Brad Keselowski made it look easy in Saturday’s Dollar General 300 Nationwide Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.
Keselowski put on a dominating performance by leading 158 of 200 laps and crossing the finish line 8.6 seconds ahead of fellow Sprint Cup Series competitor Carl Edwards for his third win of the season and the 15th of his Nationwide career.
His Nationwide win comes on the eve of the first race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. He made the playoffs in NASCAR’s premier series for the first time, earning a wild card spot with his three Sprint Cup victories.
“It’s a great boost to get a win before going into the Chase,” Keselowski said. MiamiHerald.com
Pole-sitter Brian Scott came home third, followed by Aric Almirola and Sam Hornish Jr. in a race that saw 10 cars finish on the lead lap. Series points leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. held the top spot in the standings with an eighth-place finish.
Asked what might carry over into Sunday’s Cup race, Keselowski said, “There’s always the confidence—that’s the biggest thing.” NASCAR.com
“I had a really good time racing with Brad about halfway through the race for the lead, that was a lot of fun,” Edwards said. “We just had a little trouble there on pit road. Ran out of fuel, then we had a really long green flag run. I would have liked the opportunity to race Brad, I guess we just didn’t get that caution.”
But even after Edwards trailed Keselowski by a large margin for the final green-flag run, which stretched 131 laps, he praised NASCAR for not calling a suspect caution just to bunch the field back together.
“I really applaud NASCAR for letting the race run its course. Anything can happen,” Edwards said. “I think too often NASCAR is quick to throw cautions. I think they showed me and everybody that if there is nothing out there and no reason to throw a caution then they won’t. I think it lends a lot of credibility to the series and they showed today that they don’t mind that a guy is out there with a seven or eight-second lead. They will let the race run its course.
“I think that is a big statement for them to make before the Chase starts.” Chicago Sun-Times
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NASCAR Nationwide Series: Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland - Race Results
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