Lead Lap's NASCAR News » Brad Keselowski

Busch Wins 10th Nationwide Series Race This Season

Michael J Smith — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 17:36:24 +0000

Kyle Busch, who spun Brad Keselowski — his biggest competition — on lap 219, held off Jason Leffler, Elliott Sadler, and Dale Earnhardt Jr over the final laps to win the Food City 250 Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The victory is Busch’s 10th on the season, tying the single-season record both he (in 2008) and Sam Ard currently hold.

Busch and Keselowski were battling on lap 219, when Busch took the lead in turn 2. He bobbled down the backstretch, and moved up the track get in front of Keselowski.

The two made contact, and Busch hit the wall, allowing Keselowski to get by him for the lead. Busch was able to catch him in turn 3, and spun him in turn 4. Keselowski brushed the wall damaging his left front. He was able to continue. He finished 14th.

Keselowski said:

It is what it is. I’m going to go to work — and work on beating his [butt].

Busch said:

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. 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?

Top 5: Busch, Leffler, Sadler, Earnhardt Jr, and Carl Edwards.

Trevor Bayne, Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson, Parker Kligerman, and Joey Logano rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Jason Keller (12th), Paul Menard (13th), Keselowski (14th), Mike Bliss (18th), Michael Annett (19th), Brendan Gaughan (21st), Ricky Stenhouse Jr (22nd), Tony Raines (26th), Steve Wallace (30th), Justin Allgaier (33rd), Ryan Newman (35th), and Kasey Kahne (38th).

On lap 83, Trevor Bayne, Justin Allgaier, and Kasey Kahne were battling three-wide. Bayne and Allgaier made contact. Allgaier then made contact with Kahne. Kahne got into the outside wall. Then, Allgaier’s car bumped Kahne again, sending Kahne’s car up the wall.

Kahne slid about 200 yards on his side, along the wall. He walked away uninjured.

Busch – Keselowski Incident:

Kahne Wreck:

Keselowski Wins Carfax 250, Extends Points Lead

Michael J Smith — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:49:17 +0000

Brad Keselowski started from the pole and overcame clutch issues to win the Nationwide Series Carfax 250 at Michigan International Speedway. Keselowski dominated, leading 89 of 125 laps.

Despite his problems, Keselowski was able to pull away from Carl Edwards on the final restart at lap 117. He finished 3.2 seconds ahead of Edwards to take the win. The win extended his points lead to 347 over Edwards in the N’wide standings.

Top 5: Keselowski, Edwards, Kyle Busch, Justin Allgaier, and Paul Menard.

Joey Logano, Elliott Salder, Reed Sorenson, Colin Braun, and Kevin Harvick finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

Notables: Trevor Bayne (11th), Ryan Truex (12th), Ricky Stenhouse Jr (13th), Tayler Malsam (14th), Michael Annett (16th), Steve Wallace (18th), Mike Bliss (19th), Mike Wallace (20th), Danica Patrick (27th), Michael McDowell (28th), and Ryan Newman (36th).

Busch Holds Off Edwards To With Kroger 200 At ORP

Michael J Smith — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:32:46 +0000

Kyle Busch held off Carl Edwards in the closing laps of the Kroger 200 at O’Reilly Raceway Park to win his eighth NASCAR Nationwide Series race of the season.

In the closing laps, Busch and Edwards raced side-by-side, in a familiar sight to those who watched Edwards wreck Brad Keselowski last week. But this week, Edwards and Busch raced cleanly. But the thought did cross Busch’s mind.

Busch said:

You’re so vulnerable running the top side like you do here that people can dive-bomb you on the bottom and slide up into you. I knew it was there, but if I could just keep enough momentum and just keep my car rolling, then I felt like any time he’d lay a bumper to me, he’d get sideways, too. … [Edwards] could’ve used me up more than he did, but it could’ve cost us both time instead of him just being able to get by. You’ve got to have a really, really methodical way of going at it here. There just wasn’t enough time for him to do it in two laps.

Edwards, however, had no intention of wrecking Busch. He said:

I wasn’t going to move Kyle out of the way. I inadvertently got into him just a little off of [Turn] 4 one time. Fortunately, it didn’t cause damage to either of our cars. But, no, I couldn’t move him out of the way. We’ve raced really well together.

Top 5: Busch, Edwards, Aric Almirola, Trevor Bayne, and Reed Sorenson.

Brendan Gaughan, Justin Allgaier, Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard, and Steve Wallace finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

Notables: Ricky Stenhouse Jr (11th), Colin Braun (12th), Mike Bliss (13th), Michael Annett (18th), Michael McDowell (20th), Mike Wallace (22nd), Ron Hornaday (28th), Jason Leffler (30th), Jason Keller (32nd), and Dennis Setzer (43rd).

NASCAR Was Right To Penalize Edwards, Keselowski

Michael J Smith — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:17:23 +0000

NASCAR announced penalties for both Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski for rule infractions committed during the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 at Gateway International Raceway last Saturday night.

With one lap to go, Keselowski bumped Edwards attempting to get the lead in Turn 1. The two raced door-to-door through Turn 3. Coming off Turn 4, it appeared that Keselowski had the edge and would take the win when Edwards made contact with Keselowski, spinning him into the outside wall.

Edwards took the win while Keselowski bounced off both walls and was hit by Shelby Howard.

As a result of the incident, Edwards has been penalized with the loss of 60 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship driver points, fined $25,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31 for violating Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing/ aggressive driving) of the 2010 NASCAR Rule Book. Edwards’ car owner Jack Roush lost 60 series championship owner points.

Keselowski was placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31, too. The probation for both drivers applies to the Sprint Cup Series as well.

Keselowski issued a statement indicating that Penske Racing would not appeal. He said:

The incident at the end of Saturday night’s race at Gateway was unfortunate not just for Penske Racing and the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge team, but for all of the teams that were caught up in the aftermath. There was unnecessary damage done to a lot of race cars as a result of the incident, including one of our best cars. We support NASCAR’s decision and we look forward to putting this behind us.

Roush Fenway Racing President Geoff Smith also commented, saying:

We have received notification of NASCAR’s penalties against Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski and Roush Fenway Racing related to Saturday night’s race at Gateway International Raceway. As with all NASCAR actions of this nature, we will internally evaluate the penalties, and the underlying explanations, prior to making any decision about next steps.

After considering the incident, I agree with NASCAR’s decision to hit Edwards with a penalty. I first thought that NASCAR should not penalize Edwards. I thought he did what he had to do to win, and that by nudging Edwards out of the way instead of passing him cleanly, Keselowski gave Edwards incentive for retaliation.

But, then, after looking at the situation again and taking into consideration Edwards’ comments after the race, I understand why NASCAR penalized him and I agree with it.

Perhaps if this were a one time occurrence, probation or a warning could have sufficed. And, I would have agreed with that. But given the fact that this is the second incident between these two drivers, NASCAR surely wanted to send a message and was right in doing so.

After the race, Edwards said the hit was to prevent Keselowski from stealing a win, which indicates that it was intentional. That is probably why NASCAR assessed a penalty. If Edwards hadn’t made that comment and instead made it seem unintentional, I believe NASCAR would have chalked it up to hard racing.

But because he hinted that it was intentional — the second intentional wrecking of Keselowski — NASCAR had to do something.

I also think that probation was the right call for Keselowski. But, I don’t believe NASCAR would have penalized another driver — someone like Jeff Burton — if it were him instead of Keselowski. I think Keselowski received probation more for his reputation and his part in the CE-BK feud, rather than this one incident. And again, I don’t have a problem with that.

Edwards Turns Keselowski To Win Dodge Dealers 250

Michael J Smith — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 05:16:01 +0000

Carl Edwards moved Brad Keselowski to win the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 at Gateway International Raceway, leading some to believe that the fued between the two drivers is back on.

On a restart on lap 199 of 200, Keselowski bumped Edwards in an attempt to get the lead in Turn 1. The two raced door-to-door for the lead for most of the final lap.

As the two raced to the finish line, it appeared Keselowski had the edge and would take the win when Edwards turned Keselowski. Keselowski hit the outside wall hard, then slid into the inside wall before Shelby Howard hit him again before he reached the finish line.

Edwards took the checkered flag two car lengths in front of runner-up Reed Sorenson.

Afterwards, Edwards said:

I just couldn’t let him take the win from me. My guys work way too hard for that. We had a great restart. My guys built me a great car. We came to the checkered flag, and I hate to see stuff tore up, but we came here to win and he took it from us there in Turn 1. Just an awesome race. … I’m sure some of them don’t like that win—Brad Keselowski fans and stuff—but, man, I just couldn’t let him take it from me. I had to do what I had to do.

Keselowski said:

He turned left into me and wrecked me on purpose. I gave him the lane, and he still wrecked me. … I figured out a way to beat him. He wasn’t happy with me, so he wrecked me. Wrecking down the straightaway is never cool, whether it’s at 200 mph or 120. I’m sorry that’s the way it had to end.

After the race, Edwards met with NASCAR officials to discuss the incident. It appears, however, that no penalties are coming as Nationwide Series Director Joe Balash chalked the incident up to hard racing. He said:

I think at the last lap there was a lot of hard racing going on. There was some movement on the racetrack. It was a tough finish for a really great race.

Top 5: Edwards, Sorenson, Trevor Bayne, Paul Menard, and Steve Wallace.

Brian Scott, Colin Braun, Josh Wise, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Tony Raines finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

Notables: Michael Annett (11th), Steve Arpin (13), Brad Keselowski (14th), Kevin Harvick (16th), Brendan Gaughan (17th), Kenny Wallace (20th), Justin Allgaier (25th), Jason Keller (34th), and Johnny Sauter (41st).

The incident:

Harvick Dominates CampingWorld.com 200 At Gateway

Michael J Smith — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 04:48:39 +0000

Kevin Harvick overcame a power outage that pushed the CampingWorld.com 200 at Gateway International Raceway to Saturday, and a stiff neck that kept him out of Nationwide Series practice earlier in the day to win his third Camping World Truck Series victory in four starts this season.

Harvick, who won the pole on Friday and left 143 laps, crossed the finish line more than five seconds ahead of second-place finisher Brad Keselowski.

Top 5: Harvick, Keselowski, Johnny Sauter, Todd Bodine, and Matt Crafton.

Timothy Peters, Austin Dillon, Aric Almirola, Brian Ickler, and Mike Skinner rounded out the top 10.

Notables: James Buescher (12th), David Starr (13th), Max Papis (15th), Steve Wallace (17th), Stacey Compton (19th), Ron Hornaday (26th), Ricky Carmichael (29th), Jeffrey Earnhardt (30th), and Dennis Setzer (35th).

Ricky Carmichael and Mike Skinner made contact, sending Carmichael hard into the wall in Turn 4. As Carmichael slid towards the infield, Jeffrey Earnhardt hit him, effectively ending both of their days. Both drivers were okay.

Busch Gets Gift From Keselowski, Wins At Chicagoland

Michael J Smith — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 19:55:57 +0000

Kyle Busch capitalized on a mistake by Brad Keselowski and drove away from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano on a green-white-checkered finish to win the Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. The win is Busch’s seventh Nationwide Series victory of the season.

Keselowski, who was on the outside of row one for the final restart, ran out of fuel before the restart and had to pull down pit road, allowing Busch to line up beside Logano.

Top 5: Busch, Logano, Brian Scott, David Reutimann, and Jason Leffler.

Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Reed Sorenson, Jamie McMurray, and Justin Allgaier rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Paul Menard (11th), Steve Wallace (12th), Michael Annett (14th), Brendan Gaughan (16th), Colin Braun (17th), Mike Bliss (18th), Brad Keselowski (21st), Mike Wallace (22nd), Danica Patrick (24th), Michael McDowell (35th), and Ryan Newman (36th),.

Harvick Wins Wreck-Filled Coke Zero 400 At Daytona

Michael J Smith — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:40:24 +0000

Kevin Harvick, polesitter for the Coke Zero 400 due to qualifying being rained out, won the wreck-filled restrictor plate race at Daytona International Speedway. On a green-white-checkered finish, Harvick drove by teammate Clint Bowyer for the lead, then held off Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne to win.

Top 5: Harvick, Kahne, Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Jeff Burton.

Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch, Reed Sorenson, Mike Bliss, and Scott Speed rounded out the top 10.

Notables: David Reutimann (11th), Robby Gordon (12th), Steve Park (13th), Kevin Conway (14th), Matt Kenseth (15th), Bobby Labonte (16th), Clint Bowyer (17th), Greg Biffle (20th), Denny Hamlin (24th), Tony Stewart (25th), Ryan Newman (26th), Juan Montoya (27th), Mark Martin (28th), Joey Logano (29th), Jimmie Johnson (31st), Marcos Ambrose (32nd), Martin Truex Jr (35th), Jamie McMurray (39th), and Kyle Busch (40th).

Early in the race, Kyle Busch and AJ Allmendinger made contact, sending Allmendinger sliding towards the inside wall. He spun and hit the wall with his rear. Allemdinger finished 36th. Busch continued on. Afterwards, he had a heated exchange with team owner Richard Petty, an incident that was downplayed later.

About 60 laps later, Busch was racing past Juan Montoya, who was going a lap down due to pitting under green. As Busch passed him, Montoya came down while Busch moved up the track. The two made contact, and Busch was hooked into the wall. He suffered heavy damage and finished 40th.

Afterwards, Busch gave a sarcastic interview taking blame for the incident. He explained side-drafting and how Montoya hooked him before making contact due to the air.

On lap 116, David Ragan got loose and spun. He overcorrected and hit the wall. He then slid down the into Jamie McMurray and Martin Truex Jr. McMurray and Ragan could not continue, but Truex was able to continued on. They finished 39th, 38th, and 35th respectively.

On lap 148, Kurt Busch bumped Jeff Burton, loosening him up and sending him into Sam Hornish Jr on the outside. Burton bounced off of Hornish and slid back into Busch. Busch slid across the grass.

The cars started checking up. Juan Montoya got into the back of Brad Keselowski turning him into the wall. Keselowki got into Reed Sorenson spinning him into Jimmie Johnson, who turned into the wall.

Keselowski and Sorenson blocked the track, collecting several cars who had nowhere to go. About 12 cars were involved, including Sorenson, Montoya, Ryan Newman, Johnson, Elliott Sadler, Greg Biffle, Bobby Labonte, Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Regan Smith, Marcos Ambrose, and Travis Kvapil .

The race was red flagged for 20 minutes.

About 11 laps later, Hornish was running three-wide in the middle of Sadler and David Reutimann when he got loose. He hit teammate Kurt Busch, then bounced off of Sadler and slid back into Busch. Busch was turned to the inside and slid across the track while Hornish and Sadler turned to the outside and made contact with the wall.

With his fourth place finish, Dale Earnhardt Jr climbed back into the top 12 in the standings.

Earnhardt Jr Drives No. 3 Chevy To Victory Lane

Michael J Smith — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 04:30:20 +0000

In a tribute to his legendary father, Dale Earnhardt Jr drove his No. 3 Wrangler Chevy to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Subway Jalapeño 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

Earnhardt Jr, who was running the No. 3 to honor the late Dale Earnhardt Sr’s induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, took the lead from Kyle Busch with about 30 laps to go. The caution came out on the same lap.

The leaders pitted, with Earnhardt winning the race off pit road, thanks in part to Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch both slipping through their boxes and having to back up.

When the green flag flew again, the first nine cars lined up nose to tail and began pulling away from the rest of the field.

Justin Allgaier almost spun when his rear bumper cover came loose. That separated the field even more. By the time there were 10 laps to go, Earnhardt Jr led Kevin Harvick with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Joey Logano running behind them.

With five laps to go, Paul Menard hit the wall when his tire blew, bringing out the caution. Earnhardt Jr stayed out while other leader went down pit road, including Kyle Busch. All told, nine cars stayed out with Earnhardt Jr.

On the green-white-checker restart, Logano pushed Earnhardt Jr ahead of Harvick. The two pulled away from from the field, as the cars behind him searched around for more speed. Ultimately, Logano couldn’t pass Earnhardt and Earnhardt drove the car to the 23rd Nationwide Series victory of his career.

With the win, Dale Earnhardt Jr becomes the first driver to win in the Nationwide Series car of tomorrow.

Afterwards, Earnhardt Jr said:

I worked hard to try and win it. I’m proud of him going into the Hall of Fame and he would be proud of this, I’m sure. He had so many great fans. This is for his fans. I hope they enjoyed it. This is it. No more 3 for me.

Top 5: Earnhardt Jr, Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Brad Keselowski, and Kevin Harvick.

Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Brian Ickler, amd Steve Arpin rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Carl Edward (11th), Michael Annett (12th), Jason Leffler (14th), Steve Wallace (15th), Justin Allgaier (17th), Jason Keller (20th), Greg Sacks (21st), Reed Sorenson (22nd), Ken Schrader (25th), Paul Menard (28th), Brendan Gaugher (29th), Kenny Wallace (31st), Mike Wallace 34th), and Michael McDowell (35th).

Kyle Busch Has Record-Breaking Day At Loudon

Michael J Smith — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 02:39:18 +0000

By winning the New England 200 Nationwide Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch became the first repeat winner at the one-mile oval. He also passed Mark Martin for all-time laps led after leading 126 laps at Loudon.

Busch pulled away from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano on the final restart on lap 183. Logano spun his tires on the restart, allowing Nationwide Series points leader Brad Keselowski to take second place. Busch beat Keselowski to the line by 0.644 seconds.

Top 5: Busch, Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Logano, and Trevor Bayne.

Justin Allgaier, Kevin Harvick, Reed Sorenson, Paul Menard, and Brendan Gaughan.

Notables: Steve Wallace (11th), Elliott Sadler (12th), Jason Leffler (13th), Jason Keller (14th), Justin Lofton (17th), Michael Annett (19th), Danica Patrick (30th), Tayler Malsam (35th), and David Gilliland (38th).

On lap six, Morgan Shepherd and Danica Patrick were racing side-by-side with Patrick on the outside. Shepherd got loose on the inside lane and slid into Patrick, spinning her and damaging the left side of her GoDaddy.com Chevy.

She lost a lap on pit road, and finished five laps down in 30th.