Keselowski Starts First, Finishes Fourth at
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Brad Keselowski, driver of the Penske Racing No. 22
Discount Tire Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Nationwide Series,
finished fourth in the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway on Saturday afternoon. Keselowski picked up three
spots after the final restart to grab the second-consecutive
top-five finish for the new Dodge team.
 Penske
Racing teammates Justin Allgaier and Parker Kligerman
finished seventh and 35th, respectively.
Keselowski led the field of 43 cars to the green flag by virtue
of his track-record qualifying effort on Saturday morning.
He toured the 1.5-mile oval in 29.122 seconds, or 185.427 miles
per hour, for his first Coors Light Pole Award as a member
of Penske Racing. Coupled with the NASCAR Cup Series pole captured
by teammate Kurt Busch on Friday, this marked the third time
in history that the organization has swept both NASCAR poles
during a race weekend.
Rain moved into area just as the pre-race ceremonies were getting
underway. As a result the start of the event was delayed for
nearly two hours.
Keselowski played it safe at the start of the race to “feel” out
the track after the drying process. As a result, the high line
was able to get around him and he dropped back to fifth place.
Once back in the pack, Keselowski radioed to crew chief Paul
Wolfe that the Discount Tire Dodge was tight in traffic. Track
bar and air pressure adjustments under a green flag pit stop
at lap 60 proved to be too aggressive and the chassis condition
became too loose.
 A
caution period at lap 85 gave Wolfe the right opportunity
to adjust the race car to Keselowski’s liking.
Another track back adjustment had the chassis set perfectly
for the rest of the race. Rain once again interfered
with the event, this time on lap 105 for a four-lap
caution period. On lap 129, Keselowski radioed that “the
car is awesome.” However, the track position
game was just too much to overcome to take the checkered
flag.
Keselowski and his No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Charger team
have now climbed to the second position in the NASCAR Nationwide
Series point standings. He sits 41 points behind leader Carl
Edwards.
The No.22 Discount Tire Dodge Charger team will enjoy the two-week
break in the NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule before heading
to Tennessee for the Scotts Turf Builder 300 at Bristol Motor
Speedway. The race can be seen live on Saturday afternoon,
March 20 on the ABC television network beginning at 2 p.m.
ET. The event can also be heard live on PRN Radio, as well
as Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 128
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“This was an awesome day for us. We’re just trying
to get better every week. Everyone on this Discount Tire Dodge
Charger team has a lot to be proud of this weekend. There was a
lot of speed in the car in qualifying and I learned a lot as a
driver and have some ideas of what it’s going to take to
get to the next level and win. To be finishing up front like we
are right now with this new team is great."
BRAD KESELOWSKI Qualified 1st for the Sam's Town
300
He said afterwards: "That was awesome! I'm so proud of Paul
(Wolfe, crew chief) and this entire Discount Tire Dodge team
and Penske Racing. I'm awful at qualifying this cars; I'm just
terrible, just look at my track record. I'm about the worst
there is (laughs). What an accomplishment for this team. We
just got out there, pulled the belts tight and ran it as hard
as I could. I didn't breathe for about 60-seconds. Awesome
lap. A brand new race team. I really thought that lap that
Kevin (Harvick) laid down was untouchable and we did it. Awesome
job by everyone back at Penske Racing. This is an awesome feat."
PAUL WOLFE (Crew Chief, No. 12 Discount Tire Dodge
Charger) "A great effort by everyone on this
Discount Tire Dodge team. We've been working really
hard. We were decent off the truck, but struggled over
the bumps on the track and ride quality. We worked
really hard on getting it race well. This is a one-groove
track and if you don't stay in that groove, you'll
get in trouble fast. We just worked really hard to
get it to drive well and we've got a little speed here
in qualifying too."
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Brad Keselowski (born February 12, 1984) is an auto racing car
driver currently competing
in the NASCAR Cup Series for Penske Racing
and the NASCAR Nationwide Series (formerly known as the Busch Series).
He
is the son of Bob Keselowski and the nephew of Ron Keselowski.
His older brother Brian also competes in the Nationwide Series.
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Brad Keselowski managed by Sports
Management Network
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