Keslowski Daytona Preview - February 9, 2009

NEW LOOK FOR 2009 – Brad Keselowski and the No. 88 GoDaddy.com team will kick off the new NASCAR Nationwide Series season this Saturday at Daytona International Speedway, and in doing so will introduce a new line-up of sponsors for 2009. GoDaddy.com will be the primary sponsor of the No. 88 team for 18 races, with Unilever brands donning Keselowski’s Chevrolets for 11 events and Delphi for six.

FOCUSED – Last season, Keselowski finished a career-high third in the Nationwide Series point standings, the highest finishing position for a Nationwide Series-only driver. Keselowski ended his 2008 campaign with two wins, 20 top-10s, 11 top-fives and one pole award.

KESELOWSKI AT DAYTONA – As Keselowski begins his second full season of competition in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, he will be making his third series start at Daytona International Speedway. His average start at DIS is 7.5 and average finish is 10.5. Last February, Keselowski qualified 13th and took the checkered flag in 16th. Keselowski also has two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at Daytona where he scored his career-best Truck Series finish (seventh) at DIS in 2005.

RACING THE BOSS – For the first of seven times this season, Keselowski will compete on track against team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Saturday’s season opening event at DIS. Earnhardt Jr. will drive the No. 5 Hellmann’s Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. Last season, Keselowski amassed three top-five and two top-10 finishes when he raced against Dale Jr.

VETERAN LEADERSHIP – While Keselowski continues to chase the ever-elusive win at Daytona International Speedway, his crew chief, Tony Eury Sr., brings a wealth of knowledge to the No. 88 GoDaddy.com team with more than 20 years of experience as a crew chief. His guidance has taken both Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to Victory Lane at DIS. Eury led Earnhardt Sr. to seven Nationwide Series wins at Daytona, including five-in-a-row from 1990-1994.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY – Keselowski will celebrate his 25th birthday on Thursday, Feb. 12. Team hauler driver, Bill Cole, will also celebrate a birthday on Feb. 15.

CHASSIS NO. 222 – The GoDaddy.com team will run Chassis No. 222 at Daytona. They ran this car at the Nationwide Series race in Daytona in July, 2008. In that event, Keselowski qualified the car on the outside pole, led 28 laps and took the checkers in fifth.

REAL FAN OF THE YEAR – Keselowski, along with teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin, will be taking part in the Hellmann’s Real Fan of the Year announcement in the Sprint Fan Zone on Saturday at 9:15 a.m. The announcement will detail the Real Fan of the Year contest which will run throughout the 2009 season, with the contest winner being announced at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in October.

BRAD KESELOWSKI (on racing with teammate and team owner Earnhardt Jr. at Daytona) – “I love being able to race against Dale. I think it’s really beneficial for he and I to race against one another because I feel like we bring out the best in each other on the track. Sure, we’re competitive, but mostly we just have a good time out there. We both have really great equipment here this weekend and I’m looking forward to a great race and great finish for us both.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI (on attempting double-duty this weekend) – “I feel like there is a huge advantage for me being able to compete in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series races, especially at restrictor plate tracks. It’s so valuable to have that extra seat time, especially with pre-season testing being cancelled this season. I’m very excited to attempt my first Daytona 500 and I think I definitely have a car that can make the field.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI (on celebrating his 25th birthday this Thursday) – “I honestly can’t think of a better way to celebrate my birthday than being able to make the field for the [Daytona] 500 by racing well in the Gatorade Duels.”

TONY EURY SR. (on coming back to Daytona to start the 2009 season) – “I’m ready to get back to racing. It’s been a little harder for everyone knowing what they have without testing, but I think we have two good cars going down to Daytona and they should be fast right off the truck.”

TONY EURY SR. (on his expectations for 2009) – “My expectation for this year is to win a championship. Brad has been to all these tracks now, some of them twice, and so I have high expectations for him and what he can do on the performance side. Our guys build strong cars and we have a great team, so there’s no reason we can’t contend for that championship.”