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Keselowski and Team Battle Back for a Third-Place Finish
DOVER, Del. (Sept. 26, 2009) – Coming off a rare open weekend,
the NASCAR Nationwide Series was back in action at Dover International
Speedway for Saturday’s Dover 200. Brad Keselowski and the No.
88 GoDaddy.com team returned to the Monster Mile as the defending winners
and led seven laps in its defense. Keselowski fell a lap down early
but rebounded to finish third. It marked Keselowski's fifth top-10
finish in six races at Dover. Keselowski has now led in half of the
races this season for a total of 309 laps. Clint Bowyer won his second
race of the season, followed by Mike Bliss, Keselowski, Kyle Busch
and Carl Edwards.
No. 88 GoDaddy.com Team / Keselowski
Start – 12th / Finish – 3rd / Laps Led – 7 / Points – 170
/ Point Standings – 3rd
Under the threat of rain, Keselowski started the Dover 200 in 12th
and quickly found that his car handled best on the bottom of the track.
By lap 57 he had made his way up to seventh. Green flag pit stops began
on lap 75, but crew chief Tony Eury Sr. kept his driver on track to
lead seven laps before pitting under green. After quick service by
the GoDaddy.com crew, Keselowski was caught for speeding and had to
serve a drive-through penalty, putting him one lap down in 18th.
The caution flag waved for the first time on lap 110, and Keselowski
gambled by staying on track to get back his lost lap. The gamble paid
off as the yellow flag flew 11 laps later, allowing Keselowski to get
back on the pit cycle with the leaders.
Keselowski methodically moved through the pack and was scored in fifth
by lap 168. With 12 to go, he worked the inside line to pass Denny
Hamlin for fourth place, but contact was made between the two. Keselowski
dove underneath the spinning No. 20 to avoid further contact. The damage
to Hamlin’s car was terminal, and he drove it to the garage.
On the ensuing restart, Keselowski restarted in fourth on lap 193 and
quickly got around the No. 18 of Kyle Busch to score the top-three
finish.
The finish at Dover was Keselowski’s 17th top-five and 22nd top-10
of the season. It was also his seventh top five in the last eight races.
The finish also continued Keselowski’s success on concrete tracks.
This season, Keselowski has five top-three finishes at concrete tracks,
with an average finish of 4.0. In 2009, Keselowski is the only fulltime
Nationwide Series driver to be running at the end of all 28 races.
This adds to his DNF streak which now stands at 60 races.
Next Up for JR Motorsports:
Event: Kansas Lottery 300, Kansas Speedway
Date: Saturday, October 3, 2009
TV/Radio: ESPN2 (coverage begins at 3:00 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast
begins at 3:00 p.m. EST)
JRM Entries: No. 88 Delphi Chevy (Brad Keselowski) / No. 5 Fastenal
Chevy (Scott Wimmer)
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On
Dover's Race – “ It was an interesting day
for us. I flat out made a mistake on
pit road at the beginning during the green-flag stop, and I knew almost
as soon as I did it, too. This team never gave up though and gave me
great stops on pit road all afternoon and we just ran out of laps.
The car really came alive towards the end of the race there, and I
just needed about 20 more laps. I think I could have given Clint (Bowyer)
a run for his money.”
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