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Sprint Cup
CUP: Keselowski Wins At Dover To Lead Chase
Brad Keselowski wins a fuel duel to take the AAA 400…
The third race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup evolved into a dramatic duel on fuel.
And the winner was Brad Keselowski.
After watching non-Chaser Kyle Busch dominate the race and point leader Jimmie Johnson take the lead late, Keselowski and his team worked fuel strategy to perfection and won the AAA 400.
The victory shot Keselowski into the point lead, five in front of Johnson. He saved fuel down the stretch to make it to the finish, winning for the second time in the Chase and the fifth time this season.
“It’s not easy, but the Dodge team and Penske Engines have done a phenomenal job with these engines,” Keselowski said. “This has been one of our weakest tracks. We didn’t lead much, but we hung around in the top five.
“We kept creeping around and keep creeping around. When you do that, it puts you in position for things to happen.”
Is he now the Chase favorite?
“I can’t state loudly enough how much longer this battle is,” Keselowski said. “It’s very tempting, whether it’s the media or the teams themselves, to get in a comfort zone and say so-and-so has control of this Chase.
“There’s a reason it’s 10 rounds. We’re not even halfway. We’re three rounds in. We’re not the favorite. Certainly, we’re not the underdog at this point. There is so much racing to go and so many opportunities for things to go wrong or right.”
Johnson slowed on purpose over the race’s closing laps to preserve fuel. He finished fourth, behind Keselowski, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin.
Busch, who appeared on his way to scoring a Chase win by a non-Chase driver, was livid after the race, unleashing a line of team-radio obscenities directed at Toyota Racing Development, apparently because of fuel mileage. He finished seventh after leading 156 of the first 200 laps and 302 total. Keselowski led only 14.
Johnson gave up the lead to try to save enough fuel, a practice he admits he finds difficult.
“It’s tough, it really is,” Johnson said. “We have a handful of races that come down to this all year. We’re improving. It just didn’t evolve like a normal race here.”
With three races down, Keselowski leads Johnson by five, Hamlin by 16, Clint Bowyer by 25 and Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne by 32.
The face of the race changed in the first half when a caution was caused by a tire exploding on J.J.Yeley’s car (on lap 70) in the middle of a green-flag pit cycle. The caution left only eight cars on the lead lap. Busch came out of that mess with first place.
As the twilight laps arrived, Busch pitted with 11 to go and left the lead to Hamlin, who pitted a lap later. That put Keselowski in front, and his only challenger, Gordon, couldn’t catch him at the close as the fuel lasted in the No. 2.
Matt Kenseth’s Chase chances practically dissolved when his Ford was forced to the pits with 90 laps to go after a track-bar problem. The Roush Fenway Ford crew apparently fixed the problem, but Kenseth spun a few laps later, prompting some angry words from the driver to his team via radio.
Kenseth, who finished 35th Sunday, now is last in the Chase, 72 points behind Keselowski.
Ten cars were on the lead lap when the green flag flew with 79 laps to go and Johnson leading Kyle Busch and Keselowski.
Johnson surrendered the lead to Busch with 45 laps to go, as the Hendrick Motorsports team elected to go into fuel-conservation mode, gambling on possibly making it to the finish without pitting. But the time Johnson gave up killed his chances at a track where he has won seven times.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
And the winner was Brad Keselowski.
After watching non-Chaser Kyle Busch dominate the race and point leader Jimmie Johnson take the lead late, Keselowski and his team worked fuel strategy to perfection and won the AAA 400.
The victory shot Keselowski into the point lead, five in front of Johnson. He saved fuel down the stretch to make it to the finish, winning for the second time in the Chase and the fifth time this season.
“It’s not easy, but the Dodge team and Penske Engines have done a phenomenal job with these engines,” Keselowski said. “This has been one of our weakest tracks. We didn’t lead much, but we hung around in the top five.
“We kept creeping around and keep creeping around. When you do that, it puts you in position for things to happen.”
Is he now the Chase favorite?
“I can’t state loudly enough how much longer this battle is,” Keselowski said. “It’s very tempting, whether it’s the media or the teams themselves, to get in a comfort zone and say so-and-so has control of this Chase.
“There’s a reason it’s 10 rounds. We’re not even halfway. We’re three rounds in. We’re not the favorite. Certainly, we’re not the underdog at this point. There is so much racing to go and so many opportunities for things to go wrong or right.”
Johnson slowed on purpose over the race’s closing laps to preserve fuel. He finished fourth, behind Keselowski, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin.
Busch, who appeared on his way to scoring a Chase win by a non-Chase driver, was livid after the race, unleashing a line of team-radio obscenities directed at Toyota Racing Development, apparently because of fuel mileage. He finished seventh after leading 156 of the first 200 laps and 302 total. Keselowski led only 14.
Johnson gave up the lead to try to save enough fuel, a practice he admits he finds difficult.
“It’s tough, it really is,” Johnson said. “We have a handful of races that come down to this all year. We’re improving. It just didn’t evolve like a normal race here.”
With three races down, Keselowski leads Johnson by five, Hamlin by 16, Clint Bowyer by 25 and Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne by 32.
The face of the race changed in the first half when a caution was caused by a tire exploding on J.J.Yeley’s car (on lap 70) in the middle of a green-flag pit cycle. The caution left only eight cars on the lead lap. Busch came out of that mess with first place.
As the twilight laps arrived, Busch pitted with 11 to go and left the lead to Hamlin, who pitted a lap later. That put Keselowski in front, and his only challenger, Gordon, couldn’t catch him at the close as the fuel lasted in the No. 2.
Matt Kenseth’s Chase chances practically dissolved when his Ford was forced to the pits with 90 laps to go after a track-bar problem. The Roush Fenway Ford crew apparently fixed the problem, but Kenseth spun a few laps later, prompting some angry words from the driver to his team via radio.
Kenseth, who finished 35th Sunday, now is last in the Chase, 72 points behind Keselowski.
Ten cars were on the lead lap when the green flag flew with 79 laps to go and Johnson leading Kyle Busch and Keselowski.
Johnson surrendered the lead to Busch with 45 laps to go, as the Hendrick Motorsports team elected to go into fuel-conservation mode, gambling on possibly making it to the finish without pitting. But the time Johnson gave up killed his chances at a track where he has won seven times.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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