Keselowski Wins NASCAR Nationwide At Bristol Motor Speedway
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Aug 23, 2008
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After a restart on Lap 226 of Friday night’s Nationwide Series Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Keselowski pressured points leader Clint Bowyer. On Lap 227, Bowyer slipped off Turn 2, giving Keselowski the opening he needed.
From that point, Keselowski kept the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet out front and beat Bowyer to the finish line by 1.025 seconds.
“We were dead equal—Clint and I,” said Keselowski, who won his second race in the series from the 37th starting position. “I knew I needed a break, and he gave it to me. All I can do is force him to run hard, and he made a mistake. I’m lucky.”
Greg Biffle finished third, followed by pole-sitter Cale Gale and David Stremme. Scott Wimmer was sixth, and a late pit-road mistake—with No. 18 crew chief Jason Ratcliff serving the first race of his indefinite suspension for violations found last Saturday at Michigan—dropped Kyle Busch to seventh.
Bowyer, who has won just once, was dejected after leading 121 laps.
“It was good right up until whatever lap that was where I made a mistake,” he said, adding that he tried too quickly to get back on the gas coming out of the second turn. “It came out from underneath me there and I had to check up or I would have spun out.”
Bowyer has finished in the top 10 in 21 of 26 races, but has won just once.
“It’s been a frustrating two months for me,” Bowyer said. “It’s good when you can be frustrated with second, but we did give one away today. When you look at it, it was obvious.”
For Earnhardt’s team, which is seeking sponsorship, the victory could be big.
“Things like this definitely help our chances,” Earnhardt said. “This season we’ve really risen toward the top and we compete week in and week out with the best in the series.”
Keselowski expects the battle to be close all the way to the finish.
“This is going to come down to the end,” he said.
