News

THE RACE

Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Sunday, July 27, 2014

THE RESULTS

The No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion
Driver:  Brad Keselowski
Starting Position:3
Finish Position: 12
Driver's Points Position: 3    
    

THE RACE REVIEW

The No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion driven by Brad Keselowski    

· Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion started Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) from the third position based on Saturday’s qualifying result.

· Over the opening laps of the race, Keselowski reported that his Team Penske Ford Fusion was handling very loose in Turns 1 and 2 while the car was performing well in Turns 3 and 4.

· A NASCAR-mandated competition caution at lap 20 allowed the Miller Lite team to make adjustments to address the handling of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford.

· Keselowski lined up in the fourth position behind eventual race winner Jeff Gordon for the race restart. As Gordon spun his tires, it caused Keselowski to check up and he lost several positions as he dropped to 10th place over the next couple of laps.

· At lap 30 a very light rain fell over parts of the historic two-and-a-half mile track. On lap 33, crew chief Paul Wolfe called Keselowski to pit lane for service as the team was in its designated window.

· During that green flag stop, the Miller Lite crew noticed that the No. 2 Ford Fusion had right rear damage and it did require repairs. The work during the stop resulted in the Miller Lite Ford falling one lap down to the leaders while losing several positions on track.

· Over the next stint, Keselowski fought his way back on to the lead lap as the remainder of the field began to make pit stops.

· An untimely caution flag flew just a few laps after the No. 2 machine had pitted under the green flag, which once again put Keselowski a lap down to the leaders on lap 69.

· After running as far back as 38th earlier in the race, Keselowski was once again mired in traffic and was positioned in the top 30 for much of latter stages of the race.

· The driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford was able to climb his way back towards the front of the field and at the conclusion of the 160 lap event he was scored 12th in the running order.

· Despite the tough results, Keselowski remained third in the point standings as he now trails series leader Jeff Gordon by 51 points.
    

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING

BRAD KESELOWSKI, NO. 2 MILLER LITE FORD

THE MILLER LITE FORD SHOWED GOOD SPEED BUT WAS IT TOUGH TO RECOVER AFTER MAKING REPAIRS TO THE CAR ON PIT LANE?

“We had a really, really fast Miller Lite Ford. I felt we had a third or fourth-place car from what I could tell there, but we just couldn’t put the day together. We ran in the top three there at the start and had that restart behind Jeff (Gordon) where he really checked up and we lost a lot of positions. We had to get off strategy to try and make up for that, and then got to pit road and had a little contact with the 18 (car) that damaged the car a little bit and knocked some speed out of it. We had our pit stop and lost a lap on the pit stop, and finally drove through the field and earned the lucky dog the hard way – (we) got back on the lead lap but there just weren’t enough laps left in the race. With 60 laps left we went from 30th to 15th in probably 40 of those. We got up to 12th there at the end and that was just as far as we could get. I was faster than some of the guys in front of me, but we needed more laps. I don’t know, I think if the race would have played out a little better we probably could have ran second or third. I’m not sure we really had anything for the 5 or the 24 (cars), but it’s hard to say. We were right there otherwise and have a lot to be proud of.  We fought through a lot of adversity today.”