Brad Keselowski entered this weekend’s Sylvania 300 in
Loudon New Hampshire with a slim lead in the Chase for the Cup but with a 6th
place finish, BK and his #2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger dropped to second in the
overall standings.Keselowski and his
team now sit just one point behind Chase point leader Jimmie Johnson, who
claimed the top spot with a second place finish in each of the first two races
in the 10 race shootout for the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.
As was the case in the first race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup
Chase for the Cup, Brad Keselowski put himself in a less than favorable
position to start the race.In round 1,
BK started in 12th and in Loudon, the #2 Charger started 13th.Unfortunately, this starting spot proved to
be unlucky as Keselowski was unable to mount enough of a late charge fight for
the win.Sam Hornish Jr continued his
fill-in job in the #22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger with a 10th
place start but Hornish struggled – finishing 21st.
Over in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the drivers made a
stop in Kentucky for the Kentucky 300. Sam Hornish Jr put his #12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challenger in the
3rd spot to start the race and he had moved up to the 2nd
spot when the race came to an end. Hornish currently sits in the 4th spot in season championship
points – 46 points behind leader Elliot Sadler. Young driver Ryan Blaney piloted the #22 Discount Tire Challenger and
after starting 20th, he was able to finish 9th – netting his
5th top 10 finish in just 8 starts.
Finally, the Camping World Truck Series joined the Nationwide
guys in Kentucky for the Kentucky 201 with 3 Ram race trucks in the 37 driver
field.Ryan Blaney was piloting the #29
Brad Keselowski Racing Ram sponsored by Cooper Standard.Blaney started in the 16th spot
and was able to move up to 11th by the end of the race.Jennifer Jo Cobb started 30th in
the #10 Driven2Honor.org Ram and finished 16th while David Mayhew
put his MMI Wireless Ram in the 15th spot to start but ran into
brake problems – forcing him to finish 26th.
The bad news is that after this weekend’s stop in Loudon,
there are only 8 races left in the Dodge NASCAR campaign.Dodge and SRT Motorsports have announced that
they will not continue factory backing after this season following the news that
Penske Racing was moving to Ford for 2013. After effectively killing the Dodge NASCAR program with their move to
Ford – at least Mopar faithful with have a team to root against once Dodge is
gone next year.
"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.