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Richmond: Brad Keselowski preview

BLUE ANGELS ON NAVY CHEVROLET -- In honor of the U.S. Navy's elite flight demonstration team, Brad Keselowski will drive the No. 88 Navy Blue Angels Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in Saturday's Lipton Tea 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Richmond ...

Published: Apr 30, 2008, 7:45 PM

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BLUE ANGELS ON NAVY CHEVROLET -- In honor of the U.S. Navy's elite flight demonstration team, Brad Keselowski will drive the No. 88 Navy Blue Angels Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in Saturday's Lipton Tea 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Speedway. Instead of the usual "Dress White" paint scheme the Navy Chevrolet has sported throughout the 2008 season, the No. 88 will be blue and gold, just like the Blue Angels' F/A-18 Hornets.

BLUE ANGELS ACTIVITIES AT RIR -- In addition to Navy team's special paint scheme, the Blue Angels will be on-hand in Richmond this week. They will give media two-seater rides during the week, visit Powhatan High School in Powhatan, Va., sign autographs at the track and perform flyovers during pre-race festivities on Friday and Saturday nights. Prior to the start of Friday's Nationwide Series event, the Blue Angels' transport C-130, affectionately known as "Fat Albert," will perform the flyover while the Blue Angels will be guests of the Navy team that night. The following evening, the Blue Angels will perform the pre-race flyover in their F/A-18 Hornets for the Sprint Cup race.

KESELOWSKI FAMILY TIES -- Keselowski's dad, Bob, a former NASCAR Truck Series competitor, scored his sole Truck Series win at Richmond International Speedway. The elder Keselowski took home the trophy in the Virginia is for Lovers 200 at RIR on Sept. 4, 1997, after leading 82 laps.

KESELOWSKI AT RIR -- Keselowski has several previous starts at RIR in both the NASCAR Nationwide and Truck Series. He scored his best finish to date (16th) at the 0.75-mile track in 2005 in Truck Series competition.

TESTING -- The No. 88 Navy team spent two days testing at Richmond International Raceway in March during NASCAR's open Nationwide Series test session at the track. Keselowski posted the fastest lap time during the final session of the second day at 21.696 seconds, 124.447 mph.

KESELOWSKI'S SALORIZATION PROCESS -- Prior to arriving in Richmond, Keselowski and his JR Motorsports team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. will fly out to an aircraft carrier currently out in the Atlantic Ocean. The duo will spend several hours aboard the carrier meeting with sailors, touring the large vessel and learning more about life aboard the carrier for the sailors. The trip is a part of Keselowski's sailorization program -- the Navy's process of familiarizing the young driver with various opportunities available for eligible men and women who join the U.S. Navy.

CHASSIS 378 -- The No. 88 Navy team is utilizing Chassis No. 378 at Richmond International Raceway. The team tested at RIR with this car in March. Keselowski raced this chassis three times in 2007, and picked up a ninth-place finish with it at Memphis Motorsports Park.

***

KESELOWSKI (on the special Blue Angels paint scheme) -- "It's pretty cool to get to drive the Blue Angels Chevrolet this weekend at Richmond. I was a guest of the Blue Angels out in El Centro back in February and I got to go up in their F/A-18 Hornet two-seater. It was definitely an awesome experience that I can only describe as the most fun you can have throwing up!"

KESELOWSKI (on dad's win at Richmond) -- "Unfortunately I was at school that night. That was actually the first race I missed that year I followed the team all summer and that was the first week I went back to school and they won. My parents teased me a lot about that. It was really cool though for my dad and our whole family. I would love to do the same thing and go to Richmond and get my first win."

KESELOWSKI (on racing at Richmond) -- "Richmond has a lot of history behind it. I've always respected the track a lot for what it means to racing as far as short track racing and getting back to the basics of what this sport was built on -- running side-by-side, using the brakes, out-smarting people and being aggressive. Everything that's cool about racing, between the smell of the rubber and the glow of the rotors, all that cool stuff is at Richmond. Most of us grew up racing short tracks, and coming to Richmond is like going back to your home track, just with a lot more fans and corporate backing."

-credit: jrm

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