Team Penske NASCAR XFINITY Series Race Report - Phoenix
March 12, 2016
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NASCAR XFINITY Series Race Report
Track: Phoenix International Raceway
Race: Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter. 200
Date: March 12, 2016
No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – Brad Keselowski
Start: 7th
Finish: 9th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 200/200
Laps Led: 9
Owner’s Points Position (behind leader): 5th (-17 pts.)
Recap: Brad Keselowski and the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang ran inside the top-10 all day, led laps during a round of green-flag pit stops and eventually came home ninths in Saturday’s Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter. 200. Keselowski and the team entered this weekend’s NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race at Phoenix International Raceway looking to continue the recent string of success for Team Penske at the venue. Keselowski and teammate, Joey Logano, had won two of the last three NXS races at the one-mile oval in the desert. However, Keselowski was not able to overcome a tight-handling condition that plagued his No. 22 Ford all day. Keselowski radioed that the balance was perfect when the race began, but it gradually began to build too tight as the run progressed. On the last run of the day, crew chief Brian Wilson “long-pitted” his driver after the other leaders had made their way down pit road for their final pit stop. In doing so, Wilson and Keselowski hoped to catch a break and receive the benefits of a caution flag that would pin the drivers that had been up front all day one lap down. Unfortunately the strategy did not pay off and Keselowski was forced to settle for his second top-10 finish of the young NXS season.
Quote: "It wasn't what we wanted by any means today. The Discount Tire Ford was just tight all day at both ends and we were never able to get it freed up at all. I thought Brian Wilson made a nice call there at the end to roll the dice to stay out and try to catch a caution but it didn't work out for us. I had to come down for gas and we ended up right where we were all day. We had about a 7th-10th place car today and that is where we ended up."