Brad Keselowski blew away the competition at the Nationwide Series race at Chicagoland. Driving a Dodge Challenger he beat second-place, Carl Edwards’ Ford Mustang by over eight seconds.
Brian Scott, in a Toyota, had a career-high third place finish followed by Aric Almirola’s Chevrolet followed by ex-IndyCar star Sam Hornish Jr., in a Dodge. who also had a career high fifth place finish.
“I thought that it was going to come down to Carl and us. I’m not quite sure what happened to Carl. He was certainly one of the cars to beat. We were able to just execute on pit road and have good stops with a fast race car,” he said.
It’s was Keselowski’s third series’ win of the year and first since he broke an ankle while testing at Road Atlanta. He is the 2010 Series champion, but, under current rules he is not eligible in the Nationwide Series as he has declared to run in the premier Sprint Cup Series.
Edwards needed a late race pit stop for fuel and couldn’t touch Keselowski who led 158 laps of the 200 lap race at the one-and-one-half mile oval.
“I had a really good time racing with Brad early in the race, about halfway through the race for the lead there. That was a lot of fun", said Edwards.
"We just had a little trouble there on pit road and they told me to pit. I was coming down the back straightaway and the car ran out of fuel so it took us a little longer in the pits. The guys did a really good job of keeping it running and got us back out there."
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who finished eighth, continues to lead the series’ points standings by 14 points over Reed Sorenson who closed the gap with a sixth place finish. Elliott Sadler is third; 47 points out of the lead.
Brian Scott, in a Toyota, had a career-high third place finish followed by Aric Almirola’s Chevrolet followed by ex-IndyCar star Sam Hornish Jr., in a Dodge. who also had a career high fifth place finish.
“I thought that it was going to come down to Carl and us. I’m not quite sure what happened to Carl. He was certainly one of the cars to beat. We were able to just execute on pit road and have good stops with a fast race car,” he said.
It’s was Keselowski’s third series’ win of the year and first since he broke an ankle while testing at Road Atlanta. He is the 2010 Series champion, but, under current rules he is not eligible in the Nationwide Series as he has declared to run in the premier Sprint Cup Series.
Edwards needed a late race pit stop for fuel and couldn’t touch Keselowski who led 158 laps of the 200 lap race at the one-and-one-half mile oval.
“I had a really good time racing with Brad early in the race, about halfway through the race for the lead there. That was a lot of fun", said Edwards.
"We just had a little trouble there on pit road and they told me to pit. I was coming down the back straightaway and the car ran out of fuel so it took us a little longer in the pits. The guys did a really good job of keeping it running and got us back out there."
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who finished eighth, continues to lead the series’ points standings by 14 points over Reed Sorenson who closed the gap with a sixth place finish. Elliott Sadler is third; 47 points out of the lead.