Keselowski Finishes Sixth in GoBowling.com 400
August 5, 2013
THE RACE
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway (2.5-mile oval – Long Pond, Pennsylvania)
Sunday, August 4
THE RESULTS
The No. 2 REDD’S Apple Ale Ford Fusion
Driven By: Brad Keselowski
Start Position: 11
Finish Position: 6
Status: Running
Current Driver's Points Position: 12
THE RACE REVIEW
No. 2 REDD’S Apple Ale Ford Fusion
· Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 REDD’S Apple Ale Ford Fusion team qualified 11th for Sunday’s GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway.
· NASCAR mandated a competition caution at lap 20, but officials changed it to lap 15 when an incident on track forced a yellow flag. Sticking to their pre-determined race plan, Keselowski and crew chief Paul Wolfe elected to remain on the track during this caution period. This placed the team off sequence to most of the field, but it allowed them to gain valuable track position.
· The REDD’S Apple Ale Ford showed good speed early in the race, particularly at the end of a run when the No. 2 machine was consistently the fastest car on the track. Keselowski captured the lead for the first time at lap 35 before he made his way down pit road.
· Keselowski ran at the front of the field for the majority of the event as he made his way up the running order when each pit stop sequence cycled through.
· Following a lap 96 pit stop, Keselowski restarted the race from the 15th position after he took extra time on pit road to ensure his Ford Fusion was packed full of fuel that would allow the team to make it to the end of the race on one more stop. As a result, Keselowski restarted the race from the 15th position.
· After struggling to make his way back through the field, Keselowski and Wolfe elected to make a short pit stop in an effort to make up time on the leader. After entering pit road in the 11th position, Keselowski was able to cycle through to sixth place following the final round of stops. He was able to maintain that position through the conclusion of the race.
· Keselowski was the highest finishing Ford Racing driver on Sunday. His sixth-place finish allowed him to move up to 12th in the series driver standings, now just seven points outside of the top 10.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
BRAD KESELOWSKI
WERE YOU FRUSTRATED WITH THE EFFECT THE LATE-RACE RESTARTS HAD ON YOUR FINISH?
“It was definitely a long day but I am more frustrated than tired. I don’t know how much those restarts affected us. We caught that one yellow (flag) at the worst possible time with about 50 or 60 (laps) to go and pitted for four (tires) and we were still going to be okay but then we caught another yellow which killed our strategy. It put us behind and we couldn’t recover. The REDD’s Apple Ale Ford was close to the 5 and 24 (cars) but they were probably a tad faster. Damn, we were just a little bit short.”
ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH A SIXTH-PLACE FINISH?
“I’m never satisfied unless I wind up in Victory Lane. We’re all here for one thing and that’s to win races. But, in the bigger picture, that was definitely a good, solid finish for the team. The goal now is to find the consistency over the next five races and I think we’ll be fine. We’re testing for Atlanta. We’re testing for Richmond. Watkins Glen and Bristol have always been good tracks for us. I really think we can get on a hot streak from now until the Chase starts.”
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway (2.5-mile oval – Long Pond, Pennsylvania)
Sunday, August 4
THE RESULTS
The No. 2 REDD’S Apple Ale Ford Fusion
Driven By: Brad Keselowski
Start Position: 11
Finish Position: 6
Status: Running
Current Driver's Points Position: 12
THE RACE REVIEW
No. 2 REDD’S Apple Ale Ford Fusion
· Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 REDD’S Apple Ale Ford Fusion team qualified 11th for Sunday’s GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway.
· NASCAR mandated a competition caution at lap 20, but officials changed it to lap 15 when an incident on track forced a yellow flag. Sticking to their pre-determined race plan, Keselowski and crew chief Paul Wolfe elected to remain on the track during this caution period. This placed the team off sequence to most of the field, but it allowed them to gain valuable track position.
· The REDD’S Apple Ale Ford showed good speed early in the race, particularly at the end of a run when the No. 2 machine was consistently the fastest car on the track. Keselowski captured the lead for the first time at lap 35 before he made his way down pit road.
· Keselowski ran at the front of the field for the majority of the event as he made his way up the running order when each pit stop sequence cycled through.
· Following a lap 96 pit stop, Keselowski restarted the race from the 15th position after he took extra time on pit road to ensure his Ford Fusion was packed full of fuel that would allow the team to make it to the end of the race on one more stop. As a result, Keselowski restarted the race from the 15th position.
· After struggling to make his way back through the field, Keselowski and Wolfe elected to make a short pit stop in an effort to make up time on the leader. After entering pit road in the 11th position, Keselowski was able to cycle through to sixth place following the final round of stops. He was able to maintain that position through the conclusion of the race.
· Keselowski was the highest finishing Ford Racing driver on Sunday. His sixth-place finish allowed him to move up to 12th in the series driver standings, now just seven points outside of the top 10.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
BRAD KESELOWSKI
WERE YOU FRUSTRATED WITH THE EFFECT THE LATE-RACE RESTARTS HAD ON YOUR FINISH?
“It was definitely a long day but I am more frustrated than tired. I don’t know how much those restarts affected us. We caught that one yellow (flag) at the worst possible time with about 50 or 60 (laps) to go and pitted for four (tires) and we were still going to be okay but then we caught another yellow which killed our strategy. It put us behind and we couldn’t recover. The REDD’s Apple Ale Ford was close to the 5 and 24 (cars) but they were probably a tad faster. Damn, we were just a little bit short.”
ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH A SIXTH-PLACE FINISH?
“I’m never satisfied unless I wind up in Victory Lane. We’re all here for one thing and that’s to win races. But, in the bigger picture, that was definitely a good, solid finish for the team. The goal now is to find the consistency over the next five races and I think we’ll be fine. We’re testing for Atlanta. We’re testing for Richmond. Watkins Glen and Bristol have always been good tracks for us. I really think we can get on a hot streak from now until the Chase starts.”