SRT Motorsports - Weekend Motorsports Preview - August 2

 
 
LEXINGTON, Ohio (Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012) – After an 11-year absence from factory-backed road racing, the SRT Viper GTS-R returns to competition in the American Le Mans Series this weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Two identical SRT Viper GTS-R race cars will compete in the production-based GT class in Saturday’s Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course. The driver lineup will be Tommy Kendall and Mark Goossens in the No. 93 Pennzoil Ultra SRT Viper GTS-R while Kuno Wittmer and Dominik Farnbacher will share the seat in the No. 91 Forza Motorsports SRT Viper GTS-R.

The Viper has a storied history in road racing that began in 1996 with the first Dodge Viper racing entry, the original GTS-R, which earned five international GT championships and the 1997-1999 FIA GT championships. It also posted an amazing overall win at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in 2000 – the first for a production-based American car. Viper finished one-two at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GTS class three years – 1998-2000. In 1999, Viper added the GTS class and driver’s title in the American Le Mans Series and added the class, manufacturer’s and driver’s championships in 2000.

“We’re thrilled to return to the world-class competition in the American Le Mans Series with our flagship American supercar,” said Ralph Gilles, President and CEO – SRT Brand and Motorsports, Chrysler Group LLC. “The new SRT Viper GTS-R represents a rebirth for us on the race track. It epitomizes the best of what our new SRT performance brand represents and showcases the Viper’s natural affinity for road courses. Now the time has finally come to go head-to-head with the best sports car teams from around the world.”

Television coverage will include live qualifying on Friday at 12:15 P.M. (EDT) on ESPN3
and Saturday’s ALMS Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge scheduled for 2 p.m. (EDT) on ABC.

"To say I am looking forward to Mid-Ohio would perhaps be the understatement of the year, said Kendall, in preparation to this weekend’s racing. “The chance to return to top-level sports car racing at a track like Mid-Ohio behind the wheel of the newest iteration of an automotive icon like the Viper is almost too much to bear.”

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Dodge’s Brad Keselowski is the defending champion at this weekend’s Sprint Cup Series Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway. Only days after breaking a bone in his ankle in a testing accident at Road Atlanta, Keselowski displayed unquestioned toughness as he drove the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge to victory. The distance for both races at the 2.5-mile track was reduced to 400 miles this season. Previously, all races had been scheduled for 500 miles.
Repaved last fall, Pocono is no longer the rough and tumble triangular track. The new surface is smooth which led to 36 Sprint Cup Series drivers eclipsing the track qualifying record on the new pavement in June.

"The challenge this week – how do we get the cars to stick in that important outside lane, where all the passing takes place?” said SRT Motorsports engineer Howard Comstock. “Shocks, sway bars, and springs will all be flying during practice this weekend in an effort to find the exact suspension combination the drivers will need to grip that outside lane and create the opportunity to pass during the race."
Keselowski finished 18th at the June event. Crew chief Paul Wolfe agrees that the “old” Pocono is dramatically different with its new skin. “Pocono is definitely faster since the repave,” Wolfe said. “It’s also significantly smoother. In the past, we had to worry about mechanical grip to deal with all the bumps in the track. Now it’s more about the aerodynamic balance of the car because of the speeds we are running.”

Sam Hornish Jr. will be behind the wheel of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger for the foreseeable future after Penske Racing announced yesterday that the team has released A.J. Allmendinger after violating NASCAR substance abuse policy. Hornish will make his eighth Sprint Cup start at Pocono. He scored a career-best finish of fourth in the No. 77 Dodge Charger at the August race in 2009.

“We’ve led laps and had some of our strongest runs at Pocono, that’s for sure,” offered Hornish. “We finished fourth there in one of the 2009 races, but really had our best shot at winning there in the races there during the 2010 season. We led pretty late in both of those races and if luck had been on our side, we could have won.”

What You Need To Know
The Races:       Pennsylvania 400 (Race 21 of 36)
The Place:        Pocono Raceway
The Date:         Sunday, Aug. 5
The Time:         1:00 p.m. (ET)
The Track:        2.5-mile track
The Distance:   160 laps/400 miles
TV:                    ESPN, 12:00 p.m. (ET)

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Ryan Blaney and Hornish will provide the Dodge 1-2 punch in Saturday night’s Nationwide race at Iowa Speedway. Blaney will be making his Dodge debut in the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger, the first of three scheduled races with Penske Racing. Blaney is following in the footsteps of his father, Dave Blaney, a former World of Outlaws champion and current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver.

Hornish looks to parlay an impressive season-best runner-up finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last week into his first victory of the season. He is currently fourth in the series driver standings, 28 points behind the leader.

"Our Würth Dodge team is in a very good place heading into Iowa,” Hornish said. “We have been consistently improving our performance throughout the year - our Penske Dodges have been fast, we have had terrific reliability and the pit crew has been strong. We have qualified well in the past at Iowa - we just haven't put it all together and this weekend we are poised to do just that. We feel like we've built some strong momentum and we are looking forward to finishing this one on top."

What You Need To Know
The Races:         U.S Cellular 250 (Race 19 of 33)
The Place:          Iowa Speedway
The Date:           Saturday, Aug. 4
The Time:           8:00 p.m. (ET)
The Track:          7/8-mile track
The Distance:     250 laps/218.75 miles
TV:                     ESPN2, 7:30 p.m. (ET)

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Parker Kligerman (No. Cooper Standard RAM) remains fifth in the NCWTS driver point standings trailing series leader Timothy Peters by 48 points heading into Pocono Raceway for Saturday afternoon’s Pocono Mountains 125. Kligerman has made one Truck Series start at the 2.5-mile facility bringing home a 13th-place finish last August.

What You Need To Know
The Races:         Pocono Mountains 125 (Race 11 of 26)
The Place:          Pocono Raceway
The Date:           Saturday, Aug. 4
The Time:           1:00 p.m. (ET)
The Track:          2.5-mile track
The Distance:     50 laps/125 miles
TV:                      SPEED, 12:30 p.m. (ET)

(Dodge Weekend Motorsports on TV
(All Times Eastern)
Friday, Aug. 3
12:00 p.m. – Sprint Cup Practice at Pocono (SPEED)
3:30 p.m. – Sprint Cup Final Practice (SPEED)
3:30 p.m. – Sprint Cup Qualifying (SPEED)
7:00 p.m. – Camping World Truck Series Practice at Pocono (SPEED)

Saturday, Aug. 4
10:30 p.m. – Sprint Cup Qualifying at Pocono (SPEED)
1:00 p.m. – Camping World Truck Series Cup “Pocono Mountains 125” (SPEED)
4:30 p.m. – Nationwide Series Qualifying at Iowa (ESPN2)
7:00 p.m. – Nationwide Series “U.S. Cellular 250” (ESPN2)

Sunday, Aug. 5
10:00 a.m. – NASCAR RaceDay at Pocono (SPEED)
12:00 p.m. – NASCAR Countdown (ESPN)
1:00 p.m. – NASCAR “Pennsylvania 400” (ESPN)

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