Keselowski Finishes 16th in Party in the Poconos 400
June 10, 2013
THE RACE
The Party in the Poconos 400 at Pocono Raceway (2.5-mile speedway, Pocono, Penn.) – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Sunday, June 9, 2013
THE RESULTS
The No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion
Start Position: 10
Finish Position: 16
Status: Running
Championship Points Position: 9
THE RACE REVIEW
· Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion team started the Party in the Poconos 400 from the 10th position. Qualifying for the race was rained out and the field was set by owner points.
· At the start of the event, Keselowski fought a loose-handling race car that was free coming out of the corners. Keselowski led one lap early on to pick up a valuable championship point before bringing the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford to pit road.
· On lap 28, Keselowski made a scheduled green flag stop. The team made a track bar and air pressure adjustment to tighten up the handling of the Ford Fusion.
· After green flag stops cycled through, Keselowski ran in the sixth position. The No. 2 Ford sprung to life following the green-flag pit stop. Keselowski worked his way up to second place and consistently began posting the fastest laps on the track.
· With 24 laps to go, Keselowski ran in the fifth position but he drove the Miller Lite machine too deep in to the corner and he fell to 15th.
· The caution flag flew for the fifth time with 12 laps to go and Keselowski came to pit lane before restarting the race in 22nd place.
· Over the final few laps, Keselowski was able to race his way from 22nd up to 16th.
· With Sunday’s result, Keselowski is now ninth in points, 123 points behind the championship leader, Sunday’s race winner Jimmie Johnson.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
DESCRIBE YOUR DAY AT POCONO
“We had a really fast Miller Lite Ford all day. Obviously Jimmie was the class of the field, but I think we were definitely a top-five car. I just had a bad lap there with about 25 laps to go and lost a bunch of spots. I probably drove it in a little too deep in the ‘tunnel turn,’ just trying to get all I could. But, again, we had speed in our car and that is the most-important thing.”