DODGE AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY
Dodge Motorsports
• Dodge has one victory in 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway.
• Dodge has one pole at Kansas Speedway – Kasey Kahne in 2006.
• Dodge driver Kurt Busch is seeking his first top-five finish at Kansas Speedway. In nine races Busch has an average finish of 19.7.
THE DODGE BOYS
• Dodge has 207 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories.
• Dodge’s most recent win came at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. Kurt Busch led 252 of 400 laps en route to victory in the Coca-Cola 600.
• Dodge has claimed two Sprint Cup victories in 2010.
• Dodge teams have posted 47 wins since the manufacturer’s return to NASCAR’s premier series in 2001 after being out of the sport since 1977.
• Last Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win at Kansas: Ryan Newman, 10/5/2003, Banquet 400, 121.63 avg. speed.
KURT BUSCH – INSIDE THE CHASE NUMBERS
• Busch is competing in the Chase for the Sprint Cup for the fifth time: 2004 – Champion, 2005 – 10th, 2007 – Seventh and 2009 – fourth.
• Busch is currently fourth in Chase standings, 59 points behind the leader. He was ranked fourth after two races in the 2009 Chase.
• Finished 10th in the point standings after 26 races; ranked fifth after the reset for the 2010 Chase.
• Busch gained one position in the standings after his fourth-place finish at Dover.
• Through the first two Chase races this year, Busch’s average finish position is 8.5.
• In 28 races this season, Busch has two wins along with nine top-five and 16 top-10 finishes.
• Has competed in 61 Chase races since 2004 (42 have been in a Dodge) with 16 top-five and 33 top-10 finishes.
• His best Kansas start of seventh came in 2006; his best finish of sixth came in 2004.
• In nine races at Kansas, Busch has led 81 laps with two top-10 finishes. He finished 11th last year.
• At the eight remaining tracks hosting a Chase event this year, Busch has six wins, 26 top-five and 56 top-10s.
DODGE IN THE CHASE: KANSAS
• 2004: Jeremy Mayfield and Ryan Newman – Mayfield started third, led 72 laps and finished fifth. Newman finished 33rd.
• 2005: Rusty Wallace, Ryan Newman and Jeremy Mayfield – Wallace finished seventh, Mayfield 16th and Newman 23rd.
• 2006: Kasey Kahne – He started from the pole and led 11 laps, but finished 33rd.
• 2007: Kurt Busch – He qualified 12th, led 76 laps and finished 11th.
• 2008: There were no Dodges in the 2008 Chase field.
• 2009: Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne – Kahne finished 21st and Busch 30th.
DID YOU KNOW?
• Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger, entered Kansas race week last year fourth in the NSCS driver’s standings – 75 points behind leader Mark Martin. Busch currently sits fourth in points trailing series leader Denny Hamlin by 59 markers.
DODGE MOTORSPORTS QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“We’re definitely going to try to help Kurt out as much as we can during the Chase. Penske Racing is in a unique position to do something that has never been done before and that is win three championships in three different series. Kurt is, obviously, the only driver we have in the Chase so we will play whatever role we can to help fulfill that side of our championship chase. We still want to win races ourselves, that is always the No. 1 goal, but there are things we can do and things we can try on our cars without jeopardizing the No. 2 car by having them run something untested.”
Brad Keselowski, No. 12 Penske Dodge Charger
ENGINEERING TALK
“Some that complain about too many 1.5-mile tracks in the Chase are missing the mark if they include Kansas in that mix. The only similarity between Kansas and places like Charlotte, Texas, and Homestead is track length. With much less banking in the corners, Kansas average speeds are in the 175 mph range as opposed to the 190 mph averages seen at those other 1.5-mile tracks. Kansas requires a completely different and hybrid setup strategy that includes some flat-track thinking, some banked-track consideration, and hopefully some good notes from previous trips to this unique track.”
Howard Comstock, Dodge Motorsports Engineering
DODGE DRIVER QUOTES
On the mental challenges of racing different tracks;
“Each race track has its own personality. It could be something that a driver struggles with – like Turn 1 at a specific track that is hard to overcome. Or it could just be (its) basic layout that challenges a team as far as how they find their grip and to get the car handling well. A track like Kansas with the altitude there and the way that things shake up in the Midwest with weather mixture, you never know if the engine has the perfect combination.”
Can you put into perspective how important the remaining 1.5-mile tracks in the Chase will be?
“They do make up the largest quantity – a certain style of track. Kansas is pretty different compared to Texas and Charlotte and Homestead. It’s a challenging track. We only race there once a year. There are two tracks that we race at once a year – Kansas and Homestead. There’s that little bit of an uneasy feeling going there if you don’t have a solid notebook because you only race there once a year and it’s hard to find that speed.”
Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
“We are going to these final races and are trying to do whatever we can do to help the No. 2 team. We know that by helping them, we’re able to go through twice as many things because they are trying something that could help us as well.”
Sam Hornish Jr. No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger
“Kansas is quite a bit different than some of the more traditional mile-and-a-half tracks, like Charlotte and Texas. It’s really similar to Auto Club Speedway in California. There are obvious differences in size as California is a two-mile track. Straightaway speed is not quite the same, but the corners are really similar. You can also run all over the track at Kansas, from the high lane to the low lane. It’s a great racetrack.”
Brad Keselowski, No 12 Penske Dodge Charger
- Darnell Communications for Dodge Motorsports, Press Release
