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Dodge Motorsports Notes & Quotes - Sharpie 500 Race Advance - Bristol

Wednesday August 20, 2008

 

DODGE MOTORSPORTS HISTORICAL DATA
· Total Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Wins: 201
· First Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win: Lee Petty, 2/1/53, West Palm Beach, Fla.,100 miles, .5-mi. track
· Last Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win: Kurt Busch, 6/29/08, Loudon, NH, 317.4-miles, 1.058-mile track, 2008 Lenox Industrial Tools 301
· First Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win at Bristol: David Pearson, Southeastern 500 (1967), 75.937 mph avg. speed.
· Last Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win at Bristol: Kurt Busch, Food City 500 (2006)
· First Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win at this event: Bobby Allison, Volunteer 500 (1970)
· Last Dodge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win at this event: Richard Petty, Volunteer 500 (1975)

DODGE AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
· Kasey Kahne dominated last year’s August race at Bristol Motor Speedway. He started from the pole, posted the fastest lap of the race and led 305 of the 500 laps. The only thing he didn’t do was win the race. He finished second to Carl Edwards.
· Kurt Busch posted his first career victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Bristol. It came in the spring race in 2002 in his sophomore season. Busch also has the most recent Dodge win at BMS. He won the spring event in 2006. He has five wins at the .533-mile track.
· Richard Petty provided Dodge with its only sweep at the .533-mile track as he claimed the win in both events during the 1975 season. He didn’t start on the pole for either race, but did have a top-five starting spot. Kurt Busch swept both races in 2003, but that was before he joined the Dodge ranks and Penske Racing.
· Dodge drivers with wins at Bristol include Petty, Busch, David Pearson and Bobby Allison.

THE DODGE BOYS
· Former Dodge driver Rusty Wallace, a nine-time winner at Bristol, will be the official starter for a Guinness World Record attempt by the fans prior to the start of the Sharpie 500 on Saturday night. The TUMS Wave at Bristol Motor Speedway is an attempt to break the existing record for the world’s largest wave. More than 160,000 fans will take part in the record attempt.
· The 11 Dodge teams entered in the Sharpie 500 will seek the manufacturer’s 202nd victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Kasey Kahne recorded the 200th win by Dodge in the Pocono 500 in June. Dodge teams have posted 41 wins since the manufacturer returned to NASCAR’s premier series in 2001 (including four this year) after being out of the sport since 1977.

DODGE ROOKIE CONTENDERS
· Sam Hornish Jr. – The three-time IndyCar Series champion and 2006 Indy 500 winner qualified seventh and finished 29th in his inaugural race at BMS.
· Patrick Carpentier – The driver of the No. 10 Dodge Charger from Gillett Evernham Motorsports is eager for the return to BMS. Carpentier missed the 43-car field for the spring event when qualifying was cancelled due to rain.

RAYBESTOS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR STANDINGS
Regan Smith 178
Sam Hornish Jr. 177
Patrick Carpentier 169
Michael McDowell** 156
Dario Franchitti*** 97 **Driver did not compete at Michigan last week ***Team is not competing in Sprint Cup at this time.

BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY TRACK FACTS
· Starting up front is definitely an advantage of BMS. The winner has started from the front row 33 times in 94 events.
· Only 17 of the 94 races at BMS have been won from a starting position outside the top 10 and 29 from outside the top six.
· Bristol was reconfigured from a .5-mile track to a .533-mile, high-banked racing surface in 1969. The banking was increased from 22 to 36 degrees which made BMS the fastest half-mile track on the NASCAR circuit.
· The track surface was changed from asphalt to concrete in 1992 between the spring and fall race.
· The second event during the 1971 season was run without a caution. Charlie Glotzbach averaged 101.075 mph en route to victory.

DID YOU KNOW?
· An NFL exhibition game between the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles was played on what was then a grassy infield at BMS on September 2, 1961. The event drew poorly and the players complained about the playing surface. The Eagles won 17-10 as former Duke star Sonny Jurgensen threw touchdown passes of 10 yards to Tommy McDonald and 34 yards to Pete Retzlaff. Ralph Guglielmi passed 41 yards to Dick James for Washington’s only TD.
· A total of 42 cars started the first race at BMS in July, 1961, but only 19 finished with Jack Smith taking the win. He won by a two-lap margin over Fireball Roberts.
· Darrell Waltrip made 12 trips to victory lane at Bristol, more than any other driver. He had a string of seven straight wins (1981-1984).
· Kasey Kahne was the WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race in the 2007 Sharpie 500 at Bristol, leading a race-high 450 laps. Kahne scored a second-place finish in the race.

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This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Kim DeHaven.

 

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