American Racing News Vol 1, Issue 2 Issue 5 | Page 5

BRAD WINS FUEL-MILEAGE GAME

By Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service | Gettty Image

SPARTA, KY – Brad Keselowski had his mojo working
in Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky
Speedway. Saving just enough fuel to get to the finish line, Keselowski eked out a heart-thumping victory over Carl Edwards to win his second consecutive
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race and his third at Kentucky Speedway.
But this was not the same bumpy, abrasive Kentucky
Speedway where Keselowski went to Victory Lane in
2012 and 2014. This was a repaved, reconfigured
1.5-mile intermediate track fraught with treachery,
especially when combined with the lowerdownforce aerodynamic package in use for the race. Keselowski got to the finish line .175 seconds ahead of
Edwards, who made up a deficit of more than six
seconds in the final 10 laps but couldn't quite get to
Keselowski's rear bumper on the final lap.
When Keselowski took the checkered flag, his fuel
cell was dry. The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske
Ford didn’t have enough gas to do a celebratory
burnout, and he needed a push from a safety truck
to get to Victory Lane.
Keselowski took the lead from Kevin Harvick after a
restart on Lap 200 and held it the rest of the way,
except for Lap 261, when Matt Kenseth took the top
spot and immediately came to pit road for fuel.

By then, the die was cast for Keselowski, who was
committed to finishing the race without another fuel
stop.
"It's a testament to our guys to have the fuel mileage that we did to be able to get back what I burnt
early in the run and get the Miller Lite Ford in Victory Lane. Usually these repaves are kind of my Achilles heel, but to get a win here at Kentucky… I know
it's been a good track for us in the past, but this isn't
the same Kentucky, I can tell you that. These cars
were tough to drive today, but a good tough. This
was a hard-fought battle, and I'm really proud of everybody on the 2 crew to get win number four and
take that first place."
Martin Truex Jr. dominated the first two-thirds of
the event, leading 128 laps. Truex had taken the
lead off pit road on Lap 196, but NASCAR sent him to
the rear of the field for passing Harvick on the entry
to pit road. For the last 68 laps, Truex drove like a
madman, advancing from 23rd to as high as third before pitting for fuel and finishing 10th.
"It wasn't my night on that deal," Truex said. "It's
frustrating, we had the car to beat. We came out
with the lead and they took it away from us. It's just
the way it goes, I guess."