SRT Motorsports - Weekend Motorsports Preview - August 9

August 8, 2012 , Auburn Hills, Mich. -   
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Aug. 9, 2012) – The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Watkins Glen International this weekend for the final road course race of the season.

With only five races remaining until the cutoff to this year’s Sprint Chase to the Championship, Keselowski’s Dodge is all but certain to make the 12-driver, 10-race playoff. He is currently seventh in the standings, five points out of fifth and a full race cushion over 11th.

The Glen, the second road course race on the 2012 Sprint Cup schedule, is a fast seven-turn, 2.45-mile circuit. The 220-mile race challenges the durability of both man and machine.

Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T) had the road course race of a career last year at WGI. While nursing a broken ankle, Keselowski battled Marcos Ambrose and Kyle Busch over the final laps for the win. He finished second. Earlier this year, the Penske Racing driver posted a top-10 finish at Sonoma, showing he has adapted quickly to road course racing at the Sprint Cup level.

“Watkins Glen is an extremely fast road course,” Keselowski said. “It’s not nearly as technical as Sonoma and it doesn’t require as much finesse, but you still have to hit your marks. At the Glen, you need to concentrate on where you can brake heavily and where you can put the power down when you need to so that you carry big runs down the straightaway.

“To me, Watkins Glen is more of a stock car driver’s road course. You can throw your car around a little more than Sonoma, especially with the new runoff areas. You don’t have to worry about getting stuck in the sand traps anymore. I’m still learning how to be a better road course racer, but it’s starting to click with me.”

Sam Hornish Jr. (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T) started 12th and finished 14th in his last trip to Watkins Glen in the August 2010 Sprint Cup race. That is his best Sprint Cup finish at a road course. It’s also the last time Hornish was behind the wheel of a Cup car on a road course.

“My early background was pretty much all about racing on road courses,” Hornish said. It was like 90 percent road courses and only 10 percent ovals. I really like Watkins Glen. The corners there are fast, so it is all about momentum. We are really looking forward to being in a Cup car again there this weekend.”

What You Need to Know
The Race:         Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen
The Place:        Watkins Glen International
The Date:         Sunday, Aug. 12
The Time:         1 p.m. (ET)
TV:                    ESPN, Noon (ET)
Radio:               MRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90
Distance:          220.5 miles (90 laps)

NASCAR Nationwide Series
Sam Hornish Jr. (No. 12 PPG Automotive Refinish Dodge Challenger R/T) will be pulling double duty again this weekend at The Glen – competing in both Saturday’s Nationwide event and Sunday’s Sprint Cup race.

Hornish has posted eight consecutive top-10 finishes in the series. He’s currently fourth in the season standings, 34 points behind the leader, in what has turned into a four-driver battle for the season title.

“I think that running in both races this weekend should help us all the way around – in both Saturday’s Nationwide race and in Sunday’s Cup race,” said Hornish. “We did it there in 2008, so it’s not a new experience to run both races. It will be another busy weekend bouncing back and forth between the Nationwide garage and the Cup garage. But, at least this weekend it won’t be a situation requiring planes and choppers to get back and forth like it was last weekend (racing at Pocono in Sprint Cup and Iowa in the Nationwide Series).

Teammate Brad Keselowski (No. 22 Discount Tire/SKF Dodge Challenger R/T) will join Hornish in Saturday afternoon’s Nationwide race. Former teammate Kurt Busch drove the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger to victory last year’s while Keselowski was recovering from the broken ankle. In eight career road course starts in the Nationwide Series, Keselowski has three top-five and six top-10 finishes.

What You Need to Know
The Race:          Zippo 200 at The Glen
The Place:         Watkins Glen International
The Date:          Saturday, Aug. 11
The Time:          2:15 p.m. (ET)
TV:                     ABC, 2 p.m. (ET)
Radio:                MRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90
Distance:           200.9 miles (82 laps)

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is idle this week and will return to action next weekend at
Michigan International Speedway for the VFW 200 on Saturday, Aug. 18.

American Le Mans Series
The next race for SRT Motorsports’ Team Viper in ALMS competition is Aug. 18 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Team Viper will participate in a test session on Thursday afternoon. Practice and qualifying are on Friday’s schedule. The four-hour timed race starts at 2:30 p.m. (ET) on Saturday. Television coverage will be provided by ESPN2.

Dodge Weekend Motorsports on TV
(All Times Eastern)

Friday, Aug. 10
12:00 p.m. – Sprint Cup Practice at Watkins Glen (SPEED)
2:00 p.m. –   Nationwide Series Practice at Watkins Glen (SPEED)
4:00 p.m. –   Sprint Cup Final Practice (SPEED)

Saturday, Aug. 11
9:30 a.m. –   Nationwide Series Qualifying (ESPN)
11:30 p.m. – Sprint Cup Qualifying (ESPN2)
2:00 p.m. –   Nationwide “Zippo 200” at Watkins Glen (ABC)

Sunday, Aug. 12
9:00 a.m. –   NASCAR Now (ESPN)
10:00 a.m. – NASCAR RaceDay (SPEED)
12:00 p.m. – Sprint Cup Countdown (ESPN)
1:00 p.m. –   Sprint Cup “Finger Lakes 355” (ESPN)

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