NASCAR Nationwide Series, Federated Auto Parts 300, Saturday ESPN2, qualifying, 5:30, same-day tape; race, 8
LEBANON, Tenn. , Jun 2, 2010 Dodge Motorsports NNS Race Advance
Federated Auto Parts 300
Nashville Superspeedway
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Dodge in 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series
• Dodge has three wins in the 2010 NNS season (Allgaier – Bristol and Keselowski – Talladega and Richmond).
• With 12 races completed in the 2010 season, Penske Racing’s two NASCAR Nationwide Series entries have recorded two poles, three wins, and 13 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes.
JUSTIN ALLGAIER – No. 12 Verizon Wireless Dodge
Highlights:
• Allgaier earned his first NASCAR Nationwide Series win this year at Bristol Motor Speedway, leading a 1-2 Penske Racing Dodge finish.
• In 12 Nationwide Series races this season, Allgaier has accumulated four top-five and six top-10 finishes. He has an average starting position of 14.3 and an average finish of 9.7.
• Allgaier’s fifth-place position in the point standings is best among full-time, Nationwide Series-only drivers. Allgaier leads fellow Nationwide-only driver Jason Leffler, currently ranked ninth, by 331 points.
• Allgaier has accumulated one win, three top-five and four top-10 finishes on the nine concrete surfaces raced on this season.
• He was the 2009 Raybestos Rookie of the Year in the Nationwide Series.
BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 22 Ruby Tuesday Dodge
Highlights:
• Keselowski leads the Nationwide Series driver standings with a one point advantage over second place.
• Keselowski earned back-to-back wins at Talladega and Richmond earlier this season.
• Keselowski has led the Nationwide Series point standings since his win at Talladega in April.
• Keselowski has finished in the top seven in 10 consecutive races. A 13th at Daytona is his only finish outside the top 10.
• Keselowski extended his NASCAR Nationwide Series record of 79 consecutive races without a DNF (Did Not Finish) at Charlotte last week.
DID YOU KNOW
• Penske Racing drivers completed every lap raced this season except for one: Brad Keselowski 2,324 of 2,324 and Justin Allgaier 2,323 of 2,324. Last week was the third time this season that both Penske drivers finished in the top-five in the same race.
• Three races this season ended with a last lap pass, Brad Keselowski won in two of the three.
DODGE NATIONWIDE DRIVER QUOTES
“I’m really looking forward to going back to Nashville after we had such a strong car there in April. We just didn’t seem to catch any breaks on pit road and that kept us from challenging for the win. We’re taking that same car back this weekend, so we should be fast again. Nashville has always been one of my favorite racetracks. You can really be aggressive because there is so much room to race. Obviously, it’s a special place for me because I won my first Nationwide Series race there in 2008. Hopefully I can pick up my second Gibson guitar this weekend.”
Brad Keselowski, No. 22 Ruby Tuesday Dodge Charger
“Nashville was a tough race track for us in 2009. We had a couple of problems in each of the races that gave us finishes that didn’t reflect how well we ran. It was the same story when I raced there in the ARCA Series, honestly. For whatever reason, we’d run well but something would go wrong. So, when we finished fourth at Nashville in April, that was awesome. Hopefully, now that we’ve figured out how to get a good finish, we can get another one this time around.”
Justin Allgaier, No. 12 Verizon Wireless Dodge Charger
Note: Justin Allgaier will celebrate his 24th birthday on June 6.
__________________
Rick
Nitro Year: 2007 (1 of 113,000 sold)
Nitro Model: R/T 4X4 Stone White
CAT-BACK Exhaust, CAI, Projector Head Lamps
Fully-Equipped w/all factory options
GLADEVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—Brad Keselowski raced to his third NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of the year and ninth overall, easily holding off rival Carl Edwards on Saturday night at Nashville Superspeedway.
Keselowski, the series points leader, led 97 of 225 laps in his Penske Dodge and finished 1.67 seconds ahead of Edwards. Paul Menard was third, giving Sprint Cup drivers the top three spots.
Keselowski, Edwards, Menard and Michael McDowell also will race Sunday at Pocono in the Sprint Cup event. McDowell exited early after finishing 30th.
“It’s still physically demanding. I’m sure I’ll do a lot of sleeping on the way to Pocono,” Keselowski said. “When I’m sitting the plane, I don’t think, ‘Oh, man, I can’t believe I’ve got to fly to Nashville.’ I’m thinking, ‘Oh, wow, I can’t believe somebody is paying me to drive in Nashville.”’
Keselowski, also the 2008 Nashville winner, increased his points lead from one to 196 over second-place Kyle Busch—the defending series champion who skipped the Nashville race and isn’t running for the season title.
Keselowski was the only one of the top three finishers to actually arrive in time to practice Friday, and credited that for the victory that earned him the customized Gibson Guitar that goes to each race winner at the Nashville track.
“It’s quite simple. If I didn’t come down here (to practice), I wouldn’t have won the race,” Keselowski said.
Edwards, a three-time winner at the Nashville track, admitted that he had his sights set on winning the uitar.
“It was a good battle,” Edwards said. “I needed one more reset to try and work Brad, and have a chance at it, but his car was faster and he did a really good job driving it. … I was thinking about that guitar a little bit in the middle of the race. It felt good to be that close to a win.”
Justin Allgaier, the pole-sitter, finished fourth.
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