This past weekend marked the 10th stop on the
2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and with it came the second win for Team Penske
and Brad Keselowski in his #2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger.Keselowski started in the 13th
position and worked his way to the front of the field during the high speed
race around the 2.66 oval track.
Late in
the race, a caution flag led to a green-white-checked system that saw
Keselowski pushed past then-leader Matt Kenseth by Toyota driver Kyle Busch on
the second to last lap.Then, during the
last lap of the race, Keselowski was able to out-muscle the Toyota Camry car of
Busch to preserve the win.Teammate AJ
Allmendinger, who started on the outside of row 1 – finished 15th.
Keselowski’s
second win of the season moved him up to the 12th spot in the 2012
Sprint Cup season standings while AJ Allmendinger also moved up one spot, now
sitting in 20th.
Things weren’t so great for the two Dodge entries in the
Saturday NASCAR Nationwide Series as Keselowski had a strong start at 9th
but struggled all day to finish a fairly disappointing 20th – one lap
off the pace.Keselowski’s teammate Sam
Hornish Jr was towards the front of the field late in the race but ended up edging
out Danica Patrick for 12th in what turned into quite a melee.As the two crossed the line with Hornish
claiming 12th, his Dodge Challenger drifted up the track – squeezing
the sexy female driver into the wall. Patrick glanced off with little impact but as the two cars entered turn
1 (after the race was over, mind you), Miss Patrick got into the back of
Hornish’s car – sending him into the outside wall in a fairly violent
fashion.Danica played it off as an
accident that she wrecked Hornish but many believe that it looked fairly
intentional.Perhaps she was too busy
texting her BFF about evening plans to see the slowing field but in any case –
Hornish finished 12th with a wrecked car.His finishing spot allowed him to hold onto
his 4th place spot in the season points.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series both head to
Darlington this weekend.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
This past weekend marked the 10th stop on the