Keselowski Back In Championship Conversation
Will Saturday night’s race at The Milwaukee Mile be yet another defining moment in Brad Keselowski’s (No. 88 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet) season?
After the third race this year, Keselowski was mired in 22nd place in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver rankings. His standing as a favorite to challenge for the series title was in serious doubt.
But that’s all changed.
Starting with the April 4 race at Texas Motor Speedway, he’s literally gone into overdrive. Since that event 10 races ago, he’s compiled a result sheet that reads like, well, a championship resume:
Seven top-five finishes, including a win at Dover International Speedway;
Nine top-10 finishes — his worst finish in that span was 11th at Darlington Raceway;
A runner-up finish at Nashville Superspeedway;
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Three consecutive third-place finishes, two at combination events;
His first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at Talladega Superspeedway in his seventh start.
Keselowski hasn’t just climbed back into the title picture, he’s forced points leader Kyle Busch (No. 18 Combos Toyota) and second-place Carl Edwards (No. 60 Save A Lot Ford) to pay close attention to his whereabouts on the track. He’s 208 points out of first place and 71 points behind Edwards.
After his third-place finish at Kentucky Speedway last Saturday, he jumped fellow series-only regular Jason Leffler (No. 38 Great Clips Toyota) to move into third in the standings by a 10-point margin. And Leffler certainly hasn’t slumped in losing his previous five-race foothold on that spot. He’s been similarly consistent to Keselowski with nine consecutive top 10s, including three top fives.
But its at stand-alones where Keselowski has taken advantage of Leffler with two thirds and a second place in the three events to date (an average finish of 2.7), while Leffler’s average finish in those races is 5.6.
Now, Keselowski comes to Milwaukee with plenty of confidence, the stats to back it up and a solid run last year (eighth) that began with his first NASCAR national series pole.
Beer Capital Meets Wine Country For Key Double-Duty Travel
Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards have skirted any issues that could have impacted their travel to and from separate NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Sprint Cup double-duty events.
But this weekend’s jaunt from Infineon Raceway to The Milwaukee Mile is the longest of the four events that require back-and-forth travel.
Double-duty drivers have always managed to get from Sonoma to Milwaukee to compete in the race — sometimes at the last moment.
It’s not uncommon for double-duty drivers to miss the Driver’s Meeting and be forced to start from the back of the field at Milwaukee. The closest call recently was in 2007 when Denny Hamlin got to the track well after the start of the event.
Aric Almirola was Hamlin’s substitute driver. He won the pole and started the race, and was leading when Hamlin finally made it to pit road. Hamlin took over on Lap 58 and went on to cross the finish line first. However it was Almirola who was credited with the win since he started the event.
Almirola, who leads all drivers with two NASCAR Nationwide Series poles at the track, will be making his first appearance at Milwaukee since that race, driving the No. 40 StopRepairBills.com Chevrolet for Key Motorsports.
Busch and Edwards will count on the weather, their pilots and substitute drivers to keep them in the position to maintain their top two spots in the series standings.
Johnny Sauter, a native of Necedah, Wis., and the 2005 winner of this race, will sub for Busch. Edwards will count on young Colin Braun, who won his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race last Friday at Michigan International Speedway. Braun started 10th in this event last year; just his third series start and his first at The Milwaukee Mile.
Is It Wimmer’s Turn For A Home-Track Win?
It’s every driver’s dream — to win at his home track.
With so many great racers from Wisconsin, it was surprising that a native son hadn’t won any of the first 14 NASCAR Nationwide Series races at the track dubbed “America’s Legendary Oval,” a home to racing for 106 years.
But in 2005, Necedah’s Johnny Sauter finally broke through. And one year later, Paul Menard, from Eau Claire, was celebrating in Victory Lane.
Now, Scott Wimmer (No. 5 Fastenal Chevrolet) hopes his turn is next.
Wimmer is from Wausau and has had a solid NASCAR career. He’s competed in each of the top three national series to the tune of a combined 288 starts. He’s accumulated 180 of those in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and has six victories — but none at his home track.
He’s come close, finishing second in 2007 and third in 2002.
He’s driven for three different owners in his quest to land the coveted win. This weekend, he’ll have solid equipment from JR Motorsports.
Kelly Bires (No. 10 Braun Racing Toyota), a native of Mauston, also is entered at Milwaukee.
Erik Darnell (No. 6 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford) and Jason Keller (No. 27 Kimberly-Clark Ford) aren’t from Wisconsin but are racing for home-state pride.
Darnell’s car sponsor also is the race sponsor. And Keller, who’s eighth in the standings — he’s been out of the top 10 (11th) just once this year — carries the banner for one of the series’ longest-standing sponsors. Kimberly-Clark’s long-time base was in Neenah.
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Lucky 13: Raines Continues Standings Climb
Familiar names leap to mind when considering NASCAR Nationwide Series-only regulars in the top10 in points, or those on the brink of breaking in.
Brad Keselowski, Jason Leffler, Justin Allgaier (No. 12 Verizon Wireless Dodge), Brendan Gaughan (No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet), Jason Keller, Mike Bliss (No. 1 Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet), Steve Wallace (No. 66 USFidelis Chevrolet), Michael McDowell (No. 47 www.constructionjobs.com Toyota), Scott Lagasse Jr. (No. 11 America’s Incredible Pizza Co. Toyota), Tony Raines (No. 34 Long John Silver’s Chevrolet) …
Tony Raines?
Very quietly, the 12-year veteran of NASCAR national series competition is working his way toward the NASCAR Nationwide Series top 10.
Driving for owner Bob Jenkins, he’s currently 13th, his best ranking of the season and his highest since 2002, his most recent full-time season when he finished 12th in the final standings.
He’s got the No. 34 team settled in 19th place the top 30 in owner points.
He was fourth at Talladega in April, his best series finish since 2005.
Raines began his national series career in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series from 1997-98, capturing four wins before moving on to the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He ran four consecutive full-time seasons from 1999-2002 for Bill and Brian Baumgardner.
Raines cracked the 200-start barrier in NASCAR Nationwide racing earlier this year and has 134 starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
He’s also pulled double duty twice this season, most recently last week when he raced at both Kentucky and Michigan.
The 45-year old from LaPorte, Ind. has a top five and two top 10s — including a ninth-place finish last year — at Milwaukee.
In The Loop
A Little “Truck” Always Helps At The Mile
Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet) knows a few things about bouncing from a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race to a NASCAR Nationwide Series race at The Milwaukee Mile.
He’s pulled double duty in the same season four times (1998 and 2005-07), and has 18 total races there between the two series.
Hornaday’s had success at Milwaukee – he won the NASCAR Nationwide race in 2004 and has finished in the top 10 in all nine of his NASCAR Camping World Truck starts.
In three NASCAR Nationwide starts since the inception of Loop Data, Hornaday has a Milwaukee Driver Rating of 82.7, an Average Running Position of 18.9 and 15 Fastest Laps Run. His stats in a NASCAR Camping World Truck are even better as he has scored three top fives in the last four races. In the last four NASCAR Camping World Truck races, he has a Driver Rating of 116.7, an Average Running Position of 5.5, a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 96.9 and 81 Fastest laps Run.
Eric Darnell hopes his transition to the series will be as smooth.
Darnell will run his first NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Milwaukee on Saturday, but also has had success in his four NASCAR Camping World Truck starts there.
Darnell finished fourth at The Mile last season, his second consecutive top-10 Milwaukee finish. In his three Milwaukee races since 2005, Darnell has a Driver Rating of 98.5, an Average Running Position of 9.3, a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 83.7 and 28 Fastest Laps Run.
This will be Darnell’s fifth NASCAR Nationwide start. Three have come on tracks over a mile in length (Darlington, Nashville and Kentucky) and one was a short track (Richmond International Raceway).
In those starts, he has posted a solid Driver Rating of 90.7, an Average Running Position of 11.6, seven Fastest Laps Run and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 64.7.
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