Team Penske Martinsville Race Preview

Brad Keselowski kept himself in The Chase with a win last weekend at Talladega.

Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500
Martinsville Speedway
Sunday, October26, 2:00 pm ET

No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford Fusion
Driven by Brad Keselowski

Â· SIX WINS TO GET IN: Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford team have a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)-leading six victories, thus far, this season. The team produced a dramatic win last Sunday at Talladega to keep their championship quest alive and advance to the Eliminator Round of the Chase, which begins this weekend at Martinsville.

Â· A CAREER-BEST QUEST: It took five wins and 735 laps led for Keselowski to earn his first NSCS Championship in 2012. Through 32 races this season he has earned a career-high six victories and led a career-best 1,518 laps, which more than doubles his 2012 lead lap total.

Â· NO. 2 ALLIANCE TRUCK PARTS FORD: This weekend marks a return to the Alliance Truck Parts Ford Fusion for Keselowski and the No. 2 team. With a strong first season as a primary sponsor of the No. 2 Ford in the Sprint Cup Series in 2014, Alliance Truck Parts serves the commercial transportation industry with reliable new and remanufactured parts and accessories to keep trucks and buses on the road.

Keselowski is a big fan of the short tracks. However, no grandfather clock as of yet in his trophy case.

Â· TIME FOR A MARTINSVILLE CLOCK: Keselowski has earned victories on most of NASCAR’s short tracks (Richmond, Bristol and Loudon), but he has yet to win at Martinsville. In nine starts at the historic “paperclip," he has produced five top-10 finishes with a fourth place being his best result to date. Keselowski mentioned last Sunday at Talladega that he must have a grandfather clock.

Â· TESTING, TESTING, 1-2-3: Keselowski and the No. 2 Alliance Truck Part Ford team tested Martinsville the week leading into Talladega. The test took place over three days (Tuesday and Thursday) as the weather affected the original consecutive two-day test plan.

Â· ANOTHER FIRST FOR TEAM PENSKE: Last Sunday’s clutch victory at Talladega brought the Team Penske organization its 21st victory of 2014, the most wins in one season to date in nearly 50 years of competition. The successes include teams competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the Verizon IndyCar Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Â· TALKIN’ ‘BOUT TEXAS: Keselowski had little time to bask in the glory of his sixth victory of the season on Sunday. The 2012 Sprint Cup champ traveled to Texas on Monday to promote the upcoming race. While there he played a contest-winning fan in a game of Madden NFL Football on Texas Motor Speedway’s giant big screen. He also raced Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage on the Big Hoss NASCAR video game.

THE Q&A

BRAD KESELOWSKI

YOU’VE YET TO WIN A SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE AT MARTINSVILLE, IS THIS YOUR WEEKEND TO WIN?

The #2 Ford Fusion will carry Alliance Truck Parts colors at Martinsville.

“We tested here at Martinsville about a week ago – it went pretty well too. We’ve run well at Martinsville in the past – much better than our results show. Right now, I am feeling about this weekend much like I did about last weekend at Talladega. Each of our previous outings has taught us something, whether it is car set-up, adjustments, who you can race with or even strategy. I feel like we’re to the point now where the law of averages is on our side. That and the team – our confidence in our ability to work hard, to execute, to count on each other – we’re in a special place. This No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts team is doing what we have to do to accomplish our mission, and we’re having fun doing it."

PAUL WOLFE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 2 ALLIANCE TRUCK PARTS FORD

YOUR TEAM IS FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS, WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN STORE FOR MARTINSVILLE?

“Martinsville is an interesting race, especially after Talladega. This team is in a pretty good place right now. We’ve been strong all season long – we’ve been working well together as a team. The core group of this team has been together for a while now, and we are hitting that place that time together gets you. That race last weekend really galvanized us – there is an extra little bit of confidence and belief in what we are capable of as a team. It’s hard to describe, but you can see it and feel it when you are there. So with that and the data we took away from our recent test, we should be alright this weekend."

THE NEWS AND NOTES

Joey Logano celebrating his recent win at Kansas.

The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion
Driven by Joey Logano

Â· ONTO THE “ELITE EIGHT": Joey Logano will head into this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Martinsville Speedway as one of the eight drivers still in the mix for the 2014 Championship. Logano earned his way to the third round of the Chase by grabbing finishes of first, fourth and 11th in the Contender Round, leading all drivers with an average finish of 5.3.

Â· A THIRD-STRAIGHT WEEK WITH THE POINTS LEAD: Even though the Sprint Cup Series point standings reset this weekend leading into Martinsville with the start of the Eliminator Round of the Chase, Logano was able to emerge from Talladega with the points lead once again. Logano topped the point standings throughout the second round, the first time in his Sprint Cup Series career that the talented young driver had led the series standings.

Â· PUTTING THE TEAM IN TEAM PENSKE: On Sunday afternoon, the “team" in Team Penske was on full display, as Logano was able to help push his teammate Brad Keselowski to the lead at the start of the green-white-checkered flag finish at Talladega to ensure Keselowski’s advancement to the next round. Unfortunately for Logano, after the solid push to the front, the 24-year-old driver slipped back without the benefit of a draft to finish 11th, his first result outside the top five to start the 2014 Chase.

Logano won the spring race at Texas.

Â· LOOKING GOOD FOR ROUND THREE: Each of the three tracks in the Eliminator Round of the Chase (Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix) already hosted a race earlier this season. Of the eight drivers left in championship contention, Logano had the best collective results at those three races in 2014 – a 3.0 average finishing position. Logano finished fourth at Martinsville, fourth and Phoenix and first in Texas. Jeff Gordon (average finish of 6.3) and Matt Kenseth (8.3) rank as the next best finishers at those three tracks.

Â· TESTING TO PAY OFF: Logano and Keselowski each tested at Martinsville Speedway last week in preparation for this week’s Eliminator Round event at the famed half-mile track. Even though the test was interrupted by rain, the team got a solid two days of testing.

Â· ALL-TIME BEST FOR TEAM PENSKE: Logano’s five wins this season, along with Keselowski’s six, mark the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories in a single season for Team Penske. Previously, the best was 10, all won by Rusty Wallace, in 1993.

JOEY LOGANO

MARTINSVILLE HAS NEVER REALLY BEEN ONE OF YOUR BEST TRACKS, BUT YOU HAVE BEEN BETTER THERE AS OF LATE. WHAT WOULD A WIN THERE MEAN?

“First and foremost, we want to win this weekend to lock us into the next round of competition and to be a lock to race for the Championship in Homestead. That is very important. But it would also be pretty cool to win one of those grandfather clocks. It has to be one of the coolest trophies in all of motorsports. It’s unique. But it’s not an easy race to win. There is a lot of beating and banging that goes on there and you can even get caught up in someone else’s mess. That’s a big part of short track racing. But we had a good test there and I feel like we have the ability to go there and win, especially with what we learned in the spring and how strong we were then."

WHO DO YOU FEEL IS YOUR BIGGEST THREAT IN THESE NEXT THREE RACES?

“They are all good and they are all threats. That is why they are here and in the position that they are in. You don’t get this far in the Chase by just sneaking by – you have to be a good team and have good racecars. Obviously, the 4 (Kevin Harvick), the 24 (Jeff Gordon) and the 2 (Keselowski) have been really fast with us all year long. But that doesn’t mean you can look past Matt (Kenseth), Denny (Hamlin) or the rest of the guys either. It’s going to be a tough road over the next three weeks, but I feel like this Shell-Pennzoil team is up for the challenge."

Team Penske