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Keselowski Finishes Third at Phoenix, Grabs Points Lead |
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Avondale, Ariz. April 9, 2010
Brad Keselowski, driver of the Penske Racing
No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, finished
third in the Bashas' Supermarket 200 at Phoenix International Raceway on Friday.
Keselowski has now finished in the top-five in five consecutive series races.
Friday marked the season's first one-day show for the Nationwide Series, which
meant practice, qualifying and racing all occurred on the same day. Even thought
it was a busy day for Keselowski, who also competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup
Series, he still managed to find time to give each team maximum focus. This was
evident as Keselowski posted the second-fastest time in the morning practice
session. He toured the one-mile oval in 27.628 seconds, or 130.303 mph. |
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Knowing that race conditions would be similar to those of the morning practice,
crew chief Paul Wolfe only made slight changes to adjust to different
temperature and track conditions before the afternoon qualifying session. As a
result, Keselowski gave up speed on his qualifying effort to ensure that he had
a car that was fast in the race. He was still able to place his Discount Tire
Dodge Charger third in the time trials with a lap of 27.565 seconds, or 130.600
mph.
Keselowski continued to lay down fast laps once the green flag fell to begin the
race. He assumed the lead for the first time on lap 21. It was evident that his
car preferred the "clean" air that being out front provided as he was the
fastest on the track after the first 50 laps. |
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The No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Charger would remain inside the top-five cars
throughout the entire race, but there would be plenty of excitement before the
checkered flag was displayed. A lap 136 restart saw Keselowski line up in
second-place beside the No. 18 car of race leader, Kyle Busch. Busch did not
restart the race inside the designated restart box, allowing Keselowski to move
around him. This also bunched up the field behind the two cars, resulting in a
multi-car accident that triggered a caution before the cars completed a lap.
Keselowski was awarded the top spot as NASCAR felt that the No. 18 did not
properly restart the race. This would be Keselowski's second lead of the night.
As the laps wound down, Keselowski radioed to Wolfe that his chassis was too
loose. As a result he relinquished the lead to the No. 20 car of Joey Logano.
When the final caution of the day flew on lap 187, Keselowski and Wolfe
immediately knew what adjustments to make to give the Penske Racing driver a
shot at the win. Keselowski restarted the race in the third position on lap 192,
but thanks to an exciting move to the inside of the No. 20, he was back in the
lead for the third time on lap 194. However, he could not hold on as his chassis
was still too loose. He lost two spots in the last five laps to finish third. |
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The finish moved Keselowski into the lead in the NASCAR Nationwide Series point
standings for the first time in his career. He owns a four point lead over Carl
Edwards in his attempt to win car owner Roger Penske his first NASCAR
championship.
Penske Racing teammate Justin Allgaier finished 13th after a late-race incident
on pit road.
"Everything went pretty well tonight," said Keselowski. "We did what we needed
to do. We led laps. We were fast. We just needed a little more long-run speed.
That's something to work on; we'll keep doing that and keep having successful
runs like this. I'm really proud of my team, to have the point lead with a brand
new team six races in the year. That's pretty cool. That's really special. I
feel good about it. That's like a win in its own."
The No.22 Discount Tire Dodge Charger team will move slightly to the east to the
Lone Star State for the O'Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. The race can be
seen live on Saturday afternoon, April 17 on ESPN2 beginning at 3:00 p.m. EDT.
The event can also be heard live on PRN Radio, as well as Sirius Satellite Radio
Channel 128. |
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Visit the Racing News Archive to read previously featured stories. |
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