Keselowski finishes second in Sprint All-Star race

Brad Keselowski just missed a million-dollar payday tonight. The No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger was right behind Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet in tonight’s running of the Sprint All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.

After starting from the 19th position, Keselowski worked his way up the track. He won win the third segment of the 90-lap competition, leading the entire time.

To hear Brad’s post-race comments, click here.

Earlier this evening, A.J. Allmendinger qualified for the All-Star competition with a surprise second-place finish in the Sprint Showdown. The top two finishers and one “fan favorite,” determined by popular vote, went on to the main event in which Allmendinger finished eleventh.

Allmendinger’s Showdown run did not begin well; After qualifying for the pole position, he had to pull off the track with a flat tire before he even reached the green flag. He made up for the incident by running hot in a fast No. 22 Pennzoil Dodge Charger.

“I can’t believe the luck of this race team,” said Allmendinger with a big grin. “A flat tire before we come to green, I mean, we’ve got to do something to change our luck up, that’s unbelievable. The car was so fast. I mean, once we pitted and got back into the lead there, I was pulling away from Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) and I just knew the car was fast. I’m not going to give up on these guys. They work too hard; they deserve to be in this race. I knew if I got to his bumper (Jamie McMurray) I was going to move him the heck out of the way because I wanted to be in this race.”

Watch the NASCAR video of the Allmendinger action.

Johnson sets new record, qualifies first at Summer Nationals

Pro Stock: In Friday’s second qualifying round of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 24th annual Dollar General Summer Nationals, Allen Johnson set a new track ET record of 6.618 seconds at 207.85 mph in the Team Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Avenger, edging out Greg Anderson in the Summit Racing GXP for the top spot.

Fans at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas, saw an equally newsworthy performance from V. Gaines who finally hit it right with the Kendall Oil Avenger and qualified sixth, ahead of Vincent Nobile, Jeg Coughlin and Chris McGaha. Gaines qualified in both rounds with some of the best numbers he has hit in some time. Nobile and Coughlin also qualified in both rounds while McGaha had to work for it after he lost power in the first round.

Funny Car: Matt Hagan had a clean run in the first round; it just wasn’t fast enough to qualify. He had a better run in the second round, getting into the game with an ET of 4.105 seconds, Johnny Gray and Jack Beckman had good passes in both rounds and also finished the day with ETs of 4.105. Of the three, Gray had the top speed at 310.13, followed by Beckman at 308.43 and Hagan at 303.91, so they qualified fifth, sixth and seventh going onto today’s qualifying rounds. Ron Capps qualified seventh in the first round, but put down a 4.078 ET in the second round to qualify fourth.

Jack Wyatt’s Stratus started blowing fuel out of the headers in the first round and he had to coast through the quarter-mile. The problem must have been fairly serious because he was a no-show for Round Two.

Penske Update: Kligerman to sub for Keselowski in Iowa; Villeneuve signs for two Nationwide events

Parker Kligerman will be at the wheel of the Penske Racing No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger R/T for Sunday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 at Iowa Speedway. Brad Keselowski, who finished second in last night’s Camping World event, is staying in Charlotte for tonight’s Sprint All-Star Race. Kligerman will be running Penske chassis PRS-219, the same one Keselowski drove to a third-place finish in the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway in March.

Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team qualified 19th for the All-Star Race. He posted a lap time of 120.436 seconds, but drew a ten-second penalty for loose lug nuts.

AJ Allmendinger and the No. 22 Pennzoil Dodge claimed the pole position for today’s Saturday’s Sprint Showdown with a fast lap of 28.057 seconds (192.465 mph). That was more than two-tenths of a second faster than second-place Martin Truex Jr.’s lap (28.265 seconds/191.049 mph).

The Sprint Showdown kicks off at 7:30 PM. The winner and runner-up and the winner of the Sprint “fan vote” will then compete in the All-Star Race, scheduled to start at 9:00 PM (all times Eastern).

The All-Star weekend will air live tonight at 7:00 PM Eastern on the SPEED Channel. Race coverage will also be carried live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 90.

Jacques Villeneuve will return to Penske Racing for the two NASCAR Nationwide Series events in which he competed last year. Villeneuve will drive the No. 22 Dodge in the Road America 200 on June 23 and in the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal on August 18.

Villeneuve, a former Formula One world champion, has started in ten NASCAR races over the past five seasons, seven of those starts were in the Nationwide Series. Villeneuve is one of only three drivers to win the Indianapolis 500, the IndyCar championship and the F1 world title. Former Penske Racing drivers Mario Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi were the other two.

Dodge Dart and its designers up close

Dart-Mouth.com has a report on its closer, longer look at the 2013 Dodge Dart, including talks with design leaders Joe Dehner (exterior) and Ryan Nagode (interior). The report includes photography of closer-to-production Darts.