Justin Allgaier (born June 6, 1986, in Riverton, Illinois), is an American stock car driver. He drives the No. 31 Brandt Chevrolet Impala for Turner Motorsports in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He was the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series Champion and the 2009 Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year. Justin is nicknamed 'Little Gator'. He is so named for his size and ferociousness behind the wheel.^[1]

Early career[link]

Allgaier began his racing career at the age of five in quarter midgets, and won over one hundred races and five championships. He began stock car racing at thirteen in the UMP Late Model Series, where he competed for three seasons. At the age of sixteen, he made his debut in the ARCA RE/MAX Series at the Illinois State Fairgrounds Racetrack, driving the #99 Hoosier Tire Midwest/Law Automotive Chevrolet for Ken Schrader; he qualified twenty-ninth and finished seventeenth. He ran two additional races for Kerry Scherer and Bob Schacht, with a best finish of eleventh.

2003-2006[link]

Allgaier ran additional ARCA races in 2003, making six starts in the #86 owned by his father. He had a sixth-place finish in his second start at Toledo Speedway, and later a best finish of third at Salem Speedway. The next season, he made only five starts but had a second-place at Toledo. In addition, he was a representative of the United States in the South Pacific Saloon Car Championship, where had two top-fives. In 2005, Allgaier ran seven races in ARCA, splitting time between cars owned by Wayne Hixson and Bobby Gerhart. He won his first career pole at Springfield, setting a new track record, and had four top-five finishes. He also made his NASCAR debut in the Craftsman Truck Series, making four starts in the #63 MB Motorsports/Dave Porter Ford. He failed to make five races and did not finish higher 26th. That year, he appeared on the Discovery Channel program, "Driver X: The Race For The Ride." The show's premise was Jack Roush searching for new talent to drive Roush Racing prepared vehicles in NASCAR's top 3 series.^[2][3]

In 2006, Allgaier made his first full-time run in ARCA, ending 10th. He got his first career win at the Illinois State Fairgrounds Racetrack, becoming the first Springfield area resident to win in the 72 year history of championship auto racing at the fairgrounds. He made three more Truck races for MB and had a twenty-first place finish at Kansas Speedway. In 2007, he won his second career ARCA race at Salem and finished fourth in points. He also won two features in a midget car at Angell Park Speedway and placed 3rd in the Chili Bowl behind Tony Stewart and J. J. Yeley.

2008-Present[link]

Allgaier's 2009 Nationwide racecar

Allgaier returned for another full season in ARCA in 2008, driving for his family once again. He won six races, including the final three, and won the series championship by a slim margin. He broke Frank Kimmel's eight-year streak of winning the championship in that series. He also returned to NASCAR, finishing 21st in a Truck race at Kentucky Speedway. Later that year, Allgaier signed a contract with Roger Penske's #12 Nationwide team to run four races in the final part of the year.^[4][5] His best finish in the Penske Truck Rental Dodge was eleventh at Phoenix.

Allgaier was then signed to drive the car full-time in 2009. Because of the acquisition of Penske Racing sponsor Alltel by Cellco Partners, a joint venture of Verizon and Vodafone, their Sprint Cup sponsorship was legislated out of the sport by NASCAR's agreement with Sprint in that series to prohibit sponsorship by wireless telephone companies. This allowed Cellco to move the sponsorship to the Nationwide Series, where it is not prohibited, and Allgaier will race a full season with Cellco sponsorship for what will now be known as Penske Championship Racing (the name change was made to accommodate Verizon Wireless' sponsorship of the team, which is referred as Verizon Championship Racing, which encompasses all series of Penske). Allgaier won his first career pole in NASCAR at Memphis Motorsports Park. He won his first Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 20, 2010.

Allgaier near win at Road America in 2011

Allgaier was rumored to drive the Sprint Cup Series #12 Penske Racing Dodge in 2011, as Penske Racing has not acquired a driver for its fourth car yet. With Verizon leaving the #12 Nationwide team, Allgaier will join Turner Motorsports for 2011 and is driving their #31 Chevrolet Impala sponsored by BRANDT full time for 2011, as well as running part-time in the Camping World Truck Series. In the inaugural STP 300 at Chicagoland Speedway after passing Carl Edwards who ran out of fuel on the last lap. Even though Allgaier ran out of fuel himself after, he was able to cross the finish line before third place Trevor Bayne to finish first. He almost won at Road America but ran out of fuel on the caution on the final lap and finished 19th.

Images[link]

• 

  2010 Nationwide car

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Justin Allgaier at Racing Reference

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Bradley Keselowski
Born	(1984-02-12) February 12, 1984 (age 28) Rochester Hills, Michigan, United States
Achievements	2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion
Awards	2008, 2009, 2010 Nationwide Series Most Popular Driver
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
101 race(s) run over 5 year(s)
Car no., team	No. 2 (Penske Racing)
2011 position	5th
Best finish	5th - 2011
First race	2008 Dickies 500 (Texas)
Last race	2012 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
First win	2009 Aaron's 499 (Talladega)
Last win	2012 Aaron's 499 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles 6 26 2
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
178 race(s) run over 7 year(s)
Car no., team	No. 22 (Penske Racing)
2011 position	91st
Best finish	1st – 2010
First race	2006 Ameriquest 300 (Fontana)
Last race	2012 History 300 (Charlotte)
First win	2008 Federated Auto Parts 300 (Nashville)
Last win	2012 History 300 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles 18 109 12
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
51 race(s) run over 8 year(s)
Truck no., team	No. 19 (Brad Keselowski Racing)
Best finish	21st – 2005
First race	2004 Kroger 250 (Martinsville)
Last race	2012 North Carolina Education Lottery 200 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 6 1
Statistics current as of May 27, 2012.

Bradley Keselowski (born February 12, 1984) is an American auto racing driver and team owner currently competing in the #2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger in the Sprint Cup Series and the #22 Discount Tire Company/Ruby Tuesday Dodge Challenger in the Nationwide Series for Penske Racing. He was previously a driver for JR Motorsports from 2007 to 2009 in the Nationwide Series and for Phoenix Racing and Hendrick Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series. He won his first championship in the 2010 Nationwide Series; the first championship for both Brad and Penske Racing. Keselowski also owns a Camping World Truck Series team, Brad Keselowski Racing.

He is the son of Bob Keselowski and the nephew of Ron Keselowski. His older brother Brian competes part-time in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, the Nationwide Series, and the Sprint Cup Series.

NASCAR[link]

2004–2006[link]

Keselowski began his NASCAR career in the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series season, as the driver of the #29 for his family-owned K Automotive Racing team. He made his debut at Martinsville Speedway, where he started 26th and finished 33rd. He made seven more starts that season, his best finish coming at Mansfield, where he finished 16th.

In 2005, Keselowski began competing in the Truck Series full-time with backing from SUBcrews.com and Samson Stone. He opened the season with a career-best seventh-place finish at the Florida Dodge Dealers 250. Running every race that season, he finished 21st in points. He ran the first two races of 2006 for K-Automotive, finishing sixteenth at California Speedway, before a lack of sponsorship caused the team to temporarily suspend operations. Keselowski then drove a pair of races filling in for the injured Kelly Sutton, where he had a seventh-place start at Memphis Motorsports Park. He returned to the Trucks in August, where he finished 33rd at Bristol Motor Speedway driving the #63 for MB Motorsports.

2007–2009[link]

In 2007, Keselowski began running in the NASCAR Busch series full time and for Rookie of the Year honors with Keith Coleman Racing, but the team suspended operations in July. During the 2007 racing season, Keselowski was tabbed by Germain Racing to replace Ted Musgrave at Memphis Motorsports Park after Musgrave was suspended for an in race scuffle with another driver in Milwaukee. He qualified first for the Saturday night race, and led a majority of the race, but got bumped by Travis Kvapil with about nine laps to go. Keselowski finished 16th. Shortly afterwards, he was called by car owner Dale Earnhardt, Jr to drive his #88 United States Navy Chevrolet for JR Motorsports for the rest of the year in the Busch Series, posting five top-ten finishes.

Keselowski re-signed with JR in 2008, and got his first win came June 7, 2008 at Nashville Superspeedway, overcoming Clint Bowyer after the final caution in the closing laps of the race. His second Nationwide career win came in the same fashion at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2008. He ended the season third in the points standings, the highest finish by a full-time Nationwide Series-only driver. Late in the season, Keselowski was hired to drive the #25 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for two races with Hendrick Motorsports.^{[citation needed]} Keselowski was on stand-by for an ill Jeff Gordon in Kansas and for expectant father Casey Mears at Talladega that season as well. Keselowski made his Cup series debut at Texas after failing to qualify once due to a rainout. He finished the Dickies 500 in 19th position, and 23rd in the season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway.

Keselowski continued driving the 88 for JR in 2009 as well as competing in a limited Cup schedule. He will drive the #25 in seven races, and is scheduled to drive the #09 Phoenix Racing in ten races. He won the Aarons 499 in just his fifth career Cup start.

Keselowski pulled off an upset and earned his first Sprint Cup win during the 2009 Aaron's 499 at Talladega. In the pass through the tri-oval, Brad went high to try to fake Carl Edwards out. When Edwards went high to block, Brad went low to pass. Edwards went to block. However, Keselowski made contact with Edwards left rear quarterpanel, making him lose control of his car in a crash that sent Edwards back into the path of Ryan Newman. Edwards' car bounced off of Ryan Newman's hood and then up into the catch fence, injuring eight fans. Brad Keselowski did not go down below the yellow line due to the circumstances at the race last year involving Regan Smith and the yellow line (Smith passed Tony Stewart below the yellow line to finish first, but lost the win, even when there was controversy over whether he was forced to move below the yellow line). Keselowski won in his fifth career start (third start in 2009) and led his first career Sprint Cup lap, Lap 188 (in fact the only lap he led the entire race). It was the first time since May 2007 a driver had won his first career win in a major, and the first win in the Aaron's 499 by a first-time driver since Phil Parsons in 1988. It was also the first time a driver's first ever lap led was to win the race.

2010–2011[link]

It appears that his win in Talladega has earned him more seat time in the James Finch-owned Chevy. Originally scheduled to appear next in the 18th race of the season, at Daytona International Speedway, was then scheduled to appear in the upcoming race at Richmond International Raceway. Keselowski raced the Sprint All-Star Race as well.^{[citation needed]} He was forced to pull out of the Richmond race due to commitments to his Nationwide series team.

2009 #88 Nationwide car

Keselowski got his third Nationwide victory at Dover. Kyle Busch cut a tire on the restart, second-place Joey Logano rammed Busch and Keselowski passed them both.

After taking a gamble and staying out past his "pit-window," Keselowski garnered his fourth win at the first ever Nationwide race at Iowa Speedway after battling Kyle Busch to take over and maintain first position. Keselowski finishing first over Kyle Busch made Busch tie his record of nine consecutive top 2 finishes.

Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch dominated Michigan, but Keselowski came on top when momentum broke between the two, allowing Keselowski to pick up a victory in his home state.

In 2010, Keselowski joined Penske Racing in the NNS (NASCAR Nationwide Series) and NSCS (NASCAR Sprint Cup Series). Keselowski scored his first win in the NNS in 2010 at Talladega on April 25 and then went on to win five more races at Richmond, Nashville, Michigan, Charlotte, and Gateway. He also collected five poles, 26 top 5s, and 29 top 10s. With the 26 top 5s, he beaten Kyle Busch's record with 25 top 5s. With crew chief Paul Wolfe, Keselowski won his first ever NASCAR Nationwide Series title. But in the NSCS it was a different story. Keselowski finished 25th in the final Sprint Cup standings and recorded one pole, zero wins, 0 top 5s, and 2 top 10s.

In 2011, Keselowski will drive the #2 Miller Lite Dodge. Keselowski's current #12 Dodge team will become the #2 Miller Lite Dodge team. Kurt Busch and the current #2 team will become the #22 Shell Penzoil Dodge for 2011. Shell as a stipulation of sponsorship wanted Kurt Busch as their driver feeling that he is more established then Brad Keselowski. Paul Wolfe will replace Jay Guy as crew chief of Brad Keselowski's #2 Miller Lite Dodge. Todd Gordon will be Keselowski's crew chief in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He won the pole for the 2011 Coca Cola 600, and the following week, he was able to get the lead with 9 laps to go and hold off a charging Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to win the 2011 STP 400 at Kansas Speedway on fuel mileage. During his victory celebration, he ran out of fuel.

Keselowski had a violent accident at the Road Atlanta circuit which left him with a broken ankle. However, he took the lead with 16 laps to go from Kyle Busch and won the Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono Raceway, notable for being one of the most tricky tracks in the series. This win, happened 3 or 4 days after the violent crash.

The next week, Keselowski gave a valiant 2nd place effort at Watkins Glen International, leading with 2 laps to go but getting passed by Marcos Ambrose in turn five. He followed that with a 3rd place finish at Michigan International Speedway. The next week, Keselowski got his third win of the year at Bristol by holding off Martin Truex, Jr. and Jeff Gordon.

That win virtually assured Keselowski a spot in the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup, given NASCAR's rule change designating the final two Chase spots as wild card slots for drivers ranked 11th through 20th in the points with the most wins. Keselowski finished the "regular season" 11th in points, using his three wins to qualify for his first career Chase.

Keselowski was a factor for much of the Chase, before a late spin at Martinsville derailed his championship hopes. Still, Keselowski finished his second full Cup season fifth in the point standings, 84 points behind champion Tony Stewart. Keselowski finished the season with more wins than teammate Kurt Busch (three to two) and with a better points finish.

2012[link]

In addition to continuing running in the Sprint Cup Series and a limited Nationwide Series schedule for Penske Racing, Keselowski will compete in a limited number of Camping World Truck Series races for his own team, Brad Keselowski Racing, as a teammate to Parker Kligerman.^[1] On March 18, 2012 he won the Food City 500 at Bristol. He also won the Aaron's 499 at Talladega from a late race restart and a push from Kyle Busch. It was the first time since Dave Marcis in 1976 that Dodge won a Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega and only the fourth win at the track for the automaker.

Complete Sprint Cup Series results[link]

Note:This list does not include exhibition races.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Brad Keselowski Racing[link]

Keselowski formed his own race team in 2007. The team began competing in the Truck Series in 2008. Brad drove the #29 Chevy himself and earned the team's first Top 10 finish.

In 2011, Brad will have young prospect Parker Kligerman drive his #29 Dodge Ram for all 25 races, attempting to win Rookie of the Year, and possibly even the Championship. Currently Kligerman is 3rd in the Rookie Standings and 8th in the Championship Standings.

Kligerman actually did fairly well for Brad. "Klig" got two 2nd-place finishes for BKR, finishing 11th in the final point standings, and acquired additional sponsorship from Cooper Standard who will sponsor the duo for another full-season in 2012.

Images[link]

• 

  2010 Nationwide car

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Brad Keselowski

• Official website
• Brad Keselowski at Racing Reference
• Keselowski Family Website

Marcos Ambrose
Born	(1976-09-01) 1 September 1976 (age 35) Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Achievements	1999 European Formula Ford Champion 2003, 2004 V8 Supercar Champion
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
131 race(s) run over 5 year(s)
Car no., team	No. 9 (Richard Petty Motorsports)
2011 position	19th
Best finish	18th – 2009
First race	2008 Toyota/Save Mart 350 (Sonoma)
Last race	2012 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
First win	2011 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen (Watkins Glen)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 26 0
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
75 race(s) run over 5 year(s)
2011 position	98th
Best finish	8th – 2007
First race	2007 Orbitz 300 (Daytona)
Last race	2011 NAPA Auto Parts 200 (Montreal)
First win	2008 Zippo 200 at the Glen (Watkins Glen)
Last win	2011 NAPA Auto Parts 200 (Montreal)
Wins Top tens Poles 4 16 4
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
22 race(s) run over 1 year(s)
Best finish	21st – 2006
First race	2006 Kroger 250 (Martinsville)
Last race	2006 Ford 200 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles 4 1
Statistics current as of May 24, 2012.

Marcos Ambrose (born 1 September 1976 in Launceston, Tasmania)^[1] is a championship winning Australian racing car driver. He currently drives the #9 Stanley Black & Decker Ford Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Ambrose is a dual Australian V8 Supercar champion in 2003 and 2004, having spearheaded Stone Brothers Racing's rise in the sport which saw the team dominate for three years after a five-year drought for Ford teams in the championship.

In 2006 Ambrose relocated to the USA to pursue racing in NASCAR, starting with the Camping World Truck Series; driving a Ford for JTG Daugherty Racing. He moved up to the Nationwide Series in 2007 with the same team; driving the #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion for JTG Daugherty Racing,^[2] before racing in the Sprint Cup Series with Wood Brothers Racing, first with Fords then Toyotas. Ambrose joined Richard Petty Motorsports in 2011 where after four years in the Sprint cup he scored his first race win at Watkins Glen, becoming the first Australian driver to do so.

Early years[link]

Marcos grew up in Launceston, in Tasmania, Australia, the son of another racing driver, Ross Ambrose and was educated at Scotch Oakburn College. He began racing karts at the age of ten. He won four Tasmanian state junior karting titles and was the Australian karting champion in 1995 in the Clubman Heavy class at the Dubbo circuit in New South Wales driving for Tony Kostelnak racing.

He moved into Formula Ford in 1996. The Ambrose family have a rich history in this formula as Marcos' father Ross Ambrose, along with Ralph Firman Sr, co-founded Formula Ford chassis builder Van Diemen. Ambrose finished second in the Australian Formula Ford championship in 1997.

In 1998 Ambrose moved to Europe in a bid to reach Formula One, competing in British Formula Ford in 1998 and 1999. In 1999 he won the European Formula Ford Championship. In 2000 he began the season racing in the French Formula Three Championship, before switching mid-season to the British Formula Three Championship.

At the end of 2000 Ambrose did not have the budget to continue in racing in Europe, and returned to Australia. In October 2000 he was invited to compete in a Young Guns invitational race held at the Gold Coast Indy 300. Ambrose won against a host of young drivers in Honda road cars.

He also represented Australia in the 1996 EFDA Nations Cup at Donington Park in England.

2001–2005: V8 Supercars Australia[link]

Ambrose in his Stone Brothers Racing Falcon at Indy 2005

For 2001 Ambrose was signed by Stone Brothers Racing to drive the Pirtek Racing Ford Falcon. Ambrose stunned the V8 Supercar world when he qualified on pole for his first ever V8 Supercar race, supporting the Australian Grand Prix (a non-championship event before the championship season). Qualified on pole again in round three at Eastern Creek Raceway, round 9 at Queensland Raceway and round 11, the Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama Circuit.

Ambrose went on to finish eighth in the championship, winning the Rookie of the Year award. He won the fourth round of the season, at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, although he did not win any of the three races in the round.^[3]

The 2002 season saw Ambrose start the season snaring the pole position at Phillip Island before recording his debut race win in the first race. He eventually finished third in the V8 Supercar Championship, including winning the final round at Sandown Raceway.

With a new BA Falcon, Ambrose gave the Ford team a great start to the 2003 season with victory in the first race of the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide. He followed this fantastic start with a third career win at Eastern Creek Raceway where he led Ford home to a memorable 1–2–3 at the Sydney track. This was Ford's first clean sweep of the podium since Eastern Creek 1997 and Ambrose’s first round win for the season. After 13 rounds in the 2003 V8 Supercar Series, Ambrose was presented with the driver’s series trophy, 102 points clear of second place.

In 2004 Ambrose claimed three pole positions and five round wins and went into the final round at Eastern Creek Raceway with a virtually unbeatable lead. In the end he collected his second championship in the opening Saturday night race and then went on to clean-sweep the round in record-breaking style in his Pirtek Falcon. This was the first time Ford had won back-to-back titles since 1988–89. Teammate Russell Ingall also drove a superb final round to finish second in the championship, giving Stone Brothers Racing a memorable 1–2 Quinella finish.

Ambrose won the coveted Barry Sheene Medal in 2003 and 2004.

He started 2005 the way he ended 2004 with a clean sweep of the opening round in Adelaide. He remained in the championship lead until Round 10 at the Bathurst 1000 when he was involved in a controversial crash with Greg Murphy approaching The Cutting on the way up 'The Mountain' late in the race. The two drivers, infuriated with one another, shared some heated words after the crash.

This crash, combined with a poor performance at the co-hosted (with the Champ Cars) round on the Gold Coast arguably lost him a third straight title. He thereafter supported teammate Russell Ingall's title bid successfully, and the two helped Ford and Stone Brothers Racing take the Drivers, Teams, and Manufacturer's championships. Ambrose finished third in the championship behind Ingall and fellow Ford driver, and good friend Craig Lowndes.

Ambrose is still the only driver to have a round win in every V8 Supercar season he has participated in.

2006: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series[link]

At the first V8 Supercar race of 2005, Ambrose called a press conference on the Saturday morning to announce that he would leave V8 Supercars at the end of the 2005 season to try and make a career in NASCAR.

Ford Motor Company signed Ambrose to participate overseas in the United States with Wood Brothers/JTG Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2006. However, Ambrose had to wait until part way through the 2006 season to begin. NASCAR did not clear Ambrose to race the NCTS' first three races, as they were held on intermediate to high-speed ovals, and like fellow Wood Brothers/JTG Racing driver Bobby East, Ambrose was not cleared to start in the faster races. Ambrose made his Truck Series debut on 1 April 2006 at the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway, qualifying 20th and finishing 33rd after being caught up in an incident unfolding in front of him.^[4]

Ambrose is the first notable Australian driver in a NASCAR sanctioned event since Dick Johnson in 1990 and Australian based New Zealander Jim Richards in the mid 90s.

Ambrose made history by finishing third in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway on 2 July 2006. This was the first time a non-American driver has finished in the top five of a truck series event since Canadian Ron Fellows won on the Watkins Glen road course on 26 June 1999. He also took the lead in the opening laps, becoming the first Australian to lead laps in Camping World Truck Series competition. The next week, he made further history by scoring his first pole position for the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway,^[5] and then leading the most laps in the race itself, though he finished 19th.^[6] Ambrose scored his second podium result of his debut Craftsman Truck Series season, finishing 3rd in the Toyota Tundra 200 at Nashville Superspeedway after qualifying 11th.

Ambrose reached as high as 19th in the championship points,^[7] but finished the season 21st overall and 3rd in the Rookie of the Year standings, despite having missed the first three races of the year.^[2]

2007–2010: Nationwide Series & Sprint Cup Series[link]

Marcos Ambrose during the 2007 Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.