With
a full schedule of double-duty, Brad Keselowski, won Saturday’s
Dollar General 300 Nationwide Series race at Chicagoland Speedway in
a prelude to his debut Sunday in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint
Cup.
Keselowski
won his third Nationwide race of the season and the 15th of his
career, cruising to a decisive victory over Carl Edwards, whose
chances at a victory evaporated when his No. 60 Ford ran out of fuel
moments before a scheduled pit stop on Lap 124 of 200.
Today’s
victory is Keselowski’s first win at Chicagoland Speedway. He is
the first driver to win from a front-row start in 12 Chicagoland
races
Penske
Racing got its 20th career win, fourth win of 2011 and first win at
Chicagoland.
Polesitter
Brian Scott came home third, followed by Aric Almirola and Sam
Hornish Jr. in a race that saw 10 cars finish on the lead lap. Series
points leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. held the top spot in the standings
with an eighth-place finish.
Keselowski,
who qualified sixth for the Cup race before taking the green later in
the afternoon, held a 10-second lead over Edwards after a round of
green-flag pit stops late in the race and cruised through the final
30 laps.
"It’s
a great booster to get a win before going into the Chase,"
Keselowski said. "It was great execution today. That’s what it
takes to win right now. Our Dodges are fast, and today we just
executed really well and did what it takes."
Asked
what might carry over into Sunday’s Cup race, Keselowski said,
"There’s always the confidence—that’s the biggest thing."
Practicing
for the Chase
During
the early and middle portions of the race, Keselowski and Edwards—the
only Chase drivers in the field—took turns dominating.
Keselowski
wrested the lead from Scott on Lap 2 and stayed out front—with the
exception of one lap under caution—until Edwards passed him in
traffic on Lap 90.
"I’m
going to take every one of those freakin’ lapped cars and wreck
’em," Keselowski vented, after one of the back markers failed
to give him a lane to pass and facilitated Edwards’ move to the
lead.
By
the time Keselowski made a green-flag pit stop for tires and fuel on
Lap 115, Edwards had extended his advantage to three seconds. Edwards
waited until Lap 124 to pit—one lap too long, as it turned out.
For
Edwards, it was like ground hog day.. This past June Edwards was on
track for a sure victory in the STP 300, Then his Ford Mustang ran
out of fuel on the backstretch giving the victory to Justin Allgaier.
Edwards
ran out of fuel on the way to his pit stall, and by the time the crew
completed his service and his engine refired, he was nine seconds
behind Keselowski and in fifth place when the cycle of stops was
complete.
Charging
Carl, too little to late
Edwards
began to chip away at Keselowski’s advantage, narrowing the margin
to 6.188 seconds by Lap 141. Later in the run, however, Edwards’
charge stalled, and on Lap 155, he was running third behind
Keselowski and Scott, 5.635 seconds behind the leader
"They
told me to pit, and I was coming down the back straightaway, and I
ran out of fuel," Edwards said. "So it took us a little
longer in the pits. The guys did a really good job of keeping it
running and got us back out there, and then we had a really long
green-flag run (131 laps).
"I
think our car was fast enough. I would have really liked the
opportunity to go up there and race Brad. We just didn’t get that
caution."
For
Edwards and Roush, it will be wait until next year. Roush racing is
winless at the Chicagoland Speedway. The odds are that Roush racing
will end their drought in Chicago long before the Chicago Cubs do.
Brad
Keselowski showed just how fan friendly NASCAR drivers can be on
Saturday. After making a second place qualifying run, Brad took
several moments to pose with a fan.
One
thing can be said of Brad, he has matured and is becoming a great
ambassador for NASCAR.
Average Speed: 148.637 mph Margin of Victory:
8.568 Time of Race:
02:01:06 Lead Changes: 8 Cautions: 8-10,
47-50, 66-69
CONTINGENCY AWARDS
Coors Light
Pole: Brian Scott,#11, Shore Lodge, Toyota Featherlite Most
Improved Driver: Brian Scott,#11, Shore Lodge, Toyota Mahle Clevite Engine
Builder of the Race: Penske Engines,#22, Discount Tire, Dodge Mobil 1 Oil Driver
of the Race: Elliott Sadler,#2, OneMain Financial, Chevrolet Sunoco Rookie of the
Race: Ryan Truex,#20, Martin Truex Jr. Foundation/Schick Xtreme3, Toyota
So there's really no
way to get around it other than to try to do the best you can.
And nobody ran into anybody or anybody's guys or anything like that. So you just -- I'm
sure the other two guys were as frustrated as I was. But just a
bad qualifying result in a bad pit selection there.
Q.
At the end of the day, what do you take away from this? I think
this is now, I think, four of the last five years, a driver who hadn't
won during the regular season wins the opening race in The Chase, a
couple guys able to finish third, but the champion hasn't won the first
race. What do you take out of it?
The Goodyear representatives were all over
the place showing a helping hand and assistance to all our fighting men
and women. We took a tour later with some of our Marines and
witnessed the affection and appreciation shown them by all of the crews
and drivers around the track.
United States
Marine Corp. Master Sergeant James Starr II, with two younger Marines
has their photos taken with Matt Kenseth (on top) and
Jeff Burton (above).
Master Sergeant James Starr II came from a
dairy farm his parents owned in Pennsylvania before joining the Marines
and becoming the Operations Chief of Company "E" 47th Recon
unit. He has seen both Iraq and Afghanistan as a
Marine, been wounded numerous times from bomb burns and shrapnel.
The short time I spent with these men gave me strong feeling that we
are lucky to have them on our team.
Richard Petty is as good as it gets, a
driver of renown fame and success, his smile and warm personality
greeted everyone he came into contact with, he took photos with
everyone who wanted one and didn't even have a friend along to pull him
away from his admirers, which is a classy way to keep things
moving. He walked slowly and greeted all his fans, a truly class
act.
