Backstretch Motorsports

DOVER, Del. — Brad Keselowski finally caught a break.

Keselowski’s good fortune came at the expense of continued bad luck to Kyle Busch, who failed to win Saturday’s Heluva Good! 200 despite leading a race-high 108 of 200 laps at Dover International Speedway.

Keselowski took the lead for the first time on the next-to-last lap of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race after Logano ran into the back of Busch, his teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, moments after a restart on Lap 199.

The contact sent Busch up the concrete racing surface at the Monster Mile and gave Keselowski the opening he needed.

A day after failing to qualify for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race, Keselowski made a winner of JR Motorsports owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. when he powered his No. 88 Chevrolet past Logano’s No. 20 Toyota through Turns 1 and 2 and crossed the finish line two laps later, .299 seconds ahead of the 19-year-old driver.

Clint Bowyer ran third behind Logano. Brian Vickers finished fourth, followed by Carl Edwards, who trimmed Busch’s lead in the series standings to 40 points. Busch cut a tire during the incident with Logano and finished 17th.

Paul Menard, Scott Speed, Jason Leffler, Jason Keller and rookie Justin Allgaier completed the top 10. Leffler posted his seventh straight top-10 of the season and remained third in the standings.

“We had a great car, we put ourselves in position to win, we needed a break, and we caught a break,” said Keselowski, who won his third NASCAR Nationwide Series race. “Don’t feel guilty about it. Not one bit. I saw the 18 slow down and the 20 making a basic maneuver. I just saw a hole, went for the hole and I made it. I was there and ready for it, and it worked out.”

Logano, who started from the pole and led 87 laps, took responsibility for the contact that cost his teammate the race.

“At the end I just screwed up,” Logano said. “That’s what happened. I got behind Kyle on the restart. Finally I got a good restart — he’d been kicking my butt every restart, kicking my butt through the first corner. I was trying to stay right up on him. I wasn’t going to make the move and dive down underneath him into the corner, because I figured he’d just blow my doors (off).

“So I wanted to stay with him through the first corner and try to make a move after that. I got right up on his bumper, and he went into (Turn) 1 and let up earlier than I thought he was going to, and I got in the back of him. It was completely my fault. There was no room for error at where I positioned my car right behind him.”

Busch, who did not speak to the media after the race, said on his team radio, “I would just point out that we took care of him (Logano) about 10 times today. Could have wrecked him.”

Busch was leading when debris from Scott Wimmer’s blown right front tire caused the ninth and final caution of the race on Lap 193 and set up the two-lap run to the finish.

According to Jason Ratcliff, crew chief of Busch’s No. 18 Toyota, there were mitigating circumstances.

“He (Busch) said he could feel the right front go down right as he was coming to the green,” Ratcliff said. “He wasn’t sure if it was down or not, and then right as he drove off (Turn 4) he could feel it, and it was too late by that time. If he had known it earlier, we could have stopped and put right sides on. But, it was at the point of no return where you’re driving off into the corner and you say ‘Okay, I don’t have a right front tire here.’ So, he did a great job just to bring it back from that.

“So, he was trying to back his corner up to keep from knocking the wall down, and when he did the 20 got into him. It wasn’t Joey’s fault. It was just one of those things where everything lined up and turned into a bad deal all in a split second. If we would have known it under caution we could have stopped, but he (Kyle Busch) didn’t know it until it was too late. It’s one of them deals. Joey did a fine job.”

NASCAR Race Number 12
Unofficial Race Results for the Heluva Good! 200 - Saturday, May 30, 2009
Dover International Speedway - Dover, DE - 1 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 200 Miles - Purse: $1,158,928

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Winnings Status Times Laps Rating
1 12 88 Brad Keselowski GoDaddy.com Chevrolet 200 190 5 $44,388 Running 1 2 122.2
2 1 20 Joey Logano GameStop Toyota 200 175 5 $38,300 Running 3 87 137.6
3 17 29 Clint Bowyer Holiday Inn Chevrolet 200 165 $28,025 Running 115.8
4 7 32 Brian Vickers Dollar General Stores Toyota 200 160 $23,100 Running 104.9
5 8 60 Carl Edwards Ortho Ford 200 155 $20,275 Running 103.5
6 10 98 Paul Menard Richmond/Menards Ford 200 150 $18,675 Running 97.9
7 4 99 Scott Speed Red Bull Toyota 200 146 $18,285 Running 95.6
8 23 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota 200 142 $26,113 Running 87.3
9 13 27 Jason Keller A&P-MDA Ford 200 138 $23,768 Running 90.2
10 21 12 Justin Allgaier # Verizon Wireless Dodge 200 134 $24,418 Running 91.3
11 29 47 Michael McDowell # Constructionjobs.com Toyota 200 130 $23,893 Running 80.6
12 9 62 Brendan Gaughan # USfidelis Chevrolet 200 127 $23,018 Running 86.6
13 5 33 Kevin Harvick Copart.com Chevrolet 200 124 $16,850 Running 103.8
14 16 1 Mike Bliss Miccosukee Championship Chevrolet 200 121 $22,793 Running 79.7
15 30 81 Bobby Hamilton Jr AA Auto Warranty Dodge 200 118 $23,468 Running 75.7
16 39 26 Brian Keselowski Go Wings Dodge 200 115 $22,943 Running 67.1
17 3 18 Kyle Busch Food Lion - Feeding America Toyota 200 122 10 $16,100 Running 2 108 128.4
18 14 40 Scott Wimmer StopRepairBills.com Chevrolet 199 109 $22,518 Running 79.4
19 40 15 Michael Annett # Germain.com Toyota 198 111 5 $24,568 Running 1 1 59.2
20 31 61 Brandon Whitt Specialty Racing Ford 198 103 $23,268 Running 60.3
21 38 01 Danny O’Quinn Jr. JD Motorsports Chevrolet 196 100 $22,368 Running 49.7
22 34 89 Morgan Shepherd Prelude To The Dream/Lagina Plumbing Chevrolet 196 97 $22,268 Running 51.6
23 18 24 Eric McClure Hefty Ford 196 94 $22,593 Running 49.0
24 41 87 Kevin Conway Extenze Toyota 194 91 $22,143 Running 43.6
25 11 16 Greg Biffle CitiFinancial Ford 191 88 $15,775 Running 64.2
26 42 07 Mike Harmon Harington Raceway & Casino Chevrolet 175 85 $22,043 Too Slow 39.9
27 33 11 Scott Lagasse Jr. # America’s Incredible Pizza Company Toyota 158 82 $21,993 Accident 63.4
28 37 34 Tony Raines Continental Fire & Safety/Long John Silver’s Chevrolet 151 79 $21,943 Running 62.6
29 20 66 Steve Wallace 5-Hour Energy Chevrolet 145 76 $21,868 Accident 70.0
30 2 6 David Ragan Discount Tire Ford 143 73 $15,650 Accident 95.6
31 25 77 Peyton Sellers # SFP Chevrolet 128 70 $15,295 Running 31.4
32 6 5 Ryan Newman Fastenal Chevrolet 126 67 $15,235 Accident 79.6
33 28 28 Kenny Wallace US Border Patrol Chevrolet 97 69 5 $24,143 Engine 1 2 60.5
34 22 10 Marc Davis # The World Network/WHUR Toyota 83 61 $21,608 Accident 47.9
35 35 52 Kevin Lepage Means Racing Chevrolet 65 58 $15,110 Accident 35.5
36 43 49 Kertus Davis GetMoreVacations.com Chevrolet 43 55 $15,085 Overheati 39.7
37 36 23 Ken Butler # Aaron’s Chevrolet 26 52 $21,533 Accident 42.0
38 27 09 John Wes Townley # Zaxby’s Ford 26 49 $21,468 Accident 38.1
39 19 0 Mark Green sponsordavis.com Chevrolet 14 46 $14,975 Overheati 37.3
40 26 90 Johnny Chapman MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 13 43 $14,920 Vibration 37.4
41 15 91 Terry Cook # MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 11 40 $14,895 Overheati 35.0
42 24 96 Dennis Setzer ConleyAuto.com Dodge 8 37 $14,860 Vibration 30.8
43 32 05 Casey Atwood 31W Insulation Chevrolet 8 34 $21,272 Transmissi 31.4
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 35,000, Brad Keselowski won the Heluva Good! 200, his third NASCAR Nationwide Series win. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: Nos. 99, 15 and 47 (engine change); No. 38 (adjustments outside the impound period.).
Failed to Qualify: (1) 31 Jeffrey Earnhardt.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 08 Mins, 48 Secs. Average Speed: 93.168 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.299 Seconds
Caution Flags: 9 for 50 laps: Laps: 3-7 (# 77 accident Turn 1 [None]); 29-34 (# 09, 23 accident backstretch [26]); 74-78 (# 52 accident backstretch [81]); 86-89 (# 10, 38 accident Turn 3 [11]); 93-96 (# 5 accident Turn 1 [26]); 130-138 (# 5 accident Turn 3 [26]); 146-150 (# 6, 33 accident Turn 4 [66]); 160-166 (# 11, 47 accident frontstretch [33]); 194-198 (Debris [None]).
Lead Changes: 7 among 5 drivers: J. Logano 1-30; M. Annett # 31; J. Logano 32-56; K. Busch 57-74; K. Wallace 75-76; J. Logano 77-108; K. Busch 109-198; Brad Keselowski 199-200.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) K. Busch 1,836;(2) C. Edwards 1,796;(3) J. Leffler 1,683;(4) J. Logano 1,670;(5) Brad Keselowski 1,663;(6) J. Keller 1,434;(7) B. Gaughan # 1,364;(8) D. Ragan 1,358;(9) M. Bliss 1,355;(10) J. Allgaier # 1,344.
Featherlite “Most Improved Driver” : Michael Annett, #15 (20 Places) Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Joey Logano, #20
Mobil 1 Oil Command Performance : Jason Leffler, #38 Pole Award : Joey Logano, #20 (155.959 mph)
Raybestos “Rookie of the Race” : Justin Allgaier, #12 Sunoco Diamond Performance : Brad Keselowski, #88
WIX Filters “Lap Leader” : Kenny Wallace, #28 (2 Laps)
Next Race: Jun. 6, 2009 - Nashville Superspeedway