KESELOWSKI CLAIMS THIRD TOP-THREE FINISH OF ’12 SEASON AT BRISTOL
Hornish Jr. 13th, Remains Sixth In Nationwide Series Point Standings
BRISTOL, Tenn. (Saturday, Mar. 17, 2012) – Brad Keselowski rebounded from a frustrating race one week ago to post a solid third-place finish in the Ford Ecoboost 300 Saturday afternoon at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Keselowski has finished third or better in three of season’s first four races. He has been in position to win all four events and Saturday afternoon was no different. On lap 230 of the 300-lap event, Keselowski flashed by Trevor Bayne in his No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger to grab second-place and chased then race-leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for the lead.
But on lap 260, eventual winner Elliott Sadler slipped by Keselowski’s No. 22 Dodge Challenger. The final caution of the race waved on lap 264 and one lap later, pit road was open for business. Stenhouse and Keselowski chose to pit, but Sadler and second-place finisher Kasey Kahne did not, opting for track position. The move worked, with Sadler and Kahne holding on to finish one-two, respectively.
“You know, a lot of people will make a lot out of Elliott staying out there, but he had a fast car,” Keselowski said. “He drove by me under green right before the yellow came out. I think he was legitimately running the fastest lap times. I’ll have to, I guess, see the sheet to back that up, but from what I could tell he was.
“I wish I could have been a little bit faster there. I didn’t have quite enough for him today. That’s the way it goes sometimes. You’ve got to get a solid finish out of what you can. I certainly drove my rear off to get a third, but wanted to get a win.”
Sam Hornish Jr. might have finished 13th but his day was far from boring. Hornish spun out (bringing out the second caution of the event) and twice made up a lost lap, the final time during the last caution of the race. Hornish is sixth in the Nationwide Series championship standings, 49 points behind championship leader Sadler and eight behind fifth-place Cole Whitt.
“It’s tough when you get the lucky dog on the last restart,” Hornish said. “You’ve got to start behind all of the lap-down guys. I mean, you’ve got to pass 10 guys just to get to somebody for a position. We had the 33 (Kevin Harvick) right there with us; he got around us while we were trying to get through traffic.
“I feel like the Alliance Truck Parts Dodge team did a good job, but we’re just not good enough yet to be where we need to be. We can get the car there throughout the course of the race, but we’ve just got to be better start to finish. We need to work on getting the car to turn a little bit better without being so loose getting off (the corners).”
Sadler averaged 94.740 mph in a race that took one hour, 41 minutes and 16 seconds to complete. The race was slowed by four cautions for 30 laps and the event featured five lead changes among five drivers. The margin of victory for Sadler over Kahne was 1.159 seconds.
Final Race Results NASCAR Nationwide Series Ford Ecoboost 300
Bristol Motor Speedway March 17, 2012 1.
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Elliott Sadler
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Kasey Kahne
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BRAD KESELOWSKI
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Joey Logano
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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Ricky Stenhouse
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Justin Allgaier
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Trevor Bayne
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Kevin Harvick
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Ryan Truex
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SAM HORNISH JR.
Driver Point Standings (after 4 of 33 events)
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Elliott Sadler 178 points
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Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 25
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Trevor Bayne – 29
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Austin Dillon – 30
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Cole Whitt – 41
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SAM HORNISH JR – 49
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Tayler Malsam – 62
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Michael Annett – 63
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Justin Allgaier – 65
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Mike Bliss – 86
