Keselowski, Dodge win at Talladega
Talladega, AL (Sports Network) - Brad Keselowski put Dodge into victory lane
at Talladega Superspeedway for the first time in 36 years after winning
Sunday's Aaron's 499 in thrilling fashion.
Keselowski, the driver of the No. 2 Dodge for Penske Racing, got pushing help
from Kyle Busch on the second-to-last lap. Keselowski and Busch ran to the
outside of then-leader Matt Kenseth, who was getting drafting help from his
Roush Fenway Racing teammate, Greg Biffle.
After passing Kenseth and Biffle, Busch and Keselowski were hooked up in a
two-car tandem during the final lap around the 2.66-mile superspeedway, but
Keselowski pulled away from Busch in turn three.
"I had this whole plan that if I ever got into that situation where I was
leading," Keselowski said. "I thought about it and thought about it and
dreamed about what to do. Sure enough, going into [turn] three, it was Kyle
and me. I knew the move that I wanted to pull, and it worked."
Keselowski crossed the finish line 0.3 seconds ahead of Busch for his second
win of the season and the sixth of his Sprint Cup Series career. It was also
the second victory for Keselowski at Talladega. His first win in the series
came in the spring 2009 race here.
"I didn't think we connected soon enough, and they [Kenseth and Biffle] got
away from us," Busch said. "When [Keselowski] and I did get connected, we
drove by them, and then it was it was a race between him and me. Somehow,
getting into turn three, I just got disconnected from him, and the race was
over. It was all his."
During the closing laps, Keselowski had an encounter with Busch's elder
brother, Kurt, who was Keselowski's teammate at Penske last year. Keselowski
tapped Kurt Busch from behind and spun him around on the apron at the
start/finish line.
"I went hard with Kurt a little bit earlier there and got with him, so I want
to say sorry to Kurt," Keselowski noted. "He's been a great friend and a great
teammate when I worked with him. That was the last thing I wanted to see
happen."
Kurt Busch, who is behind the wheel of the No. 51 Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing
this season, finished 20th.
The last time a Dodge driver won at Talladega occurred in August 1976, with
Dave Marcis taking the checkered flag.
It was also the first Cup win at Talladega for team owner Roger Penske.
Kenseth, who won the Daytona 500 in February, finished third after leading a
race-high 73 laps. He has yet to win in 25 Sprint Cup races at Talladega.
"I think we had the winning car, really just didn't have the winning driver,"
Kenseth said. "With me not paying attention, keeping us hooked up, just cost
us a shot at the win, cost Greg a shot at the win. Just didn't do a very good
job of managing where he was on that last restart."
Kasey Kahne and Biffle, the current points leader, rounded out the top-five.
Clint Bowyer, David Ragan, Trevor Bayne, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton
finished sixth through 10th.
The race ran relatively incident free until the final 50 laps when two big
wrecks occurred, including the last one which set up a green-white-checkered
finish.
A nine-car crash took place on lap 144 when Dave Blaney and Aric Almirola
bumped into each other. Jeff Gordon, the pole sitter, was among those caught
up in the wreck. Gordon wound up finishing 33rd. His season woes continued, as
he dropped from 17th to 23rd in points.
"Man, this is just one of the most bizarre years this team has ever gone
through," Gordon said. "It's almost comical at this point. That was not fun,
and I don't like hitting the wall."
Another nine-car pileup occurred three laps away from the scheduled 188-lap
distance. Denny Hamlin and A.J. Allmendinger tried to move to the inside of
the track just after a restart, but Allmendinger bumped into Paul Menard and
spun him around.
Gordon's teammate, Jimmie Johnson, who won at Talladega one year ago, suffered
engine failure in the early going and ended up with a 35th-place finish.
"We had a problem and lost the oil pressure there," Johnson said.
"Unfortunately, the 39 [Ryan Newman] is sitting here with a similar issue.
It's a bummer. We had such a great race car."
Newman's car overheated on lap 43.
Biffle now holds a seven-point advantage over Kenseth, while Earnhardt Jr. is
nine points out of the lead.
05/06 19:18:59 ET
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