This Week’s Charger… The No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team will race chassis PRS-639during Saturday night’s Shootout at Daytona International Speedway (DIS). This is a new chassis to the No. 2 fleet.

350 and 100… Two nice, round numbers that represent the total number of all-time race victories by Penske Racing and the total number of NASCAR wins by Penske Racing, respectively. The most-recent victory came in the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway when Brad Keselowski scored the win.

Shedding the Dark Horse Label… Thanks to three wins, 10 top-five finishes, 14 top-10 results and 19 races led for a total of 287 laps, Keselowski’s breakout 2011 Cup Series season should have him poised to enter 2012 as a legitimate contender for the championship.

Driven to Greatness… Continuing one of the most-popular features of the “Blue Deuce” from 2011, the featured tag line on the rear bumper this weekend in Daytona will be “Driven to Greatness.” On the heels of a breakout season – one in which he won two races on a broken ankle – there is no one doubting the drive that Keselowski has toward winning a Cup championship for Miller Lite and Roger Penske.

The Rest is History… In 85 combined Cup Series starts at DIS, Penske Racing drivers have recorded one points-paying win, 20 top-five finishes and 29 top-10 results. The lone victory came in the 50th running of the Daytona 500 in 2008 as Penske Racing finished first and second with drivers Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch, respectively. The organization also scored a victory in the 2011 Shootout at Daytona, an all-star event.

Brad Keselowski on his first appearance in the Shootout
“I’m finally in the Shootout and that’s a good feeling. I love restrictor-plate racing and have always wanted to be in this race. I’ve never had the chance to go out and do this kind of racing with no points on the line. It’s going to be a great show, I can promise you that. We’ve got a lot of cars in the race and it could end up looking more like an old Duel race, back before the top-35 cars were locked in. That would be cool. Hopefully it ends with the Miller Lite Dodge in Victory Lane.”

Brad Keselowski on starting the season a week later
“You have to give NASCAR a pat on the back for making the change to start the season a week later and getting rid of the off-weekend following the race at Las Vegas. We would build all of this momentum up from our biggest race of the season and a big west coast swing and it would fizzle out. And Bristol, one of the marquee tracks, is the fourth race! We need to go into that weekend with guns blazing. I think it’s going to prove to be one of the better, albeit one of the quieter, changes in recent memory.”

Crew chief Paul Wolfe on the Shootout at Daytona
“The great thing about being in the Shootout is that it gives you another race to knock off the rust from the winter months because next week you are in the biggest race of the year. Obviously we’ll get to learn a little bit about how the track surface has aged over the last year and we’ll get a good look at who may be the team to beat in the 500, but it’s really all about having fun and getting back into the swing of things. It’s a race that I’ve always wanted to be a part of. I’m really excited about the improvements we’ve made to our cars, even since that Daytona test last month. I think this Miller Lite Dodge team can definitely win this race – as well as the Daytona 500 – if we keep ourselves out of trouble and are there at the end.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI ANNOUNCES THE 10 GRAND PRIZE TWITTER CONTEST WINNERS

The following Twitter handles will be prominently featured on the sides of the No. 19 BKR RAM in Daytona:

@amymack74

@doctormiller13

@EspnLeigh

@Gatorgrl26

@h_paugh

@MindyLee_09

@realJoshClapper

@skyrocket25

@v8tiger

@wbcsaint

BRAD KESELOWSKI ANNOUNCES TWITTER CONTEST WINNERS

The Twitter handles of all of the contest winners can be seen here!

Brad Keselowski announced today that he and Brad Keselowski Racing (BKR) will conduct an online contest that will provide fans an opportunity to have their Twitter handle featured on the No. 19 BKR RAM that Brad will pilot in the season-opening NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at DaytonaInternational Speedway on Friday, February 24th.  This contest will be run in cooperation with BKR sponsors Cequent Consumer Products and Cooper Standard. The contest will start on Monday, January 30th and run through Friday, February 3rd.  To be eligible, fans will need to do the following:

1. Have a Twitter account;

2. Re-tweet/answer the Tweet from Brad in which he asks fans to predict his finishing position in the race; and 

3. Follow Keselowski (@keselowski), Cequent’s Reese Towpower brand (@ReeseTowpower) and Cooper Standard (@CooperStandard) on Twitter.

At the conclusion of the contest period, all the fans who have responded to Keselowski’s Tweet and are followers of @keselowski, @ReeseTowpower and @CooperStandard will 

be entered into a pool.  From this pool, 5,000 Twitter handles will be drawn.  Decals of these 5,000 Twitter handles will be featured on the bed of the No. 19 BKR RAM driven by Keselowski.  Subsequently, an additional ten (10) Twitter handles will be drawn.  The ten (10) grand prize winners will have their Twitter handles prominently featured on the sides of the Truck (five (5) Twitter handles per side).

All of the contest winners will receive an autographed photo of Keselowski with the Truck.  The grand prize winners will receive a personalized autographed photo of the Truck with Keselowski standing next to their respective Twitter handles, as well as BKR team gear.  Additionally, throughout the week of the contest, every 72nd re-tweet (up to 5,000 re-tweets) of Keselowski’s contest-launching Tweet will be eligible for a prize.  Prizes will include gear and merchandise from BKR, Cequent, and Cooper Standard.  The number “72” represents the combined number of all the Dodges and RAMs Keselowski owns and/or drives in NASCAR’s top three series (No. 2 in the Sprint Cup Series, No. 22 in the Nationwide Series, and No. 19 and No. 29 in the Camping World Truck Series).

The contest winners will be announced on Wednesday, February 8th.  The grand prize winners will be announced on Friday, February 10th.  In the weeks leading up to the race, Keselowski will Tweet renderings of the Truck, photos of his driving uniform, photos of the contest winners’ Twitter handles being applied to the Truck, and the finalized Truck as it will roll onto the track in Daytona.
 

“During the off-season, I have been putting a lot of thought into how to further engage with the fans,” said Keselowski.  “Social media, and Twitter in particular, is an important tool for NASCAR, for the drivers, and for the sponsors.  This contest is designed to bring all three of these elements together in way that can uniquely reward the fans.  It will be cool to, in a way, carry all of the prize winners with me in the race.  Hopefully they will get a thrill out of being on the Truck and having their Twitter handles appear on TV. Twitter represents a fun way for me to communicate with our sport's fans. Hopefully I can take that fun to the next level and bring all of them to victory lane In Daytona!
 

The NextEra Energy Resources 250 will air live on SPEED Channel, Friday, February 24th at 7:30 pm ET.  For more information, please visit www.bradracing.com or follow Keselowski on Twitter @keselowski.

About Cequent Consumer Products

Cequent Consumer Products, Inc. is the industry's leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative consumer products for the automotive aftermarket industry. For more than 85 years, Cequent Consumer Products has produced some of the most dependable products in today’s market including superior-quality towing and hitch systems, trailer components and accessories, as well as electrical, brake, cargo carrying and rack systems for cars and trucks. Our established brands are sold through leading automotive retailers nationwide. Our brands are leaders in the industry and include: Reese Towpower, Reese Carry Power, Highland, Rola, Fulton, and Bulldog. Cequent Consumer Products is part of the Recreational Accessories business segment of TriMas Corporation headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.  For more information, please visit Cequent Consumer Products at www.CequentConsumerProducts.com.

About Cooper Standard

Cooper Standard, headquartered in Novi, Mich., is a leading global supplier of systems and components for the automotive industry. Products include body sealing systems, fluid handling systems and anti-vibration systems. Cooper Standard employs more than 21,000 people globally and operates in 19 countries around the world. For more information, please visit Cooper Standard at www.cooperstandard.com.  

About Brad Keselowski Racing

Based in Mooresville, North Carolina and led by NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series driver Brad Keselowski, Brad Keselowski Racing (BKR) fields the No. 19 and the No. 29 RAMs in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. BKR, with the aim to provide young talented drivers the opportunity to improve their skills with a professional, competitive team, has also fielded entries in the ARCA Series and other developmental motorsport series.For more information, please visit www.bradracing.com.

$600,000 Raised Will Benefit the Paralyzed Veterans of America

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.  (January 19, 2012) – Roger Penske – one of the world’s leading automotive executives – attended the Barrett-Jackson auction on Thursday evening, along with Penske Racing driver Brad Keselowski and representatives of the Discount Tire Corporation and the Paralyzed Veterans of America (Paralyzed Veterans).  The parties gathered to auction off a 2010 No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Charger that Brad Keselowski drove to one of six wins during his NASCAR Nationwide Series championship season.

The car, donated to the Paralyzed Veterans in 2011, rolled across the auction block at 8 pm ET. With Penske, Keselowski and members of the Paralyzed Veterans on hand, the Dodge brought in a total of $600,000 from three separate donations. Sean Jordan will take ownership of the Dodge as the winning bidder. Bruce Halle, founder and chairman of Discount Tire, agreed to match Jordan’s winning bid. Before leaving the auction block, Donald Damon – a past supporter of the Paralyzed Veterans through Barrett-Jackson – donated an additional $100,000.

The total is the most that the Paralyzed Veterans have ever received through a Barrett-Jackson auction. The money will help the Paralyzed Veterans continue their mission of providing injured servicemen and servicewomen the care they need when returning home from conflict.

“The Paralyzed Veterans are not only good partners of Penske Racing, but they are partners of America’s service men and women,” said Roger Penske. “They are a group of people that provide our freedom. After their service, serious injury shouldn’t stop them from living the full, rewarding lives they deserve.”

The No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge has a significant history. Keselowski drove it to his first win as a member of Penske Racing in April of 2010 in the rain-delayed Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway. The Rochester Hills, Mich., native would go on to win five more times that season to become the first NASCAR champion from Penske Racing, one of the most-successful sports organizations in the world.

“It’s a very special car for me, from a very special year,” stated Keselowski. “However, I would rather put it to good use than have it sitting in a garage somewhere. I’ve been fortunate to work with the Paralyzed Veterans over the last several years, so I know firsthand the work they do. I’m honored that Penske Racing can continue to help their cause.”

About Paralyzed Veterans of America
Sixty-five years ago, Paralyzed Veterans of America was founded by a band of spinal cord injured service members who returned home from World War II to a grateful nation, but also to a world with few solutions to the challenges they faced. These veterans from the “Greatest Generation” made a decision not just to live, but to live with dignity as contributors to society. They created an organization dedicated to veteran’s service, medical research and civil rights for people with disabilities. And for more than six decades, Paralyzed Veterans of America and its 34 chapters have been working to create an America where all veterans and people with disabilities, and their families, have everything they need to thrive. For more information about Paralyzed Veterans, please visit www.pva.org.

In addition, Keselowski has hired veteran crew chief Doug Randolph to head Kligerman's program. Randolph last year worked on Rusty Wallace Racing's Nationwide Series program with Steve Wallace that finished 10th in the series but recently closed its doors.

Keselowski's races will be managed by Jeff Stankiewicz, who in 2011 led Kligerman's team to 11th in the Truck Series with four top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 25 starts.

"It's starting to come together," Keselowski said Saturday afternoon after his Preseason Thunder test ended at Daytona International Speedway. "I'm roughly planning to do six races, but I'd prefer not to drive it, to be quite honest.

"But for Parker's sake, I think it's important to get a good evaluation because this is a make or break year for Parker. We need a good evaluation of where our equipment's at throughout different periods of the year so we can understand whether or not he's making the most of our opportunity.

"Before you can say what the most of an opportunity is you have to define what the opportunity is. Are we giving him a good opportunity? Are we giving him an average opportunity? I don't have an answer to that and I think we'll have a much better indicator if we're able to achieve that."

To do that, Keselowski was compelled to shuffle his deck slightly, particularly when Randolph became available.

"I didn't feel like we were going to come into this year and be able to win a championship with the way it was done, or the way that we finished last year," Keselowski said. "I knew there needed to be a little mix-up, and I really like Jeff, I really like Parker and I wanted them both to be a part of the program.

"So I think we're able to structure it in a way that everybody was still in the program and we're able to bring in a fresh face that's able to bring some new energy in and hopefully everybody feels like it's a win-win."

Keselowski said one of his primary personal goals is still to win a Truck race and that Daytona's "absolutely a possibility. You just have to be smart and be there at the end."

To that end Keselowski said his team has built a brand new truck for Kligerman to race at Daytona and that Keselowski would race the Dodge that Kligerman used last fall at Talladega.

- By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM 

Throughout modest beginnings in NASCAR racing for small teams and then big opportunities with megateams already employing those types of drivers — Dale Earnhardt at JR Motorsports, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson at Hendrick Motorsports — the 27-year-old waited, watched. Keselowski might have unofficially become that franchise driver last season as he drove through an ankle injury to win two late regular-season races, transforming from afterthought to title contender, all while the tenure of Penske teammate and 2004 series champion Kurt Busch slowly perished.

With Busch now gone and A.J. Allmendinger replacing him, Keselowski enters just his third full Sprint Cup season as the most tenured and most successful driver for a Sprint Cup team that put two employees in the Chase for just the second time last season. He has the opportunity to be what Rusty Wallace was at Penske for 15 years, and what Busch's ill humors prevented him from fully becoming in six.

Keselowski is thrilled at the prospect.

"It's a dream come true to try and be that guy," Keselowski said in a phone interview with SI.com "I've aspired to be that person all my life and it's a very unique, incredible, name-your-adjective-description to be that guy."

Penske president Tim Cindric hesitates to declare Keselowski the figurehead of their Sprint Cup program, perhaps to buffer him from what will be already-heightened expectations. Though Keselowski won a Nationwide title in 2010, he has just 89 Sprint Cup starts, 63 fewer than the 30-year-old Allmendinger.

"It's better put to say he's the more accomplished guy," Cindric said of Keselowski, "and with that comes the respect of having that success. But he's certainly earned that situation, and with A.J. coming in I think A.J. has a very similar expectation as to what Brad did when Brad came in. There's an expectation to realize his potential."

Keselowski understands, he said, that with the role, stated or otherwise, comes greater responsibility.

"You have to win on the racetrack. You have to win in the board room," said Keselowski, who enters his third season with Penske. "You have to win in the TV briefs. You have to win in all aspects to be that guy. I feel good about what we've done in the past to kind of prove I could be that person. I know past success doesn't guarantee future success, so I don't want to rely on that."

And he doesn't rely on advice, he said, from drivers currently in that situation.

"I don't ask for a lot of advice," he said, "because those people that are in that position, they're not looking to really share. But I'm always watching."

Keselowski has won Cup races — three with Penske last season — over parts of four seasons and assumed the role of Miller Lite pitchman — like Wallace, who served as the spokesperson from 1997 to 2005 — from Busch when Shell-Pennzoil joined Penske's sponsor lineup last year. One of the sport's refreshingly and as-yet-unhomogenized quotes, Keselowski expresses opinions while his peers have recessed, and excels in the intangibles, last year holding a press conference on Twitter in which he answered questions for hours. His tweeted photographs of his battered ankle were a grotesque sensation.

Ironically, it was Busch's opinion that provided the final impetus for his departure, after a pointed exchange with ESPN's Dr. Jerry Punch at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November was widely viewed on the internet.

Though Cindric said the organization attempts to insulate drivers from outside distractions, he admitted Keselowski was certainly well-informed of Busch's misadventures. Keselowski said of the near-season-long string of incidents with Busch and his team "there's no way for that not to affect you," but said Busch helped him as a teammate.

"I think no matter what anyone says, your teammate always affects you for good or bad," Keselowski said. "Kurt did a lot of good things for me that helped me get to where I'm at right now, and I think he was a really good teammate to me. He probably didn't get the credit he deserved for it."

Keselowski may miss Busch more than he realizes. Cindric said Busch's intangible value to his young teammate was providing a benchmark.

"I think the one thing Brad realizes is there are some guys that want to be the only successful guy within a team because maybe it gives them some job security or more confidence," Cindric said. "But Brad realizes the importance of having a successful teammate. I truly believe he wants somebody to continue to push him. He knows that Kurt was one of those guys. He knew he had a rabbit to chase and someone to learn from. He wants to see that in A.J. as well and I think he will do everything he can to see A.J. succeed."

Allmendinger, although improving on the Cup level since transitioning from open-wheel racing in 2006, is winless in the Cup series over 152 starts, his best finish (third) coming in the 2009 Daytona 500.

"Whether there is someone else around you or not, you're just sink or swim," Keselowski said. "I'm ready for the challenge."

His combination of grit and performance suggested such last year. After a 35th-place finish at Loudon, N.H., on July 17, Keselowski sat 23rd in the Sprint Cup driver standings. He rebounded a week later, finishing ninth at Indianapolis, but sustained a broken left ankle in a testing crash at Road Atlanta in early August, putting his season in peril. Keselowski, however, mitigated pain and swelling to win at Pocono just days after the crash and went on to produce another win and four consecutive top-fives. Among those top-fives was a runner-up finish on the road course at Watkins Glen that amazed his peers, considering the amount of footwork required. The ankle, he said, remains sore, but Keselowski went on to capture a wild-card berth and was as high as third in the standings with four races left.

"It had been building all along," Keselowski said of his burst, "kind of like if you look at the stock market, and you look at a stock that takes off, you probably say, 'Well, there were some telltale signs before it took off.' I think if you look at a couple of our runs we had, we ran really well at Kentucky [seventh, led 79 laps] and Indianapolis before that and ran really well at Kansas where we won with the fuel, but we were still running well. We're just starting to build some momentum, but we caught a lot of bad breaks or things didn't go our way when we were performing well."

Keselowski's prominent role at Penske and his success last season will create hefty expectations for the first time in his Cup career. That's all part of the sinking or the swimming, he said.

"There's only so much you can do about expectations. You try to kindle them down a lot bit," he said. "My boss would tell you, you try to under-sell and over-deliver."

He'll do that from the forefront beginning very soon.

- Brant James - si.com

Partnership Strengthens Military-Motorsports Connection To
Boost Troop Morale

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Dodge for Penske Racing, and Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, brought holiday cheer, smiles and good times to troops and their families on the NASCAR-USO / Armed Forces Entertainment tour at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba during their NASCAR-USO visit Dec. 12-14.

The tour of Guantanamo Bay was part of an ongoing partnership between NASCAR and the USO to strengthen a connection between the military and motorsports in an effort to help boost the morale of U.S. troops and their families stationed around the world. The partnership also included NASCAR and the USO hosting a group of wounded warriors at the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony in Las Vegas.

During the visit, Keselowski and Logano visited hundreds of sailors and coast guardsmen and their families. The pair also dined with troops, visited the U.S. Navy Hospital, signed autographs and patrolled the waters with service members.

This was the first USO tour for Keselowski and Logano, who are avid supporters of the military community. Both have visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center, now known as Walter Reed National Medical Center, and spent quality time with wounded warriors.

“This was a once in a lifetime experience and I am so glad to be a part of it,” said Keselowski. “I hope to go back on another USO Tour. After meeting the men and women in Guantanamo Bay, I cannot imagine the sacrifices and experiences they have to go through during their time there. It was an amazing experience and I am so grateful that I was invited to go.”

“It was awesome to learn more about Guantanamo Bay and what the mission is down there and how it works,” said Logano. “It was great to meet and talk to the troops, and it was one heck of an experience. We get to see a lot of troops at the race track, but to see them in action and doing their jobs…I am so impressed and have such a high amount of respect for each and every one of them and what they do.”

“NASCAR is honored to work with the USO and be a part of bringing this tour to our men and women in Guantanamo Bay,” said NASCAR President Mike Helton. “We hope this tour has lifted the spirits of troops and their families; we are honored to have the opportunity to show our support and show how much our troops mean to NASCAR and its millions of fans around the world.”

"NASCAR and its drivers bring excitement to the track week after week and we are honored to have two of NASCAR's biggest names join us on a USO tour,” said USO President Sloan Gibson. “I can't think of a better, more suitable place for this tour to bring a touch of home than to NASCAR fans stationed in Guantanamo Bay.”

Photo Credit: United Service Organizations (USO)

HOMESTEAD, Fla. 

With Sunday’s the result, Keselowski finished fifth in the final 2011 Chase standings.

Keselowski began Sunday’s 267-lap event from the fifth position after posting a lap of 30.947 seconds, or 174.492 miles per hour, around the progressively-banked, 1.5-mile oval during the Saturday afternoon qualifying session. When the green flag flew to begin the race, Keselowski elected to start off on the bottom groove to allow more rubber to build on the high line, which was his preferred lane around the track. Rain showers at lap 13 brought out a quick caution flag, the first of several on the day for precipitation. Keselowski radioed that the Miller Lite Dodge was handling tight getting to the center of the HMS corners and he had to wait on getting back to the throttle because the car was too loose when he tried to apply the power. While running in the third position, crew chief Paul Wolfe brought his driver down pit road for four tires and fuel under the caution flag. Keselowski restarted the race in the 10^th position as several drivers in front of him elected to take only two tires.

As the race resumed, Keselowski radioed that his car was not handling well back in the pack. His Miller Lite machine was still very loose as he tried to apply the throttle. A lap 34 caution period gave Wolfe the opportunity to make his own two-tire stop to give Keselowski track position and the “clean” air that goes with it. After restarting the race in the second position at lap 38, Keselowski quickly assumed the race lead on the very next lap. He led the next 10 laps before surrendering it to the No. 99 car driven by Carl Edwards. Keselowski was able to keep his car inside the top 10, despite the continued loose-handling condition.

Heavy rain showers reappeared over HMS at lap 108, which resulted in a red-flag period that lasted one hour and 15 minutes. When the red flag was lifted, Wolfe prescribed a track bar and wedge adjustment at lap 113, prior to the race restarting with Keselowski in the 13^th position at lap 117. Two laps after taking the green, Keselowski narrowly escaped an incident that could have ended his race as he made contact with the rear bumper of the No. 42 car driven by Juan Pablo Montoya when it bounced off the outside wall and slowed directly in front of Keselowski. The damage was not severe and Keselowski was able to continue without visiting pit road for repairs. While the handling condition improved, Keselowski was not able to race his way back inside the top 10 prior to the halfway point.

Wolfe and Keselowski decided to gamble when, at lap 213, the third caution flag for rain flew over the field. The Miller Lite Dodge could not make it to the end of the race on fuel at this point, but Wolfe and Keselowski elected to remain on the racing surface to pick up valuable track position, hoping they would get see another caution flag before the end of the race. The No. 18 car of Kyle Busch was on this same strategy, however the rest of the field also could make it to the end and they pitted under the rain caution. Keselowski restarted the race in the second position at lap 231 and he quickly assumed the lead for one lap, but the caution flag he needed never materialized. With 12 laps remaining, Keselowski made his way down pit road for two tires and fuel. While on pit road he lost one lap to the race leaders and he crossed the finish line in the 20^th position.

Penske Racing teammate, Kurt Busch, finished 34^thin Sunday’s Ford 400 season finale.

“We were better than a 20^th-place car, but we took our chances and just didn’t catch the breaks,” said Keselowski. “I’m not frustrated with that. I think that’s the right strategy. I would just like to be a little bit faster. If we can get a little more speed in our cars, I feel like we can go out there and win a championship with this Miller Lite Dodge team (next season).”

After a strong and promising 2011 campaign, Keselowski and the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge team will return to action at the Daytona 500 on February 26, 2012 at Daytona International Speedway.