RICHMOND, Va. (Sept. 11, 2009) – Brad Keselowski led one time for 70 laps in the No. 88 Lipton Chevrolet en route to a fourth-place finish Friday night in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway. It was Keselowski’s fifth consecutive top-five finish, and it keeps him solidly in third place in the championship standings.
Carl Edwards won the race, his fourth victory this season. Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch followed in second and third, with Keselowski and David Reutimann rounding out the top five.
Start – 5th / Finish – 4th / Laps Led – 70 / Points – 165 / Point Standings – 3rd
Starting fifth, Keselowski raced his way to third and used quick pit work during the Lipton team’s first stop to take the lead on lap 42. Keselowski would not relinquish the top spot until lap 112 during a green-flag run. The 70 laps led were Keselowski’s second-highest total this season, 41 laps shy of the 121 he led in a winning effort at Iowa Speedway.
Racing steadily in the top-five, Keselowski’s crew used pit stops on lap 127 and 230 to continue working on the car’s handling, while performing fast enough pit work to gain a position each time. Keselowski took the final restart in fifth place on lap 230. He made quick work of David Reutimann for fourth, and spent the last 14 laps chasing down Busch for third. He came within a car length, but couldn’t make the pass. Keselowski took the checkers in fourth place.
The finish in Richmond was Keselowski’s 16th top-five and 21st top-10 of the season. It was also his fifth consecutive top-five. With the laps led at Richmond, Keselowski has now led in 13 of 27 races this season, or just under half, for 302 laps. Keselowski continues to excel on short tracks with one win and five top-five finishes on the last five short track races, with an average finish of 3.2.
Picture and story from BradRacing.com
~
No comments:
Post a Comment