Keselowski powers to Nationwide win at Kansas

Photo Credit: Tom Whitmore/Getty Images for NASCAR

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 8, 2011)

KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Driving a No. 22 Dodge that felt as if it were on rails, Brad Keselowski dominated Saturday's Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway to win his fourth Nationwide Series race of the year and the 16th of his career.

The reigning series champion passed runner-up Carl Edwards with just over 13 laps left and pulled away to win by 2.795 seconds. Elliott Sadler ran third, followed by Paul Menard and Nationwide points leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Keselowski had a 10-second lead over Menard when the engine in Josh Wise's
Chevrolet exploded on Lap 142. The No. 22 Dodge hit pit road for tires and fuel and quickly stretched out his lead.

But when Angela Cope spun and hit the Turn 2 wall on Lap 173, Edwards was able to grab the lead to the inside after a restart on Lap 179. His advantage didn't last. Keselowski moved past Edwards to the inside on Lap 187 and pulled away for the win.

From Keselowski's perspective, the winning pass was anything but a foregone conclusion.

"The first few laps that I was behind him, I was pushing so bad in his air that I had some serious doubts," Keselowski said. "I go back to last week at Dover in the (Sprint) Cup car. In the last segment, we restarted 21st or something like that, drove through the lapped cars, and I ran down the lead pack from a straightaway behind in about four laps—I was three or four tenths (of a second) a lap faster.

"Then I caught the back half of the field and slowed down three or fourth tenths of a second in the dirty air. I was thinking about that the whole time I was behind Carl there, and I was like, 'Oh, my God, this is going to be another one of those days.' But I was able to move my line around and find clean air."

Keselowski may have had his doubts. Edwards—not so much.

"Brad's car was so fast," Edwards said. "I knew after about 30 laps that, unless something happened, we were going to be racing pretty hard for second place. Fortunately, there at the end, I did get a chance to race with him a little bit."

As it turned out, not for long.

Keselowski was the clear class of the field in the first half of the race. On successive green-flag runs, he opened leads of seven, five and four seconds before cautions bunched the field. Keselowski led Sadler by 3.785 seconds when NASCAR called the fourth caution of the race on Lap 86 for Timmy Hill's blown engine.

Keselowski, who had stayed out under the previous yellow, came to pit road for fuel and four tires on Lap 88 but stalled his car in his pit box because of a miscommunication between driver and crew on when to leave the stall.

"My fault," Keselowski radioed after the mistake. "I wasn't ready when you dropped the jack."

Keselowski restarted 14th on Lap 96. Six laps later, he was back in the lead, blowing past Aric Almirola for the top spot on Lap 101.

Notes: Stenhouse leads Sadler by 20 points in the series standings with four races left in the season. … Reed Sorenson, driving the Randy MacDonald's No. 82 Dodge after his sudden ouster from the No. 32 Turner Motorsports Chevy earlier in the week, ran 26th, two laps down. He remains third in points but fell from 49 to 70 behind Stenhouse. … With his runner-up finish in the No. 60 Ford, Edwards trimmed the lead of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to seven points in the owners' standings. … Danica Patrick finished 15th, her best result since finishing 10th at Daytona in July.

Keselowski Locks Up 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series at Texas

Photo Credit: Autostock via Penske Racing


As Carl Edwards won the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speeday through a green-white checkered run to the finish, attention to the NASCAR Nationwide Series quickly shifted to the 3rd place #22 Dodge driven by Brad Keselowski. Leaving the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge with a 465-point lead over Carl Edwards, Keselowski clinches the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship with two races still left to be run.


On the way to his first NASCAR overall points title, Brad Keselowski's efforts were helped by 24 top-5s along with 27 top-10 finishes. Running at the end of every race, the worst result for the #22 Dodge this season was 21st at Chicagoland Speedway. Accumulating 6 wins on the 2010 season, Brad Keselowski's dedication to a full season in NASCAR Nationwide Series made was pivotal him only 1of 12 drivers have carried out a full Nationwide Series schedule.



Photo Credit: Jonathon Ferrey/ Getty Images for NASCAR

Remembering just 4 seasons ago, Brad Keselowski was an unproven talent without a permanent stock car ride. Keselowski's future changed at O'Reilly Raceway Park when a truck team needed a substitute driver to replace their recently suspended wheelman. Taking pole and leading a considerable number of laps, the performance was enough to attract JR Motorsports to the Michigan native. Entrusted to the #88 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for two full seasons, Keselowski won 6 races but was no match for the division's championship. Finishing 3rd in the points both 2008 and 2009, Brad Keselowski was bested by NASCAR Sprint Cup regulars in previous seasons. For 2010, Keselowski entered the ranks of full-time Sprint Cup Series by signing with Penske Racing but still had unfinished business inside of the Nationwide Series. This year with the support of Penske Racing's farm team, it was the Michigan state driver's turn to claim superiority.


A first title for Brad Keselowski, this championship is also the first in NASCAR for mega owner Roger Penske.

Edwards Storms Ahead of Busch to Win Texas Nationwide Race

Photo Credit: John Harrelson/ Getty Images for NASCAR

By Reid Spencer


Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service



FORT WORTH, Texas (Nov. 6, 2010) — Carl Edwards knew he had to get everything he could on a restart with two laps left in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway.

Kyle Busch, who finished second to Edwards, was convinced the race winner got too much.



Nevertheless, after a green-white-checkered-flag finish, it was Edwards who celebrated his third win of the season and the 28th of his career, after thwarting Busch’s attempt to win his record sixth straight NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the 1.5-mile track.



Edwards, however, couldn’t prevent third-place finisher Brad Keselowski from clinching the Nationwide drivers championship, the first NASCAR title for team owner Roger Penske. With two races left, Keselowski leads second-place Edwards by an insurmountable 465 points.



Edwards held the lead when caution flew for the fifth time on Lap 198 of a scheduled 200, when smoke billowed from Clint Bowyer’s Chevrolet as it sped through the tri-oval. That gave Busch, who led a race-high 107 laps, a final chance to battle Edwards for the lead, but the fight failed to materialize.



Why? Busch contended Edwards hit the gas before the restart zone delineated by red stripes on the outer walls.



“Carl Edwards jumped the restart by about three lengths before the double red marks,” Busch said after the race. “Does it freakin’ matter? The race is over. The guy’s in Victory Lane. It doesn’t matter.”



Edwards was unapologetic.



“I had to do everything I could,” Edwards said. “Kyle and those guys have a spectacular car, and he does a really good job on restarts. So I just got the best restart I could, and it ended up winning us the race. He’s tough. He raced me really well on the one before that (Lap 191), but I knew if I gave him an inch, he’d beat us.”



Understandably, Keselowski was elated at clinching the championship.



“I’m so very fortunate and blessed to have this opportunity with (crew chief) Paul Wolfe and Roger and everybody back at the shop,” Keselowski said. “The guys that are there miss their kids’ Little League games working hard on my car,



“We almost had a win here today. I wanted to win this one, too, but it didn’t work out.”



Edwards made sure of that. He passed Busch on Lap 155 and held the top spot until Parker Kligerman spun off Turn 2 on Lap 185 to cause the fourth caution of the race. Edwards retained the lead after a wild restart on Lap 191 and pulled away from Busch before a caution on Lap 198 slowed the field and sent the race to overtime.



Joey Logano finished fourth, followed by Martin Truex Jr.



Notes: With the victory, Edwards won $75,000 in Nationwide’s Dash4Cash program. Thirteenth-place finisher Justin Allgaier won the $75,000 Dash4Cash season-ending bonus as the eligible driver who scored the most points in the four Dash4Cash races. … Edwards’ victory was his 50th combined in NASCAR’s top three series. … Busch posted his 11th top-10 finish in 12 races at Texas.

Brad Keselowski Takes NASCAR Sprint Cup's Sylvania 300 Pole at New Hampshire



Photo Credit: Jason Smith/ Getty Images for NASCAR

2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup
Sylvania 300
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Qualifying Results

Top 10:

1) 12 Brad Keselowski No. 12 Penske / AAA Dodge
2) 33 Clint Bowyer Cheerios / Hamburger Helper Chevrolet (C)
3) 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot / Old Spice Chevrolet (C)
4) 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald's Chevrolet
5) 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Energizer Chevrolet
6) 43 A J Allmendinger Insignia HDTV Ford
7) 00 David Reutimann TUMS Toyota
8) 98 Paul Menard Sylvania / Menards Ford
9) 18 Kyle Busch M&Ms Toyota (C)
10) 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford (C)

Other Notables
 
12) 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge (C)
13) 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet (C) 
14) 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford (C)
17) 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont / National Guard Facebook Chevrolet (C)
22) 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Small Business Toyota (C)
24) 39 Ryan Newman U.S. Army Chevrolet
25) 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's / Johns Manville Chevrolet (C)
27) 29 Kevin Harvick Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet (C)
32) 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy / National Guard Chevrolet
33) 17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal Ford (C)

Harvick Cruises to Richmond Nationwide Series Win

Photo Credit: Pool

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(September 10, 2010)
RICHMOND, Va.—Polesitter Kevin Harvick held off Nationwide Series points leader Brad Keselowski during a 40-lap run to the finish to win Friday night's Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway.
In the first race at Richmond and third overall with NASCAR's new Nationwide car, Harvick crossed the finish line .256 seconds ahead of Keselowski, who extended his championship lead to 373 points, over Carl Edwards, who ran 10th. Trevor Bayne finished third, tying his career best. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came home fourth, followed by Reed Sorenson.
The victory was Harvick's third of the season and 37th of his career, third all-time in the series. The owner/driver for Kevin Harvick Inc. led 170 of the 250 laps and was elated with the progress his No. 33 team had made with the new car.
"This is the future of our company, so we put a lot of effort into this program, knowing that all the other cars were going to go away, and knowing that we had to be good with this car," said Harvick, who gets his new chassis from Richard Childress Racing and his power from Earnhardt-Childress engines.
"RCR's been a big part of this as well, with the engines, the chassis and the engineering. Everybody's been working together. It's easy when you get started in the right direction to keep it going that way."
Keselowski likewise was pleased with his No. 22 Dodge team's progress with the new car, which is being phased in this year—with plans for full-time use in 2011.

"I was just glad that we were able to work on the car and make it better," Keselowski said. "That's been one of our larger struggles all year with this particular chassis. So I'm glad that we were able to do that—just a real good show for the new car on the short tracks.

"I think that's something to be proud of for the series. I think we can continue to work and make things better, but this was a great start."

Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard, Kyle Busch and Edwards completed the top 10. A snafu in the pits cost Busch a chance for a record 11th win this season. Under caution on Lap 205, the quick-fill nozzle on one of Busch's fuel cans broke off and remained attached to the car as Busch left pit road.

Penalized for taking equipment from the pits, Busch restarted 21st on Lap 211 and worked his way up to ninth before the race ended.

Kyle Busch Steam Rolls Keselowski to Win Bristol Nationwide Race

Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

Article Sourced from NASCAR

BRISTOL, Tenn.—After spinning his strongest challenger on Lap 219, Kyle Busch held off Jason Leffler and polesitter Elliott Sadler through a spate of cautions in the closing laps to win Friday night’s Food City 250 Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Busch won his 10th Nationwide race of the year, tying the single-season record he already shared with Sam Ard. The victory was Busch’s 40th in the series, but it was not without controversy.
Busch can complete an unprecedented sweep of three races at one track in NASCAR's top three touring series with a victory in Saturday’s Sprint Cup Series Irwin Tools Night Race. Busch won Bristol’s Camping World Truck Series race Wednesday night.
Keselowski and Busch battled ferociously for the lead during the final quarter of the race, and that heated contest produced the sixth caution of the event. On Lap 219, Busch slid past Keselowski for the lead off Turn 2 but bobbled slightly down the backstretch.
Busch’s No. 18 Toyota clipped the wall after contact from Keselowski’s Dodge, and as the cars rolled through Turn 4, Busch spun his adversary in the corner, forcing Keselowski to pit to repair the damage to his car. Keselowski finished 14th.

“It is what it is,” Keselowski said. “I’m going to go to work—and work on beating his ass.”

Busch admitted he spun Keselowski on purpose.

“I thought I had him cleared on the back, and I moved up in front of him, and instead of him doing an Earnhardt crossover move, he just decided that he would run into the back of me and put me in the fence,” Busch said. “That’s Brad Keselowski. So I went into the next corner and dumped him.

“He does it to everybody else. Why can’t I do it to him?”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. rallied from a lap down to finish fourth behind Leffler and Sadler. Carl Edwards ran fifth. Trevor Bayne, Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson, Parker Kligerman and Joey Logano completed the top 10.

Edwards, second in the series standings, trimmed Keselowski’s lead to 313 points. On the strength of his 10 victories in 20 starts, Busch remained third in points, 434 behind Keselowski, despite having competed in four fewer races than either Keselowski or Edwards.
The race featured a wild accident on Lap 83, when contract from Justin Allgaier’s Dodge sent Kasey Kahne’s No. 38 Toyota sliding on its side along the outside wall for approximately 200 yards.

Notes: Busch gave Toyota its 50th Nationwide win. … Busch won in chassis 61, which has accounted for eight victories in 10 starts. … Busch’s 40 wins have come in 193 starts. He is second to Mark Martin, who has 48 wins in 231 starts.
 

NASCAR Nationwide Series Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville: Practice Makes Perfect For Keselowski

John Sommers II/Getty Images for NASCAR

By Lee Montgomery
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

LEBANON, Tenn.—Brad Keselowski was one of four drivers pulling double-duty in NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races this weekend. But Keselowski was the only Cup driver to fly from Pocono Raceway to Nashville Superspeedway for Friday practice.

Was it any coincidence that Keselowski won Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 300 Nationwide Series race? Keselowski didn't think so.

"It's quite simple: If I didn't come here (Friday), I don't think I would've won the race," Keselowski said after scoring his third Nationwide victory of the season and second of his career at Nashville.

Keselowski came into Nashville with a one-point lead on Kyle Busch, but Busch and third-place Kevin Harvick skipped Nashville and will not run the full season. Keselowski's points lead is now 196 over Busch, with Carl Edwards 277 back in third.

Edwards finished second Saturday, with Paul Menard third, polesitter Justin Allgaier fourth and Mike Bliss fifth.

Edwards, Menard and Michael McDowell are also running both Cup and Nationwide races this weekend, but none were in Nashville on Friday.

Keselowski figures he owes it to his Penske Racing team to show up and practice.

"This team works in the shop on days when I'm sleeping in," Keselowski said. "They work, and they work. They work, and I get all the glory. It's my responsibility to know when it's time for me to get to work.

"Sometimes, it's not always the funnest thing to do or the easiest thing to do. There was a lot of travel (Friday), but it makes it worth it to be sitting here right now."

How was Keselowski's appearance Friday the difference? Crew chief Paul Wolfe said competition is so close that any edge a team can gain makes a big difference.

"One thing we did have going for us was this was the same car we ran here in (April), and we were very fast with it (finishing fifth)," Wolfe said. "That helped, but it's down to fine-tuning to win these races, and you've got to be close to perfect. That's where having Brad here to tune into what he thought he was going to need tonight was part of it.

"That's the kind of effort it's going to take, going back and forth. Obviously, that shows Brad's dedication to the series and winning this championship."

Keselowski qualified 24th and slowly worked his way to the front of the field. He didn't get the lead until after the halfway point but led 97 of the final 100 laps. He was one of several drivers to stay on the track under the race's final caution period, and after a brief tussle with Edwards, Keselowski pulled away for his third win of the season.

NASCAR Law and Order: Edwards Vs Keselowski in Atlanta

Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images for NASCAR


To the delight of fans, NASCAR stock car racing is a motorized contact sport. With some NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers able to conquer their 800-plus horsepower stock cars, the are so many chances to see one or more competitors sent out of control for various reasons. Due to the resilience of stock cars, these drivers wounded in competition are often presented with an opportunity to reunite on the racetrack. With single car incidents leaving the driver with no other competitor to blame, multi-car wrecks breeds the twisting of personalities where the rule of allowing bygones being bygones is thrown out the between the window netting.

In the twilight of NASCAR Sprint Cup's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the payback which drivers threaten and some NASCAR fans crave materialized as Carl Edwards refused to dismiss an early race altercation. Reacting to a lap 41 incident where Brad Keselowski's #12 Dodge made contact with the #99 Ford driven by Carl Edwards, Edwards waited until only 3 laps to go at Atlanta to deliver what is probably one of the most dramatic moves in auto racing vigilantism. Turning into the #12 Dodge of Keselowski through the frontstretch, Edwards delivered a message of dissatisfaction. From the local short-tracks to the big league of stock car racing, payback incidents are a cornerstone for racing justice.

Between Edwards and Keselowki, this collision at Atlanta was the third such accident in less than a year involving the two drivers. Up until Keselowski always delivering the shots. Starting with the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Aarons 499 at Talladega when Edwards' #99 Ford was sent flying along the frontstretch, a Nationwide series race at Memphis Motorsports Park also involved a run-in between Edwards and Keselowski. Brad Keselowski went on to win both races. As Carl Edwards came out on the losing end of this contact, Keselowski went on to victory on both of these occasions.

In the immediate aftermath of the frightening Keselowski crash, NASCAR Sprint Cup officials parked the #99 Ford through the two green-white-checkered periods that ended the race. Running in 39th place at the time he was reprimanded, Edwards' black flag cost him 3 additional points from the idled car Joe Nemechek.

As the race ended, NASCAR fans wasted no time in conversing about the event. Following the incident, social networks lit up with pretty of Carl Edwards fans rallying behind in embattled driver through his Facebook page. Fans of Edwards', particularly those who followed the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series, need little persuading to believe the driver of the #12 Dodge got his just desserts. On the other side of the electronic social board, Brad Keselowski fans provided their support as the Edwards' move was viewed as a cheap shot after a racing incident.

While NASCAR fans deliberated on the Edwards/Keselowski wreck, NASCAR president Mike Helton passed out an ultimate judgment on Tuesday (March 9th) placing Edwards on a 3-race probation period. Perhaps a tame penalty for those wanting NASCAR to send a more poignant message, Edwards' probation will be served on the three high-intensity short tracks of Bristol, Martinsville, and Phoenix. Having to maintain a better than good behaviour on race day, the effects this will have on the #99 Roush-Fenway Racing team is an additional variable.

After receiving his additional reprimand from NASCAR, Carl Edwards commented on his Facebook account saying "I respect NASCAR's penalty and look forwards to our meeting in Bristol. I'm ready to put this behind us and get on with some racing". The driver on the receiving end of this late race contact also offered a reaction to the penalty drawn on Edwards. Brad Keselowski commented on his Facebook account "I support NASCAR in the decision they communicated today." Performing as a team player along the Penske Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup squad, Keselowski message expressed some disappointment on how the incident "overshadowed" the victory of his teammate Kurt Busch.

NASCAR Nationwide: Kyle Busch Wins Big in Ford 300; Taking Race and Championship

Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR

In mid-day qualifying, the #60 Ford belonging to 2008 Ford 300 winner Carl Edwards took the top spot ahead of Ryan Newman and Jeff Burton. In spite of earning pole Carl Edwards knew that his efforts to capture the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Championship were exhausted the moment him and Kyle Busch took the green flag for the Ford 300. Needing simply to start the race, the #18 Toyota of Busch climbed his very first championship in a major NASCAR division. Coming off a frustrating Friday night finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the newly-acclaimed 2009 Nationwide Series champion focused on an improved performance in Saturday's race. While Edwards led the first laps, Busch's #18 Z-Line Toyota quickly charged forward from his 5th place starting position. On a restart from a lap 9 caution for Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch took the lead on lap 12 for the 1st of 7 times during the 300 mile race distance.

While Kyle Busch rode comfortably at the front, Sprint Cup teammate Denny Hamlin (driving the #11 CJM Toyota for this race) would use the finale of the NASCAR Nationwide 2009 schedule to back up a threat he made last week in Phoenix. Holding strong hatred for JR Motorsport's driver Brad Keselowski's aggressive bumping on a lap 157 restart that claimed Hamlin's car, Denny Hamlin exact wording in a post race interview said "There's a lot of guys that have a lot of chips that they're going to cash in, I'm just going to be the first to the pay window". Aptly enough for Hamlin, he found the #88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet on track by lap 36, cashing in his chips on an incident of contact out of the 4th corner. Spinning out Brad Keselowski, the #88 car avoided contact with the walls as he sled down the frontstretch. While Denny Hamlin considered himself entitled to payback NASCAR, having spoken with both drivers following the Phoenix Nationwide race, didn't share Hamlin's logic penalizing the #11 car one lap for the incident. Getting rewarded a rewarded the free pass after a later caution, Denny Hamlin did rebound to a 5th place finish. As for Brad Keselowski, his final race for JR Motorsports ended in 12th position after the early race drama.

On lap 47, Busch's car give up the lead to a suddenly revived Jeff Burton wheeling the #29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. Burton held the lead until a lap 81 caution for debris. With the lead changing 20 times through the Ford 300, Joe Gibbs Racing allies Kyle Busch and Joey Logano trading the first position 4 times between lap 86 to lap 101.

As they battled, the Ford Fusion of Carl Edwards set himself in prime passing position taking lap 102 and holding up to the lead for 34 circuits. After 64 caution-free rotations around the Homestead-Miami Speedway, caution flew for the 6th time for the #6 car of Eric Darrell brushing the outer wall. Benefiting from a gain in track position, the deciding restart for lap 163 allowed Kyle Busch able to size up Edwards making the pass one lap later. Surviving a final challenge of a final restart after a lap 186 caution, Kyle Busch blazed to the finish line on lap 200 capturing the last race of the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide schedule and 9th for Busch this season.

Winning it all through the Ford 300, a jovial Kyle Busch finally finds cause to celebrate in what is this young driver's biggest victory in history able to wave both the checkered flag and championship flag after the 2009 campaign.


NASCAR Nationwide Series
Ford 300

1. Kyle Busch #18 Toyota
2. Carl Edwards #60 Ford
3. Jeff Burton #29 Chevrolet
4. Joey Logano #20 Toyota
5. Denny Hamlin #11 Toyota
6. David Ruttimann #32 Toyota
7. Ryan Newman#33 Chevrolet
8. Steve Wallace #66 Chevrolet
9. Scott Speed #99 Toyota
10. Matt Kenseth #16 Ford