BRAD KESELOWSKI RACING PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY PREVIEW
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Phoenix International Raceway
Lucas Oil 150
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Friday, November 11, 2016 | 10:00 PM ET
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MEDIA SCHEDULE
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Qualifying
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NCWTS Pre-Race
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Race
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Radio Broadcast
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(Fri., Nov. 11th) 6:30 PM ET
(FS1)
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(Fri., Nov. 11th) 9:30 PM ET
(FS1)
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(Fri., Nov. 11th) 10:00 PM ET
(FS1)
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(Fri., Nov. 11th) 10:00 PM ET
(MRN and SiriusXM Channel 90)
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Ready To Rise: Daniel Hemric (@DanielHemric) surprisingly reaches the penultimate race of 2016 without a check in the win column, despite an incredible consistency throughout his sophomore season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS). His only goal at Phoenix (Avondale, Ariz.) International Raceway: park the No. 19 Blue Gate Bank Ford F-150 in Victory Lane.
Daniel Hemric Notes
- Has two previous starts at Phoenix with a best finish of 13th (2013). Hemric was running in the top five in last year’s event before a battery issue relegated him to a 21st-place finish.
- Locked in a three-way tie for most top-five finishes (10), second in top-10 finishes (16) and best average finish (8.6) this season.
- Brad Keselowski Racing has made 10 starts at Phoenix as an organization, tallying one pole (2013), four top fives and seven top-10 finishes – best finish is second (2013)
- ICYMI: Voting for the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Most Popular Driver is now open. You can vote once per day, every day, November 19th. To vote, visit TeamBKR.com/Vote
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Careers For Veterans at Phoenix: The No. 29 Ford F-150 driven by Tyler Reddick (@TylerReddick) will sport the Cooper Standard Careers For Veterans livery to recognize Veterans Day at Phoenix (Avondale, Ariz.) International Raceway. The holiday is Friday, Nov. 11, which is Lucas Oil 150 race day. Military veterans possess unique skill sets acquired through their service to our country and Cooper Standard is a company where these veterans can put these skills to work.
Tyler Reddick Notes
- Has two top-10 finishes in both NCWTS starts at Phoenix – best finish is fifth (2015)
- Average starting position is 4.50 at the one-mile desert oval
- Scored a fourth-place finish Sept. 24 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a track similar in design to Phoenix
- DID YOU KNOW? All three of Reddick’s wins have occurred on tracks one-mile in size or bigger
- Fourth-place finish last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway was his third consecutive top five and fourth consecutive top-10 finish on intermediate size tracks – also claimed his fifth top five and eighth top 10 in 13 speedway races in 2016
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Second Time For Cindric: For the first time in his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career, Austin Cindric (@AustinCindric) will make his second start at the same racetrack. Cindric will return to Phoenix (Avondale, Ariz.) International Raceway Friday night in the Lucas Oil 150. He made his first start at Phoenix in 2015 with Brad Keselowski Racing, scoring a 14th-place finish.
Austin Cindric Notes
- Will be making his fourth NCWTS start of the 2016 season at Phoenix
- Most recent NCWTS start came Oct. 22 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
- Made his first NCWTS start of the 2016 season with Brad Keselowski Racing at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway
- First-career NCWTS start came in October 2015 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway with BKR – qualified a respectable 14th in his series debut and ran well before a late-race incident relegated him to a 25th-place finish
- Won first career ARCA race Sept. 23 at Kentucky Speedway
- Won from the pole in BOTH K&N Pro Series East starts in 2016 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International and Virginia (Danville, Va.) International Raceway
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Daniel Hemric – No. 19 Blue Gate Bank Ford F-150: “I’m pretty confident going to Phoenix International Raceway, especially given the fact that I like to put it in the same category as a Gateway Motorsports Park. It’s obviously a little faster than Gateway, but the characteristics of what your truck needs to feel like are very similar, and we had a lot of speed there earlier this year. The track takes a big swing from day practice to the night race; Security on entry into Turn 1 is crucial because it never gets any better once the lights come on. The more I can keep my Blue Gate Bank Ford F-150 turning in Turns 1 and 2, the faster you can usually roll through 3 and 4, with how flat it is on that end of the racetrack.”
Chad Kendrick – Crew Chief, No. 19 Blue Gate Bank Ford F-150: “I think Phoenix is going to be a big turning point for our team. We haven’t been as successful with our short-track program this year as we have in years past. We’ve worked really hard going into Phoenix with a new package, and Daniel is really looking forward to going there. We started showing signs in Martinsville of the improvements our changes have made. I can’t wait to get out to Phoenix and have a good run there in our Blue Gate Bank Ford F-150. I don’t think any of us would have believed that we would be this late in the season without a win, so our number one priority is to rectify that.”
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Tyler Reddick – No. 29 Cooper Standard Careers For Veterans Ford F-150: “Every time we’ve been to Phoenix we’ve run well and I think the Cooper Standard Careers For Veterans Ford F-150 will be really competitive this weekend. The biggest thing at that place is track position and we’ve done a pretty good job of maintaining that the last couple of years. It’s difficult to pass, so you’ve got to be very aggressive on restarts, but at the same time, you have to be smart. It’s important to be good in both ends of the racetrack, but I feel like it’s easier to pass off Turn 2 and into 3. You’ve got to think ahead and put yourself in the best position possible when making those passes because you may not get a second chance if you don’t make the pass.”
Doug Randolph – Crew Chief, No. 29 Cooper Standard Careers For Veterans Ford F-150: “Both ends of the track are so different at Phoenix. You have way more banking in Turns 1 and 2 and I think that gives the driver more options. The driver can search a couple of different lanes and find something that works. Turns 3 and 4 are very flat, so we focus on making our vehicle turn well at that end of the racetrack. The tires don’t fall off at Phoenix and it’s a huge track position race. If you get back in traffic, it’s just really difficult to make passes and go forward. We’re bringing the same Cooper Standard Careers For Veterans Ford F-150 that ran well a few weeks ago at Loudon, so we’re looking forward to this weekend.”
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Austin Cindric – No. 2 PIRTEK Ford
F-150: “I’m really grateful to have the opportunity to run one more race with Brad Keselowski Racing this season. Phoenix is the first time that I’ve returned to a track with the PIRTEK Ford F-150, and for me, that’s definitely important. Now I know what to expect going into practice, what I need to work on, and how to improve. When the green flag drops this year at Phoenix, it’s not going to be ‘Okay, how do I race on this track?’ Instead it’s going to be about what changes I can make and what I can do to get further ahead of these guys. We were strong in the race last year but things just didn’t work out for us. I’m excited to go back there and apply all the things I’ve been able to learn this year.”
Brian Wilson – Crew Chief, No. 2 PIRTEK Ford F-150: “I think it’s huge that Austin raced at Phoenix last year. We should be able to get up to speed quickly and that definitely changes your outlook for the whole weekend. If everything goes well and we make good changes in practice, we hope to have the PIRTEK Ford F-150 in the hunt. It’s really important to qualify well and get a good pit stall. When I reviewed the race from last year, it seemed like all the passes were made in the first five or 10 laps of a run, and then wherever you fell in line was kind of where you were ran. Pit road is a challenge because you’ve got to maintain pit road speed for so long and it’s congested. It’s definitely one of the trickier ones.”
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TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK! |
