News

THE RACE

5-Hour Energy 400 at Kansas Speedway (1.5-mile speedway, Kansas City, Kan.)
Saturday, May 10, 2014

THE RESULTS
 
The No. 2 Wurth Ford Fusion
Driver: Brad Keselowski
Starting Position: 3
Finish Position: 13
Driver's Points Position: 11  

THE RACE REVIEW    

· Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Wurth Ford Fusion team started Saturday night’s race from the third position. The starting spot marked Keselowski’s seventh top-three start of the season.

· As the 267-lap race began, Keselowski slipped to eighth place but then steadily began to work his way back into the top five.

· Early in the race, the 30-year-old driver reported that his Ford Fusion was handling a little too free through the center and exiting the turns.

· By making great fuel mileage, Keselowski worked his way into the race lead at lap 45 and his was the only car on the lead lap when a caution flag flew at 46.

· The No. 2 Wurth Ford ran solidly in the top five for the first third of the 400-mile race.

· The 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion had just left the pits during a green flag stop when an untimely caution flag was displayed. This resulted in Keselowski losing a lap and several positions.

· The Wurth Ford was not as fast in traffic as it was when running towards the front of the field.  As a result, Keselowski ran in the top 20 for much of the latter stages of the race.

· Taking a gamble that a late-race caution could occur and improve the team’s track position, the No. 2 Ford stayed out on track longer than the field over the closing laps of the race and Keselowski managed to take the lead at lap 256.

· The caution never materialized, however, and at lap 259 Keselowski had to pit for fuel.

· Keselowski and the No. 2 Wurth Ford Fusion took the checkered flag in 13th place for his seventh top-15 finish in nine career starts at Kansas.

· With the result Keselowski remained 11th in the point standings as he now trails series leader and Saturday’s race winner Jeff Gordon by 68 points.
    

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING

BRAD KESELOWSKI, NO. 2 WURTH FORD

HOW DID THE RACE PLAY OUT FOR YOU IN THE WURTH FORD?

“We could never get Wurth Ford where we wanted it to be. We got close a couple times and we tried really hard. We got caught out on that one sequence, which put us behind, and then we just fought from there to get track position. We got up to eighth or ninth with 60 or 70 to go and tried to take a gamble to win on strategy and it didn’t quite payoff, although it was a really good call. We ended up 13th which is kind of ho-hum. We will just have to keep working on it.”

YOU DID RUN UP FRONT ON STRATEGY. HOW DIFFERENT WAS THE CAR IN CLEAN AIR?

“It was way faster. I felt like Superman up there.”