 Keselowski Survives Green-White-Checkered Flag Finish to
Grab 12th-place at Martinsville Speedway
MARTINSVILLE, Va.
Brad Keselowski,
driver of the No. 12
Penske Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Cup Series, finished 12th
in the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville
Speedway on Monday afternoon. For the second consecutive
weekend, Keselowski scored his best finish of the 2010 season.
Severe weather in the Martinsville area forced NASCAR to
move the race to Monday afternoon. Rain also washed out Friday’s
qualifying session as the field was lined up based on 2010
owner points, per the NASCAR rulebook.
 Keselowski began his first Cup Series race at Martinsville
from the 33rd
position. He spent the early portion of the event trying
to find the rhythm
necessary to lay down consistent lap times on the challenging
oval. It was
evident early that run that Keselowski was better than many
of his
competitors in getting into the tight Martinsville corners.
He was having trouble, however, getting his car to turn smoothly
exiting the turns. Crew chief Jay Guy called for adjustments
to the track bar and air pressure on the No. 12 Dodge when
the first caution flag flew on lap 41.
Following the subsequent race restart, Keselowski was forced
into the
outside retaining wall while trying to avoid a spinning No.
82 car. While
the damage to the Penske Dodge was cosmetic, Guy and crew
took no chances on whether or not there was any sheet metal
rubbing the right front tire. Guy called Keselowski down
pit road twice under a caution period on lap 74 to fix the
damage.
 Passing is a premium at Martinsville, so to gain valuable
track position,
Keselowski remained on the racetrack when another caution
flag fell on lap
162 with the Penske Dodge running in the 26th position. He
restarted the
race in the third spot. It would prove to be another intelligent
move by Guy as Keselowski would remain at the front half
of the field for the remainder of the event.
While Keselowski continued to struggle to get the car to
turn in the exit of
the corners at the start of a run, the chassis condition
gradually began to
improve over the course of a green-flag stint. On lap 380,
Keselowski had
fallen back to 19th place, his lowest running position since
Guy left him on
the track at lap 162. The team made a substantial track bar
adjustment under
a lap 420 caution and this proved to be what Keselowski needed
to begin his
march toward the top-10.
Martinsville is notoriously hard on brakes, but Keselowski
was able to save
his until they were needed. During the last 100 laps, when
it looked as
though others had used up their brakes, Keselowski was able
to begin passing
his competitors one by one. After a caution flag on lap 491,
Keselowski
restarted the race in the 15th position, but he was able
to make his way
inside the top-10 in just three laps.
Another caution flag flew on lap 499, which would send the
race into
overtime.
 On the ensuing green-white-checkered flag, double-file
restart,
Keselowski found himself in the outside line. The inside
line is the
preferred way around the Martinsville Speedway and he was
not able to hold
his position. However, the driver of the No. 12 Penske Racing
Dodge Charger
was encouraged by his 12th-place finish in his first start
at the half-mile
oval
Penske Racing teammates Sam Hornish
Jr. and Kurt Busch finished 13th and
23rd, respectively.
Following the sixth race of the season, Keselowski is ranked
27th in the
2010 NASCAR Cup Series driver point standings.
The No. 12 Penske Dodge team will enjoy a weekend off before
heading west
for the Subway Fresh Fit 600 at Phoenix International Raceway.
The race will
be seen live on Sunday, April 10, on the FOX television network
beginning at
7:30 p.m. ET.
The event will also be heard live on MRN Radio,
as well as
Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 128.
|
|
́“ I’m
really proud of this team. Jay (Guy)
made some great calls for the second consecutive race and we were
able to gain a lot of track position. Not many drivers finish in
the top-10 in their first start here and we were in position to do
that until the last caution. Now that I have a start under my belt
(here), we should be even better when we come back in the fall."
|
