News

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 17, 2011) – Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Cup Series, finished seventh in the second Gatorade Duel at Daytona at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) on Thursday afternoon. Keselowski and his brother, Brian, successfully used the two-car draft over the last 20 laps to ensure both Dodges made the race. The Duels helped set the lineup for the 53rd running of the Daytona 500, which will take place on Sunday afternoon.

Keselowski started the 150-lap qualifying race from the 10th position after posting a lap of 48.911 seconds, or 184.008 miles per hour, during Sunday’s qualifying session. When the race began, Keselowski hooked up with the No. 20 of Joey Logano, who he had worked well with during several of the practice sessions. However, Keselowski was not able to “push” Logano around the track and, as a result, fell back to the 13th-place when the first caution came out on lap 16. Keselowski brought his car down pit road to the attention of the “Blue Deuce” crew for fuel and a track bar adjustment on lap 17.

As the race resumed, Keselowski switched “dancing” partners and began working with the No. 60 of Todd Bodine. As the two began their entry into turn three on lap 40, Bodine made contact with the rear bumper of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, which sent Keselowski spinning through the infield grass. He was able to stay on the lead lap, but Keselowski had to come to pit road for four fresh Goodyear radials. This put Brad, the younger Keselowski, at the back of the field with his older brother.

When the race restarted on lap 44, the brothers were running in the 21st and 22nd positions. When the caution came out on lap 47, they were running 10th and 11th. Brad Keselowski was able to push his brother inside the top-five before having to settle for a seventh-place finish with the “Blue Deuce.”

Brad Keselowski will start 14th in Sunday’s Daytona 500

Penske Racing teammate Kurt Busch finished first in the first Duel race.

“What a day,” said Brad Keselowski. “I pushed my brother to the Daytona 500. That’s pretty cool. It feels good for him. We really wanted to win, but it was nice to do that with Brian. Our objective is always to win, but we just weren’t there today. We got a solid run out of it.  We just have to keep working on it. I’m excited to finally get the chance to work with my teammate (Kurt Busch) on Sunday. I think that we can do some good things together.”

###

Brad Keselowski Gatorade Duel at Daytona Race Statistics
Start: 10
Finish: Seven
Laps: 60/60
Laps Led: 0
Status: Running