LOOKING TO MAKE SECOND CUP START: Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 25 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, will attempt to qualify for his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Keselowski, 24, made his Cup debut earlier this month at Texas Motor Speedway and picked up Sunday’s race at Homestead after his first qualifying attempt at Lowe’s Motor Speedway was rained out.
LAST TIME IN THE NO. 25: Keselowski joined elite company after making his Cup debut on Nov. 2 at Texas Motor Speedway, rallying from a 37th-place starting spot to finish 19th. Of his four Hendrick Motorsports teammates, only Dale Earnhardt Jr. did better in his Cup debut. Earnhardt scored a 16th-place finish at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in 1999.
RETURN OF THE 25: Hendrick Motorsports ran the No. 25 Chevy full time from 1986-2007, winning 17 races with drivers Tim Richmond (nine victories), Ken Schrader (four), Jerry Nadeau (one), Joe Nemechek (one), Brian Vickers (one) and Casey Mears (one). In its most recent trip to Homestead in 2007, Mears drove the No. 25 Chevy to a 16th-place finish.
AT HOMESTEAD: Keselowski’s best NASCAR Nationwide Series finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway happened last year when he led 18 laps and finished 17th. In 2005, he scored his best NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series finish of 22nd at the 1.5-mile oval.
McGREW ON THE BOX: Veteran crew chief Lance McGrew once again will call the shots for Keselowski and the No. 25 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet team at Homestead-Miami Speedway. McGrew, who has been successful working with young drivers like Ricky Hendrick, Vickers and Kyle Busch, is a former Sprint Cup Series race winner and Nationwide Series champion.
CHASSIS CHOICE: McGrew has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 25-441 for this week’s Sprint Cup activities at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This car—a former No. 24 Chevrolet—is the same one that Keselowski raced Nov. 2 at Texas.
THIS YEAR: Keselowski has been impressive this year running the No. 88 Chevrolet in Nationwide Series competition for JR Motorsports. Nearing the end of his first full-time Nationwide Series season, Keselowski sits third in championship points with two victories, one pole position, 10 top-five finishes and 19 top-10s in 34 races.
HENDRICK AT HOMESTEAD: Hendrick Motorsports has clinched two Sprint Cup championships (2006 and 2007) at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but has yet to enter Victory Lane there. In nine Sprint Cup events at the 1.5-mile oval, Hendrick drivers have combined for seven top-five finishes, 14 top-10s and one pole position. Jimmie Johnson, the back-to-back defending Sprint Cup champion, was the runner-up in the race in 2004.
HENDRICK RECORDS 175TH WIN: Car owner Rick Hendrick recorded his 175th Sprint Cup win when Johnson took the checkered flag on Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway. Hendrick’s victories, which started in April 1984 with driver Geoffrey Bodine at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, rank him first among car owners in NASCAR’s modern era (1972-present) and second all-time.
QUOTES
BRAD KESELOWSKI, DRIVER OF THE NO. 25 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON MAKING HIS FIRST CUP START WITH HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT TEXAS.): “It’s just cool to make your first Sprint Cup Series start and do it for Hendrick Motorsports. Hopefully, this is the start of something big. I can’t thank (team owner) Mr. (Rick) Hendrick and (sponsor) GoDaddy.com enough for giving me this opportunity.”
KESELOWSKI (ON WHAT HE LEARNED IN HIS FIRST NASCAR SPRINT CUP RACE AT TEXAS.): “Many valuable lessons. I learned how to work with Lance (McGrew) and the No. 25 team and also the strengths and weaknesses that I have and what I need to work on. In general, it was just a great opportunity to evaluate what my strengths and weaknesses are as a driver, which gives me a chance to develop on that.”
KESELOWSKI (ON THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES CAR AND THE SPRINT CUP SERIES CAR.): ”I noticed the pace was down a lot more on the Cup side and it wears on you just a little more physically, but it’s actually a little easier mentally than what I anticipated. I was kind of surprised by that. Physically it was tough, but I learned some things on how to better prepare myself.”
KESELOWSKI (ON TEAMMATE JIMMIE JOHNSON GOING FOR HIS THIRD STRAIGHT CUP CHAMPIONSHIP.): “It’s nice for Jimmie (Johnson) to go to Homestead pretty much knowing that deal is locked up. This way they can all go there and just race. Jimmie and the No. 48 team have done an amazing job all year, so I’m definitely excited for them.”
KESELOWSKI (ON WORKING WITH LANCE McGREW AND THE NO. 25 TEAM.): ”It was cool working with Lance. It was an eye opener working with different people and getting to see different perspectives. I think I learned a lot from Lance and the No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports team, and it will be great having the opportunity to work with them again this weekend.”
LANCE McGREW, CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 25 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON KESELOWSKI’S FIRST START.): “I think the first race went very well. I believe that Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. is the only other of our current Cup drivers that finished better in his debut, so that’s pretty impressive for Brad. All in all, it was a good weekend.”
McGREW (ON WHAT HE HAS LEARNED ABOUT KESELOWSKI’S DRIVING ABILITY.): “Brad is aggressive. He drives the car really hard every lap, but he does it in a way that doesn’t use the car up. He is used to the shorter Nationwide races where the guys drive so hard the whole race. He has definitely carried that mindset into the Sprint Cup car.”
McGREW (ON HIS GOALS FOR THE WEEKEND.): ”First and foremost, we want to make the race. Then we will try to improve upon our Texas finish.”
McGREW (ON THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN TEXAS AND HOMESTEAD.): ”There are not a lot of similarities between Texas and Homestead. The tracks are very different. Homestead’s corner entry and progressive banking make setting the car up very difficult. Thankfully, we can always lean on our teammates for advice.”
McGREW (ON WHAT IT’S LIKE TO HAVE TO QUALIFY ON TIME.): “It is very stressful, because you just never know if you are going to make it. Even if you were very fast in practice, you could slip during the qualifying lap, and it’s over. There is no margin for error and no second chances. We approach Friday like it’s the only day that matters. We only do qualifying practice and get as many runs as possible to eliminate any on-track surprises. It will hurt us in race practice because we will use all the stickers that are allowed in the first practice. This leaves us scuff tires for race practice, but making the race is the biggest priority.”
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