News

RICHMOND, Va. (April 30, 2010) – Brad Keselowski, driver of the Penske Racing No. 22 Ruby Tuesday Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, led 189 laps on his way to an overwhelming victory in the Bubba Burger 250 at Richmond International Raceway on Friday. He had to endure a green-white-checkered flag finish for the second week in a row before preserving the victory with a thrilling, last-lap pass.

The win extends Keselowski’s lead in the Nationwide Series driver point standings to 59 points over Kevin Harvick.

The race marked the second one-day show of the year for the Nationwide Series, which meant a busy day for the 26-year-old Penske Racing driver. He began the day with two hours and 50 minutes of Nationwide Series practice at 9 a.m., where he recorded the fourth-fastest lap of 21.774 seconds, or 124.001 mph. In the afternoon qualifying session for the scheduled 250-lap race, Keselowski toured the .75-mile oval in 21.847 seconds, or 123.587 mph.

Upon the drop of the green flag, Keselowski wasted little time in showing the power of his No. 22 Ruby Tuesday Dodge. By lap five, he was running in the second position. He assumed the top spot in the running order on lap 60 and settled into a nice rhythm on the ensuing long green-flag run that followed. When the caution flag fell on lap 95, Keselowski had raced out to a five-second lead in 76 laps. He radioed to crew chief Paul Wolfe that the car was “perfect” and Wolfe elected to make only minor adjustments to the air pressure in the Goodyear tires.

The longer the race stayed under the green flag, the better Keselowski’s Dodge Charger ran. Despite three caution flags in between laps 102 and 186, he was able to stay out in front of the pack. With 25 laps remaining in the race, Keselowski had powered to a three-second lead and a victory seemed like a formality. However, the final caution flag flew on lap 244 of the 252-lap event to setup the finish.

While two cars elected to stay out under the yellow flag, Keselowski brought his No. 22 Dodge Charger down pit road for four fresh tires. He restarted the race in the fourth position. Coming off of Turn 4 on the final lap, Keselowski was able to get by the No. 27 of Greg Biffle to secure the eighth victory of his Nationwide Series career.

Keselowski’s statistics for the race were impressive. He scored 195 points – the maximum possible in one race – while leading 189 laps, his most in a single race in 113 career Nationwide Series starts. He scored a perfect driver rating of 150.0.  

Penske Racing teammate Justin Allgaier finished 15th.

“Our car was just so strong tonight,” said Keselowski. “Paul Wolfe, the whole Ruby Tuesday team, they gave us a great Dodge Charger. We put it in the right spot at the right time on the green-white-checkered finish.  I wanted it to pay off.  I knew if we lost this race because we didn’t take tires, I would be so mad.  So, I came down and got tires, made the right move with Greg (Biffle) on the last lap and it all worked out.”

The No.22 Ruby Tuesday Dodge Charger team will move back to the Carolinas for the first time this season for the Royal Purple 200 presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The race can be seen live on Friday night, May 7 on ESPN2 beginning at 7:00 p.m. EDT.  The event can also be heard live on MRN Radio, as well as Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 128.

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Brad Keselowski Bubba Burger 250 Race Statistics
Start: 4th
Finish: 1st
Laps: 252/252
Laps Led: 189
Status: Running
Points Position: 1st