News

Track:  Martinsville Speedway
Race:   Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500
Date:   November 1, 2015

No. 2 Alliance Truck Part Ford Fusion – Brad Keselowski

Start: 11th
Finish: 32nd
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 490/500
Laps Led: 143
Points Position (behind leader):  6th (-34)
 
Recap: Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford started 11th, fought their way to the front and led 143 laps, got tangled up in contact with the No. 20 car and ended up laps down in 32nd place on Sunday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway. The No. 2 Team Penske machine began the Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 from the 11th position and was a bit free on corner exit early in the 500-lap event. As the race wore on, crew chief Paul Wolfe adjusted on the Fusion and it came to life as Keselowski drove to the front of the field at lap 236. The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion would lead four times for 143 laps on the afternoon before falling to third place going into the last 75 laps of the race. On a restart on lap 434, the right front tire of the No. 2 Ford made contact with left rear tire of the No. 20 machine, which resulted in right front suspension damage to the Alliance Truck Parts Ford. The damage was significant enough to merit a trip to the garage for repairs. The team made repairs and returned to the fray to finish 32nd on the day. The difficult day sees the No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts team scored sixth place in the Chase standings as they trail points leader Jeff Gordon by 34 points.

Quote:  "We had a strong Alliance Truck Parts Ford today. The team gave me a fast car, the guys did a great job in the pits and we led a lot of laps. There towards the end, I got hit from behind and pushed into the 20 and my right-front wheel hit Kenseth's left-rear and it just broke the right-front suspension off the car. The car wouldn't turn and just kept going straight until I couldn't do anything and I started wrecking everybody. I just didn't have any steering wheel left."
 
No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion – Joey Logano

Start:  1st (14th-career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole)
Finish: 37th
Status: Running
Laps Completed:  458/500
Laps Led:  207
Points Position (behind leader):  8th (-38)
 
Recap:  Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion team had a dominate car late in the going on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway and looked to be on the way to his fourth-straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win, but was taken out in an accident while in the lead with less than 50 laps to go and had to settle for a 37th-place finish at the half-mile track.  Logano started the race from the pole, his sixth of the season, and led early when the race initially went green following a green-yellow condition.  All day long, Logano would be a top-five car and fought turn at the two-thirds of the corner and drive off the corner.  As the track continued to rubber in following a morning full of rain, the Shell-Pennzoil Fusion continued to come to Logano.  Even when he lost the lead on the track, the pit crew performed flawless stops and was able to get Logano to the lead on nearly every set of stops.  Each time, Logano would race at the front of the field and showed to be one of the best cars on the track.  All-in-all, Logano would lead on nine different occasions for a race-high 207 laps.  Logano was able to jump out to the lead late in the race and was building a commanding lead when, with less than 50 laps remaining, the No. 20 of Matt Kenseth wrecked Logano as he was trying to put him another lap down.  The damage to the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion was significant, but the team was able to make repairs and get the car back out on the track just before the checkered flag flew.  The disappointing 37th-place finish drops Logano from the top spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings to eighth with just two races remaining before the season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
 
Quote:  "It's just unfortunate that our race had to end that way.  I got wrecked.  There isn't much else to say about it.   I don't know what am I supposed to say about it.  His (Kenseth's) race was over and he tried hard to wreck us and he was successful the second time, so I give that to him. For us, we just needed to go back out there and try to salvage a point or two.  We'll go to Texas and try to win.  We're on a heckuva run.  We were still leading this race and we were going to win it.  We had a really, really fast Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion.  We're not gonna let this take us down.  This is a strong team.  We will get past this."