Brad Keselowski is on the brink of clinching his first Nationwide Series championship after winning Saturday’s 5-hour Energy 250 at Gateway International Raceway.
Keselowski passed Mike Bliss for the lead with less than two laps remaining. He then held off Bliss by 0.23 seconds for his sixth victory of the season and the 12th of his Nationwide career.
With just three races to go, Keselowski holds a whopping 485-point lead over Carl Edwards, who finished fifth. The Penske Racing driver could wrap up the title when the series next competes in two weeks at Texas. MiamiHerald.com
Keselowski changed four tires during a pit stop with 10 laps remaining. The move paid off as he rallied from fifth place with five laps left.
Unlike the July17 event at Gateway when Keselowski finished 14th after a final-lap run-in with Edwards, this one had no such fireworks. During the July event, Keselowski took the lead on the final lap by bumping Edwards, who responded by wrecking Keselowski for the victory. After Saturday’s race, Edwards shook Keselowski’s hand.
Keselowski hasn’t quite wrapped up the series title, but he could do so in two weeks at Texas. Keselowski needs to leave Texas with a 391-point lead over second place to claim his first NASCAR national series title. Charlotte Observer
“I’m not thinking about what happened before, whether it was good or bad,” Keselowski said. “I just wanted to come out and try to run the perfect race.”
“I don’t know that we had the best car,” said Paul Wolfe, Keselowski’s crew chief. “But we executed well. That call at the end is what we needed to win the race.” The Canadian Press
Keselowski’s teammate, Justin Allgaier, held the lead late in the race and appeared to be on the way to his second Nationwide win, but an accident involving Danica Patrick with nine laps remaining set up a round of pit stops. Bliss took two tires only and exited the pits first, while Allgaier, who put on four tires, lost valuable track position when he came out fifth.
“We had the dominant car in the race, but unfortunately, we just couldn’t get off of pit road today,” said Allgaier, who ended up finishing third. “We made a bad pit call there at the end that put us behind those guys.”
Allgaier started on the pole and led a race-high 88 laps. MiamiHerald.com
Patrick, who started 41st, ran well most of the race. She spun into the wall on the 190th lap after taking a slight bump from Steve Wallace, causing the yellow that allowed Keselowski to go to the pits. Patrick did not talk with reporters after the race.
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NASCAR Nationwide Series: 5-hour Energy 250 at Gateway - Race Results
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