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Keselowski Wins In Dominating Fashion at Richmond |
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Richmond, Va. April 30, 2010
Brad Keselowski, driver of the Penske Racing No. 22 Ruby Tuesday Dodge Charger
in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, led 189 laps on his way to an overwhelming
victory in the Bubba Burger 250 at Richmond International Raceway on Friday. He
had to endure a green-white-checkered flag finish for the second week in a row
before preserving the victory with a thrilling, last-lap pass.
The win extends Keselowski's lead in the Nationwide Series driver point
standings to 59 points over Kevin Harvick. |
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The race marked the second one-day show of the year for the Nationwide Series,
which meant a busy day for the 26-year-old Penske Racing driver. He began the
day with two hours and 50 minutes of Nationwide Series practice at 9 a.m., where
he recorded the fourth-fastest lap of 21.774 seconds, or 124.001 mph. In the
afternoon qualifying session for the scheduled 250-lap race, Keselowski toured
the .75-mile oval in 21.847 seconds, or 123.587 mph.
Upon the drop of the green flag, Keselowski wasted little time in showing the
power of his No. 22 Ruby Tuesday Dodge. By lap five, he was running in the
second position. He assumed the top spot in the running order on lap 60 and
settled into a nice rhythm on the ensuing long green-flag run that followed.
When the caution flag fell on lap 95, Keselowski had raced out to a five-second
lead in 76 laps. He radioed to crew chief Paul Wolfe that the car was "perfect"
and Wolfe elected to make only minor adjustments to the air pressure in the
Goodyear tires. |
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The longer the race stayed under the green flag, the better Keselowski's Dodge
Charger ran. Despite three caution flags in between laps 102 and 186, he was
able to stay out in front of the pack. With 25 laps remaining in the race,
Keselowski had powered to a three-second lead and a victory seemed like a
formality. However, the final caution flag flew on lap 244 of the 252-lap event
to setup the finish.
While two cars elected to stay out under the yellow flag, Keselowski brought his
No. 22 Dodge Charger down pit road for four fresh tires. He restarted the race
in the fourth position. Coming off of Turn 4 on the final lap, Keselowski was
able to get by the No. 27 of Greg Biffle to secure the eighth victory of his
Nationwide Series career.
Keselowski's statistics for the race were impressive. He scored 195 points - the
maximum possible in one race - while leading 189 laps, his most in a single race
in 113 career Nationwide Series starts. He scored a perfect driver rating of
150.0.
Penske Racing teammate Justin Allgaier finished 15th. |
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"Our car was just so strong tonight," said Keselowski. "Paul Wolfe, the whole
Ruby Tuesday team, they gave us a great Dodge Charger. We put it in the right
spot at the right time on the green-white-checkered finish. I wanted it to pay
off. I knew if we lost this race because we didn't take tires, I would be so
mad. So, I came down and got tires, made the right move with Greg (Biffle) on
the last lap and it all worked out."
The No.22 Ruby Tuesday Dodge Charger team will move back to the Carolinas for
the first time this season for the Royal Purple 200 presented by O'Reilly Auto
Parts at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The race can be seen live on Friday night,
May 7 on ESPN2 beginning at 7:00 p.m. EDT. The event can also be heard live on
MRN 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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