Catchfence

Brad Keselowski (Photo Credit: Grant Halverson / Getty Images)

October 16, 2010

No. 12 Penske Dodge Charger News and Notes

• This Week’s Charger… The No. 12 Penske Dodge Charger team will use chassis PRS-733 during Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS). Keselowski last drove this chassis to a 25^th-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway in September.
• No. 12 Penske Dodge in 2010… After 30 events, Keselowski and the No. 12 Penske Dodge Charger team currently sit 25^th in the Cup Series driver and owner point standings.
• Keselowski NASCAR History at Charlotte Motor Speedway… In addition to his two career Cup Series starts at CMS, Keselowski has made eight career Nationwide Series starts at the 1.5-mile oval. In those races, he has recorded two top-five and five top-10 finishes, while completing 93.6% of the laps contested. Keselowski also has two career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at CMS, including the event earlier this year when he qualified 10^th before engine issues contributed to a 28^th-place finish.
• Charlotte Motor Speedway Rewind… After starting the spring Cup Series race at CMS from the rear of the field, Keselowski battled back from contact on pit road, and a penalty for speeding on pit lane, to finish 20^th in the Coca-Cola 600.
• Third Annual Jail and Bail… Keselowski will take part in the third annual “Jail and Bail” at The Brickhouse Tavern in Davidson, N.C. on Tuesday, October 12. This event raises money for the Brienne Davis Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarships to female students who are interested in pursuing a career in motorsports at any of the 11 Universal Technical Institutes across the U.S.

• The Rest is History… Penske Racing made its first start in the annual 500-mile fall race at CMS on October 8, 1972 with Dave Marcis behind the wheel of the famous Penske Racing No. 2 car. In 86 combined starts, Penske Racing drivers have recorded one win, seven poles, 13 top-five and 30 top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile Charlotte oval.

Brad Keselowski on the Charlotte Motor Speedway surface since the 2006 repaving

“The surface at Charlotte Motor Speedway is in great shape. They have done an outstanding job with that racetrack. The repave on it was awesome and it continues to get better with a little bit of aging on it. The track has survived the summer months very well without bleaching out, which is what we see at a lot of racetracks. That smooth surface is a lot of fun to race on. It’s also very fast. Charlotte is definitely one of the fastest tracks we visit now and a lot of that has to do with the surface.”

Brad Keselowski on racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway

“Racing in the Southeast, in general, is special because that is where a large crop of our fan base is from. That makes it entertaining in itself. You want to race in markets where people get excited about the sport. Charlotte is the hub of our sport. We all live here. It’s just an enjoyable weekend. Racing at night just enhances that. Charlotte is very fast under the lights. It has a lot of grip and I think we’ll put on a very good show for all of those enthusiastic fans that will show up.”

For downloadable audio from Brad Keselowski please visit media.penskeracing.com

Crew chief Jay Guy on preparing for Charlotte Motor Speedway

“This No. 12 Penske Dodge team is really looking forward to racing under the lights at CMS this weekend. Penske Racing, as a whole, had a strong run there in May. We feel like we have developed our Charlotte package even more and should have an even better race on Saturday. We know that our cars can win at CMS and everyone here is expecting great things this weekend. We’ve made some great strides, aerodynamically, and our cars are as good as they have ever been for this package.”

Media Contact: David Hovis at (980) 722-1117 or david.hovis@penskeracing.com

This release and additional materials are available online to registered media members at media.penskeracing.com

- Penske Racing, Press Release