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VENUE: RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY (.75-MILE D-SHAPED OVAL)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (RACE 26 OF 36)
DATE: SEPT. 12, 2009 (400 LAPS, 300 MILES)
Keselowski Struggles then retires late on at Richmond.
RICHMOND, Va. (Sept. 12, 2009) – Brad Keselowski had a great qualifying
session at Richmond on Saturday, posting a top ten starting position in his
fourth outing behind the wheel of the #09 Miccosukee Resorts and Gaming Chevrolet
owned by Phoenix Racing. Brad was confident as previous outings in the
#09
had
resulted
in a 6th place at New Hampshire and of course a big win at Talladega.
The
race proved to be a tough one for the #09, with Brad and the Miccosukee
Resorts team taking every opportunity to make car adjustments.
BK found himself at the back of the lead lap pack by the time the
race reached a halfway point. After race leaders put the car a
lap down the plan was damage limitation as Brad worked hard to
get the best out of the car.
Several small race incidents didn't help: At one point the #09 was turned in
the pit stall by another car, resulting in a pit stop at an odd angle. Later
the #19 went into long half-lap spin right in front of Brad's car. After 376
laps the engine finally gave up, resulting in Brad's first Sprint Cup DNF.
Photos contributed by Brad fan Amanda Allen
(@AmandaLouWho on twitter)
EVENT – Lenox
Industrial Tools 301 (301 laps/ 211.6 miles)
TRACK – New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.058- Mile
oval)
DATE – Sunday, June 28, 2009
No. 09 Miccosukee Resorts and Gaming Team / Keselowski
Start – 36th / Finish – 6th / Laps Led – 0 / Points – 150
/ Point Standings – 40th
 Brad Keselowski and his Phoenix Racing team thought the threatening
rain would shorten Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Lenox Industrial Tools
301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
So they worked their pit strategy around that all day at New Hampshire – and
were rewarded with a sixth-place finish when rain halted the race
after 273 of the planned 301 laps.
It was Keselowski's third top-10 finish in his last three Cup starts.
He won at Talladega Superspeedway and then finished seventh at Darlington
Raceway. Keselowski is driving a limited schedule for both Phoenix
and Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup series this season as well as
competing full time for JR Motorsports in the Nationwide Series.
On the Cup side, things have obviously been going well for the 25-year-old,
especially with the Phoenix team he took to victory lane at Talladega.
"We're just taking advantage of the opportunity that we have
here," Keselowski said. "They made some good pit calls
there. Could see this rain was coming and was just trying to be prepared
for and the guys did a great job on the Miccosukee Chevrolet of calling
the right pit strategy.
"… Just real proud of them. To get another solid finish
with the No. 09 car that's really great, really special."
Brad
Keselowski a fast winnerIt
was just another day at the race shop for Brad Keselowski on
Monday afternoon in Mooresville, N.C.But
NASCAR fans across the nation know differently. So does Keselowski,
the 25-year-old NASCAR driver from Rochester Hills. He knows his
life never will be the same after he won his first Sprint Cup race
Sunday in thrilling style at Talladega Superspeedway. READ
FULL REPORT
The
newest winning car owner in the Sprint Cup Series doesn't have
the deep pockets
of Rick Hendrick, Jack Roush, Joe Gibbs and Richard
Childress — the four championship honchos whose powerhouse
teams had won the past 30 races until Keselowski's last-lap pass
of Carl Edwards at Talladega. James
Finch Interview - Post Talladega 2009
Before his stunning breakthrough in
Alabama — his team's
105th Cup start — Finch probably was best known for an infamous
incident in February 2004 during the final Cup race at North Carolina
Speedway in Rockingham, N.C.
NASCAR's premier series started the season several fully funded
teams short of a 43-car field in Cup, so Finch entered Joe Ruttman. The
team was black-flagged by NASCAR for starting the race without
a pit crew, and Ruttman parked his Dodge after being scored for
completing one lap by NASCAR. He earned $54,196 for last — more
than tripling the $16,150 that Johnny Benson Jr. had won for Finch
by finishing ninth in the Busch Series race a day earlier.
Sunday, Finch laughed off the memory of Rockingham and made no
apologies for his "start-and park" approach.
"
They didn't have enough cars (so) I said, 'Let's get a Cup car
and try and get the purse money," he said. "We went and
got us a better motor for a Busch car," Finch said. "It's
not like we were robbing NASCAR. We were just trying to help out."
Finch entered his first Nationwide race in 1989 and made his Cup
debut a year later but generally has raced more on NASCAR's Triple-A
circuit. He mostly has raced the Nationwide schedule full time
since 2005 and has 476 starts and 11 victories in the series (most
recently with Johnny Sauter at The Milwaukee Mile in '05).
Several well-known veterans (including Sterling Marlin, Jimmy Spencer,
Martin Truex Jr. and Geoffrey Bodine) have driven Finch's cars.
He dedicated Keselowski's win to the family of Neil Bonnet, who
was killed in a Finch-owned car in practice at Daytona International
Speedway in '94.
Finch has a construction business in Panama City, Fla., "to
be able to run", but he has maintained a financially sound
philosophy of not spending more than his race teams make (his cars
have earned more than $31 million in Nationwide and Cup, where
he mostly focuses on the restrictor-plate races at Daytona and
Talladega).
His staying power has earned the respect of many NASCAR stars,
including its most popular driver.
"
James deserves what he got (Sunday) for what he's been able to
put into the sport to compete, what money he's spent," said
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who owns the car driven by Keselowski full
time in the Nationwide Series. "So I'm really proud. I've
gotten to know him much better over the last couple of years. He
did an awesome job putting Brad in the car this year and giving
him an opportunity."
Keselowski, 25, is running a partial schedule for Finch this season
with engine and chassis support from Hendrick Motorsports. He is
one of several young drivers who have benefited from Finch's penchant
for supporting up and comers.
Finch's Phoenix Racing shop in Spartanburg, S.C., employs about
25 people (roughly 5% of the staffs at Hendrick Motorsports or
Roush Fenway Racing) and fields cars in both NASCAR and ARCA, the
minor-league circuit where he tries "to help someone out every
once in a while.
"
I've had a lot of people help me and so we try and pass it down
to some of these kids in the ARCA series," Finch said. "It's
really tough now. The short-track races 30 years ago were paying
$600 to win, and they are paying $600 to win now.
" I guess I'm one of the only independents to race on a regular basis.
Some of them come in a few races and leave because it's so expensive,
and there's no glory. That's a long time since I've had a trophy,
and I thank God I got one here.
About
Phoenix Racing
Twenty
years ago in Charlotte, James Finch watched while Jeff Purvis strapped
himself into the No. 49 Buick after qualifying 14th for what would
be Phoenix Racing's first venture into the NASCAR arena.
After running only 21 laps, the engine failed and, consequently,
Purvis was forced to load the car in the trailer and watch the
remainder of the race on television.
Despite
the setback in his debut appearance, James Finch continued on and
has become one of the longest running, well-known team owners in
NASCAR. A fierce competitor with a candid personality, Finch has
reached a significant milestone in his 20-years as a NASCAR team
owner.
On October
10, 2008, Finch watched Mike Bliss strap into the No. 1 Miccosukee
Chevrolet for Finch's 500th start
as a car owner. Bliss, then fourth in the driver standings,
hoped to deliver a victory for Phoenix Racing and the lineage of
people who have played a role in the team over the last 20 years.
Finch's
admiration for racing began as a young boy and has prospered into
a large operation on racing's biggest stage.
He has experienced great success, with over 350 dirt track wins and
eleven NASCAR Nationwide Series victories. Additionally, his teams
have finished in the top 10 at 25% clip.
A pure racer, Finch grew up racing motorcycles, and even ran a few
dirt track races in late-model stock cars. His passion for the sport
he loves has translated into success on the race track more times
than not, and has allowed him to reach Victory Lane in nearly everything
with which he has been associated.
At Homestead-Miami
Speedway this year, Phoenix Racing will also celebrate its 100th
start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Fittingly, Homestead is
home to Finch’s long time partner Miccosukee Resorts.
A success
story that began at 11 years of age when he met a guy with a race
car at the service station where he was working, Finch’s
enthusiasm for racing has evolved into a passion that has spanned
20 years, and has allowed him to experience success at the sport’s
highest level of competition.
 DAYTONA
500 QUALIFYING - BRAD MISSES OUT: In the
first Gatorade Duel (held on the Thursday prior to race weekend)
the goal was to finish in the first two of the 'non-35' drivers;
ahead of names like Tony Stewart, Scott Riggs and Joe Nemechek.
All three went past Brad's car, 2nd after the final yellow flag,
in the final stages. Brad finished 12th, fourth of the non-35 cars
and did not make the cut. With Stewart snatching one of the two
transfer spots in Gatorade Duel 1, the list of qualifiers for Sunday's
Daytona 500 reverted to last Sunday's Pole Day qualifying qualifying
speed.
Brad
was qualifying in the No. 09 Miccosukee Resort & Gaming Chevy,
under the Phoenix Racing Banner, with engines and chassis from Hendrick
Motorsports. With the addition of 10 races driving for Phoenix, this
means that Brad will run 17 races in this year's Sprint Cup, since
he is signed to run seven in the No. 25 GoDaddy.com Hendrick Chevy.
Brad met with members of the media at Pre-Daytona Media Day and
discussed not being locked in to the Daytona 500, ’09 Cup schedule, focus on Nationwide
Series this season and other topics. He said of the confusion “I’ll
be honest,” he said. “I didn’t understand how I got in, and
I don’t understand how I’m not. So I’m just as confused as
can be, and I’m back where I was a week ago and focused on doing what we
can with the assumption I’ll have to race into the 500.” READ
FULL INTERVIEW
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After New Hampshire
“We
played the strategy the whole time anticipating this. We kept pitting
under the yellows to top off, even if we didn’t need it.
We had probably a better car than where we were running. We kept
pitting to make sure we were covered for this situation. And lo
and behold we got a break when this situation came up. We put ourselves
in position to take advantage of it and here we are. Good finish
out of it.”
WHAT
A YEAR FOR YOU IN CUP RACING. YOU WERE ABLE TO GET A WIN IN TALLADEGA
AND NOW YOU ARE HEAR IN THE TOP-SIX HERE AT NEW HAMPSHIRE, TALK
ABOUT YOUR RUN. "We're just taking advantage of the opportunity
that we have here. They made some good pit calls there. Could see
this rain was coming and was just trying to be prepared for and the
guys did a great job on the Miccosukee Chevrolet of calling the right
pit strategy. I think this is going to be it but its hard to tell.
Just real proud of them. To get another solid finish with the No.
09 car that's really great, really special."
YOU
HAD A GOOD FINISH YESTERDAY IN NATIONWIDE AND CUP RUNS ARE GETTING
BETTER, YOU HAVE TO BE FEELING PRETTY GOOD ABOUT THIS: “Yes,
I am. We are catching breaks but we are putting ourselves in position
to catch them. That is important. That is what good race teams do.
I am really proud of everyone to get this finish in this Chevrolet.”
BRAD
KESELOWSKI'S 2009 SPRINT CUP SCHEDULE IN THE #09 CAR:
14th Feb: Daytona
25th Apl: Talladega
27th June: New Hampshire
3 July: Daytona
21st Aug: Bristol
11th Sept: Richmond
7th Nov: Texas
14th Nov: Phoenix
21 Nov: Homestead- Miami
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