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Fall Race In Charlotte Brings Keselowski Full Circle
Daytona Beach, Fla - Last May at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Brad Keselowski (No. 88 U.S. NAVY Chevrolet) finished third. At the time, it was his career-best result in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
But since that memorable race where he – and his JR Motorsports team refused to back down from a late-race on-track dust up and post-race scuffle with Denny Hamlin (No. 10 Dollar General Stores Toyota) and his Joe Gibbs Racing team, Keselowski has come full circle in his racing career.
The 24-year-old gained plenty of respect in the garage for the way he handled himself in the tense moments following the race.
He also seemed to gain immeasurable confidence, which quickly began to show.
He won his first series race two weeks later at Nashville Superspeedway, then his first pole. Before capturing his second victory, he moved into second place in the standings and held that spot for six out of seven races before recently ceding to reigning series champion Carl Edwards (No. 60 Scotts Winterguard Ford). Keselowski is currently third in the rankings.
Two weeks ago, owner Rick Hendrick tabbed Keselowski to make his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut at … Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
“Certainly a lot has happened, and it’s all been pretty good,” Keselowski said. “Seems like I went for about two years and couldn’t catch a break, and now it all seems to be pouring down at once.
“It’s hard to describe it.”
Keselowski will have to qualify the No. 25 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet on time if he’s to make his NASCAR Sprint Cup race debut Saturday night. He’s also scheduled to compete in the premier series at Texas Motor Speedway next month.
Back To Where It Began: Finch Reaches Start No. 500 At LMS
In October 1989, owner James Finch stood by while driver Jeff Purvis prepared to make the NASCAR Nationwide Series debut for fledgling Finch Racing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Purvis started 14th but a blown engine would relegate him to a 40th-place finish.
Undeterred, Finch continued on. Through the following 20 years, he posted 11 wins — the first by Purvis in 1996 — and a 25 percent top-10 finish success rate in what will be 500 series races on Friday night, again at LMS.
It’s fitting that Finch’s driver will be veteran Mike Bliss (No. 1 Miccosukee Resort Chevrolet), who will compete in his 415th NASCAR national series race.
Bliss has one win in series competition and it came at LMS in the fall race of 2004. Currently fourth in the standings, Bliss has been one of the hottest drivers in the series over the last quarter of the season and is the choice of many to break through for a win before the year ends.
“It’s an honor to be driving for James in his 500th start as a team owner,” Bliss said. “James has contributed a lot to this sport and it would be nice to celebrate this momentous occasion with a trip to Victory Lane.”
Majority Rules: Most Drivers Have “Home Field Advantage” In Charlotte
With the bulk of NASCAR Nationwide Series race teams based in North Carolina and the Charlotte area, Friday night’s race is basically a “home game.”
Series teams are coming off an open week and with the race in their backyard plus the season beginning to dwindle down, the adrenaline certainly will be flowing.
“With so many drivers and teams being home, it really puts emphasis on winning at this track,” said series director Joe Balash.
Clint Bowyer (No. 2 BB&T Chevrolet) comes back from the open week with a 196-point lead over Carl Edwards in the driver standings. Edwards won at LMS in 2006 but hasn’t finished better than 13th there since.
Bowyer has five top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile track including his last four in a row.
Bowyer’s also got added impetus as he’s moved the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevy to within 33 points of the first-place No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the owner standings.
Childress has won four series owner titles – two of those have been split championships. A fifth owner crown will break the tie he shares with Teresa Earnhardt who also has four trophies as a NASCAR Nationwide Series owner.
Do The Math: Time Running Short For Top-10 Standing
There are 10 seats available for drivers at the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Awards Banquet. But with five races left, there are five drivers vying for positions 8-10 and a post-season trip to Orlando, Fla.
The scramble is among a solid group of veterans with a total of 12 top-10 championship finishes between them.
