
• First Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win at Daytona International Speedway: Junior Johnson, 02/21/1964, Daytona 500 Qualifier, 170.777 mph avg. speed.
• Last Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win at Daytona International Speedway: Ryan Newman, 02/17/2008, Daytona 500, 152.672 mph avg. speed.

DODGE AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

• Dodge Motorsports has 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins at Daytona International Speedway.
• Dodge placed four drivers inside the top 10 at this year’s Daytona 500. AJ Allmendinger (third), Elliott Sadler (fifth), Reed Sorenson (ninth) and Kurt Busch (10th).
• Dodge Motorsports finished 1-2 at the 2008 Daytona 500 – Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch.
• Dodge returned to NASCAR’s premier series in 2001 after an absence of more than 20 years (Dodge exited after the 1978 season). Bill Elliott and Evernham Motorsports made it an impressive return by claiming the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500.
• Dodge has five wins in the July race (A.J. Foyt, Sam McQuagg, Bobby Isaac and Richard Petty-2) at Daytona.

THE DODGE BOYS

• Dodge has 203 Sprint Cup Series wins.
• Dodge teams have posted 43 wins since the manufacturer returned to NASCAR’s premier series in 2001 after being out of the sport since 1977.
• Dodge’s most recent win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was Kasey Kahne’s victory at the Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway (June 21).
• All seven Dodge teams running the full 36-race Sprint Cup schedule are inside the top-35 in 2009 owner points and assured starting spots in Saturday’s race: Kurt Busch (4th), Kasey Kahne (13th), Elliott Sadler (23rd), Sam Hornish Jr. (25th), Reed Sorenson (26th), AJ Allmendinger (29th) and David Stremme (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.

DODGE DRIVER NOTES & ANECDOTES

• Kurt Busch has scored top-10 finishes in the last four races at Daytona (3rd, 2nd, 4th and 10th), the longest current streak. Busch was 18th in the point standings heading into last year’s July 4th event at Daytona. He is currently fourth.
• Kasey Kahne has scored four top-10 finishes in the last five races at Daytona.
• Elliott Sadler has an 18-race streak of running at the finish at Daytona International Speedway.
• Reed Sorenson had a career-best, ninth-place finish at this year’s Daytona 500.
• AJ Allmendinger had a career-best finish of third at this year’s Daytona 500.
• David Stremme will be making his fourth-career start at Daytona. His career-best finish is 11th in 2008.
• Sam Hornish Jr. finished 15th in his debut NSCS event, the 2008 Daytona 500.

DID YOU KNOW?

• The Coke Zero 400 will mark the 125th NSCS points race at the Daytona International Speedway.
• Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) is the only driver to score top-10 finishes in both restrictor-plate races in 2009 (10th at DIS, 6th at Talladega)
• Elliott Sadler (No. 19 Stanley Dodge Charger) will make his 375th NSCS career-start at Daytona. Sadler has finished sixth or better in five of his last seven races at Daytona.
• The pole winner has not scored a top-10 finish in 11 of the last 15 races where qualifying was held at DIS (73 percent).
• 629 different drivers have competed at Daytona since February 1959. Richard Petty had 74 starts at Daytona, most among all drivers.

Dodge Quotes

“The Chase field is getting close and I think that it will stay that way until Richmond. We have a legitimate shot to make it. All that we can do is exactly what we’ve been doing. We want to just keep improving and keep making sure that we have the points to get in the Chase when it comes around. Everybody at RPM is working hard and giving us cars capable to go out there and win. We’ve made huge gains throughout the season with the car and the engine. I’ve felt like the last month-and-a-half, we’ve been very competitive.”
Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger

“I think that the biggest thing I always have going for me is that I truly enjoy the plate races. I think for sure that I am in the minority when I say that. I know how much the fans love it. I know it’s hard for most people to understand, but the more I’m right in the middle of the lead pack, the more comfortable I am in the car. I feel like I learn something each time I’m in that position, especially how to survive it and get a good finish out of it.”
Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger

“I feel better going in to this race than I did the 500. Seriously, a lot of it comes down to luck and the way we’ve been going lately in the luck department we ought have something miraculous happen sooner or later. Our cars have been fast but we end up getting caught in somebody else’s problems. Saturday night, we will be fast again and if we can avoid whatever happens on the track I’m pretty confident we’ll get another good finish.”
AJ Allmendinger, No. 44 Paralyzed Veterans of America Dodge Charger

“There has not been a day since I left Daytona that I haven’t thought about what might have been had we won that race. Winning the Daytona 500 is every driver’s dream, but to win that race, on that day, would have been the best thing in the world for me as a racer. That would have been the best way to start the season off on the right foot. It would have been really amazing for our sponsor Stanley; it was their first time as a primary sponsor of a car in the Daytona 500 and that would have been a great way to say thank you for their support. Now I just want to go back down there and do my best to win the race and go to victory lane. Our team has come together a lot recently and I would love to celebrate with all our guys that have put in so much hard work this season.”
Elliott Sadler, No. 19 Stanley Dodge Charger

“It’s way past due for Kurt (Busch) to celebrate in Victroy Lane after winning one of these things (a restrictor-plate race) and we’re on a mission this weekend to help him put an end to that winless streak … it’s all the more reason we’re so anxious to get back down to Daytona for this weekend’s (Coke Zero 400) race.”
Pat Tryson, Crew Chief, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger

“I feel that Penske Racing as a whole has made some decent gains in its speedway package with new race cars and the addition of the R6 engine. The Mobil 1 Dodge was strong at the Daytona 500 earlier this season, but we had to fall out of the draft when debris on the grille caused our engine temperatures to rise. I’m looking forward to getting back on track at Daytona this weekend.”
Sam Hornish Jr., No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger

- Darnell Communications for Dodge Motorsports, Press Release