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REPORT– Brad
Keselowski (No. 88 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet)
EVENT – U.S Cellular 250 presented by Northland Oil and TMC
Trucking (250 laps/ 218.75 miles)
TRACK – Iowa Speedway (.875- Mile Oval)
DATE – Saturday, August 1, 2009
RACE GALLERY
Brad Keselowski Hits Jackpot With Iowa Victory;
It was the NASCAR Nationwide
Series debut at Iowa Speedway, but Brad Keselowski resembled a track
veteran as he and the No. 88 GoDaddy.com team powered its way to
its second victory of the season in Saturday’s U.S. Cellular
250. Keselowski led four times for 121 laps, but needed a gusty strategy
call by crew chief Tony Eury Sr., and a stellar pass of Kyle Busch
with eight laps to go to capture his fourth career victory.
The win
added an extra $75,000 to the winner’s purse, courtesy of Nationwide
Insurance’s “Dash 4 Cash” program, which honors
full-time Nationwide Series drivers who win select races. Busch
finished second and Jason Leffler third, followed by Carl Edwards
and Kelly Bires.
Play
by play
No. 88 GoDaddy.com Team / Keselowski
Start – 11th / Finish – 1st / Laps Led – 121 /
Points – 195 / Point Standings – 3rd
Starting 11th, Keselowski had the No. 88 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
up to fifth by a lap-40 caution. The yellow-flag period gave the
team
its first opportunity to implement pit strategy, as a two-tire
stop gave Keselowski his first lead of the race. He would lead
the next
30 laps before losing the point during the second cycle of pit
stops on lap 75.
It didn’t take long for Keselowski to make his way back to
the front. By lap 81, he moved into second place behind Busch. By
lap 105, Keselowski had reclaimed the lead. He led the next 40 laps
before the caution was waved on lap 146. Not wanting to upset the
car’s balance, the GoDaddy.com team took four tires while other
teams had differing strategies of two tires and fuel only. Keselowski
restarted in the fifth spot on lap 149 but again found himself on
the tail of Busch, racing for the lead.
 The two engaged in a spirited but clean battle, which would be
the ongoing theme of the race. With Busch using the high line and
Keselowski
driving low, the two raced side-by-side around the .875-mile oval
for three laps, with Keselowski unable to gain enough momentum
off the turns to make the pass. Finally on Lap 188, the No. 88
GoDaddy.com
Chevy kept a nose beneath Busch’s car, and the Hendrick horsepower
enabled Keselowski to take the top spot.
With Keselowski driving away, the yellow flag waved for the 10th
time on lap 213, an unwanted sight for the No. 88 team. Eury Sr.
was faced with the difficult decision of pitting for tires or staying
out for track position.
After much deliberation, the team decided to bank on the strength
of their car, and Keselowski swerved away from the pit-road commitment
cone to stay on track while all the other front-runners, including
Busch, pitted for tires. With tires almost 40 laps older than his
competitors, Keselowski restarted on lap 219 with the No. 18 of
Busch hot on his tail with two fresh tires. Busch swiped the lead
away
from the No. 88 Chevy on lap 225.
The caution waved one final time on lap 236 for a wreck involving
three cars in the top 10. When the green flag dropped on lap 240,
Keselowski had only 10 laps to get around Busch. The GoDaddy.com
Chevy worked the bottom groove of the track much better than the
No. 18, and Keselowski, ever the strategic thinker, used that to
his advantage. The two raced hard but clean, going side-by-side
until Keselowski was able to wrestle the lead away for the final
time on
lap 242. Busch caught back up to him two laps later, but was unable
to make the pass. Keselowski
pulled away by four car lengths in front of an estimated 57,000
screaming fans and went on to take the checkers
for his second victory of the season.
WIN NOTES: Keselowski’s 121 laps led were by far the most this
season, beating the 23 laps led at the Milwaukee Mile in June … This
was the second highest total in his Nationwide Series career behind
the 145 led at the Milwaukee Mile last season … The win marked
somewhat of a home-court victory for GoDaddy.com, as the company
has offices in Cedar Rapids, Iowa … This was Keselowski’s
second victory for GoDaddy.com, the first coming at Dover this season … Saturday’s
win was Keselowski’s seventh top-five and 10th top-10 in the
last 11 races … In seven Nationwide Series standalone events
this season, Keselowski has six top-fives and an average finish of
2.6.
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Brad from
Victory Lane – “ It
sure means a lot to win the first race here at Iowa Speedway. These
fans were incredible welcoming us all here with open arms. I really
hope they had a good time here
this afternoon and enjoyed this racing. I know I did.
A race like
this just shows the strength of this GoDaddy.com team. We deliberated
quite a bit on whether or not to come in on that last stop, but I
trusted the knowledge and wisdom of my crew chief and I told him I’d
support him in whatever choice he made. Turns out, it was the right
one.”
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