The "Missle" Keselowksi Wins Talladega Nationwide Series Race
April 26, 2010
As you probably have heard by now, Brad Keselowski won the Aaron's 312 NASCAR Nationwide Series race in the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Sunday night at Talladega Superspeedway. For the 26-year-old Keselowski, the Nationwide Series victory is his first since he moved to Penske Racing last season. The following are some quotes following the victory. Dodge President and CEO Ralph Gilles as well as Roger Penske, Owner of Penske Racing also were on hand to answer questions and celebrate the victory.
“I’m happy for my Discount Tire team to be in victory lane. This team has been running so well all year that they deserve this win. I’ve got to thank Joey Logano; he gave me the push to win the race. It’s the second year in a row that he’s done that for me. He deserves some credit because he does a great job. It’s just a great weekend for Discount Tire, Dodge and Penske Racing. I’m glad to be back in the points lead and glad to do it in Talladega; they have some of the best race fans in the world.”
HOW TOUGH WAS IT TO RUN THE DOUBLE AGAIN THIS WEEKEND? “What was hard to do was get out of the infield care center after the Cup race. I was stuck in there because my carbon monoxide levels were too high and to be quite honest, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to run the Nationwide race. To go from that low to the high of winning is incredible.”
MICHAEL NELSON (Vice-President of Competition, Penske Racing)
“A big win. Our first win with the 22 for Discount Tire. We’re really excited and proud of Brad, proud of Paul Wolfe. It’s a brand new team. They did such a great job. We want to thank Dodge, we really appreciate their help. We’re excited. We’re going to celebrate and have a good time. This is a nice win for Penske Racing.”
ROGER PENSKE (Owner, Penske Racing)
“What a great day. It’s terrific. This young man (Brad Keselowski) has really given our team a lot of momentum…Dodge, Paul Wolfe and the whole team. We had good power and smart pit tactics. A great driver gave us the victory.”
DO YOU THINK THAT YOUR NATIONWIDE SERIES PROGRAM IS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE? “It’s a total program. As we consolidated our operations together -- IndyCar, Nationwide and Cup all together under one roof – we’re getting the benefit of cross-pollination. The (NNS) crew chiefs Paul (Wolfe) and Chad (Walters) are working side-by-side. They’re getting some input from the rest of the team. The good thing is that we’ve got some drivers – young guys that are really interested. I think that you saw Parker Kligerman running great out there today; it’s a car that we support. To me, it’s all about building talent. Brad certainly is committed. He’s brought a big spark to our organization. Obviously, we’re here to win. After Justin (Allgaier) got that win at Bristol, (Brad) was getting a little bit antsy. A good clean race. I think that we’re right on track.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH RALPH GILLES? “Ralph has taken over (as president and CEO) of Dodge. He was the one that designed the (Chrysler) 300 and earned that spot at Dodge. I think that he likes racing. He likes motorsports. I think he sees how that can build a brand. We’ve been working together from the very beginning. People ask are we at a disadvantage? Someone asked me this morning, ‘How are you integrated with Dodge?’ I said maybe last year, maybe 25 percent, but today we’re at 75 percent integration. They’re with us on every step. We certainly appreciate that and Ralph is the leader of that organization for us.”
RALPH GILLES (President and CEO, Dodge)
“Brad was a missile out there. He was fantastic. He was patient. He played it smart and pulled out the win at the end. Amazing. It’s great to see the comrade of the team after a win. This new team has worked really, really hard. Brad is maturing right before our eyes.”
YOU MUST BE PROUD OF THIS PENSKE TEAM? “I’m very happy. A few months ago, Mr. Penske and I talked about this and he told me that he’d make it work. And he has. He’s pulled it together. The team is so focused. I think his set of drivers are awesome; the young guys are maturing right before our eyes and driving clean and staying patient out there. Great calls by Paul (Wolfe, crew chief No. 22 Discount Tires Dodge Charger). I couldn’t be happier to see it turn out to be a win. I almost had a heart-attack the last few laps (laughs).”
PAUL WOLFE (Crew Chief, No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Charger)
“It was a great day for us. We’ve worked real hard. In a short amount of time, we’ve accomplished a lot. We’ve had cars that could win at a lot of the races this year. Everything worked out today. We got that win. Hopefully, they will be a little easier from here on out.”
JUSTIN ALLGAIER (No. 12 Verizon Wireless Dodge Charger) Finished 15th
“I’m OK. The Verizon Wireless gave me a great car today. Our Penske guys build great race cars back at the shop. We felt that we had a car that could get us a top-five. I felt that we were on pace to do that before we got collected in that last-lap wreck. This was the last race for these style cars and everybody is trying to go for the win. I thought that I had that wreck missed. Whoever was behind us just didn’t get checked-up enough, turned us and got us spun down on the apron. We’ll just head to Richmond next week with our head held high and go for a win next weekend.”
PARKER KLIGERMAN (No 42 Dodge Charger) Finished 31st
“Man, I had a fast Dodge Charger today. Brad and I worked great all day. I told him on the radio that I had a fast Dodge and was going to do everything I could to help him. We had a top-five car, no doubt. Brad and I could go to the front whenever we wanted to during the race. It was awesome. We just got taken out there at the end of the race. I’m OK. Congratulations to Brad on a great win.”
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