Backstretch Motorsports

After a restart on Lap 226 of Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Keselowski pressured points leader Clint Bowyer. On Lap 227, Bowyer slipped off Turn 2, giving Keselowski the opening he needed.

From that point, Keselowski kept the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet out front and beat Bowyer to the finish line by 1.025 seconds.

“We were dead equal — Clint and I,” said Keselowski, who won his second race in the series from the 37th starting position. “I knew I needed a break, and he gave it to me. All I can do is force him to run hard, and he made a mistake. I’m lucky.”

Greg Biffle finished third, followed by polesitter Cale Gale and David Stremme. Scott Wimmer was sixth, and a late pit road mistake — with No. 18 crew chief Jason Ratcliff serving the first race of his indefinite suspension for violations found last Saturday at Michigan — dropped Kyle Busch to seventh.

David Reutimann was eighth, followed by Brian Vickers and Steve Wallace.

Bowyer took the lead from Dario Franchitti on Lap 106, passing to the outside through Turns 3 and 4. Bowyer stayed out front through a caution on Lap 186 — the third of the race, after Brad Teague’s Chevrolet bounced off the frontstretch wall — when the lead-lap cars came to the pits for their final stops.

The pit work to Busch’s car, under the supervision of substitute crew chief Doug Hewitt, cost Busch second position. Busch had to bring the No. 18 Toyota back to pit road to recover a missing lug nut.

On a Lap 212 restart after David Ragan spun his No. 6 Ford off Turn 4 and nosed into the inside wall on the frontstretch, Bowyer pulled away again.

The final green-flag run, however, proved Bowyer’s undoing. On Lap 220, a frontstretch accident involving Mike Wallace and Denny Hamlin caused the fifth and final caution. One lap after the subsequent restart on Lap 226, Bowyer slipped off Turn 2, allowing Keselowski to pass on the backstretch.

Keselowski kept the No. 88 Chevrolet out front the rest of the way.

“I just can’t believe it,” said Bowyer, who leads the series standings by 122 points over Keselowski. “I just got loose down there and made a mistake and gave it away.”

Notes: Carl Edwards was a victim of a Lap 86 wreck, when a flat tire sent his No. 60 Ford into the Dodge of Elliott Sadler. Edwards finished 37th, 90 laps down, and fell from second to third in the standings, 241 points behind Bowyer. … With crew chief Dave Rogers suspended indefinitely from the No. 20 JGR team, Joey Logano crashed during qualifying, started from the rear of the field in a backup car but recovered to finish 16th.

NASCAR Race Number 26
Unofficial Race Results for the Food City 250 - Friday, August 22, 2008
Bristol Motor Speedway - Bristol, TN - .533 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 250 Laps - 133.25 Miles - Purse: $1,420,173

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Winnings Status Times Laps
1 37 88 Brad Keselowski U.S. NAVY Chevrolet 250 190 5 $57,438 Running 1 24
2 9 2 Clint Bowyer BB&T Chevrolet 250 180 10 $41,300 Running 1 121
3 3 16 Greg Biffle CitiFinancial Ford 250 165 $32,875 Running
4 1 33 Cale Gale # Camping World Chevrolet 250 165 5 $37,718 Running 2 18
5 6 64 David Stremme MasterCraft Boats Chevrolet 250 155 $33,143 Running
6 5 29 Scott Wimmer Holiday Inn Chevrolet 250 150 $29,193 Running
7 15 18 Kyle Busch Z-Line Designs Toyota 250 146 $23,385 Running
8 10 99 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 250 142 $22,245 Running
9 7 10 Brian Vickers ABF Freight Toyota 250 138 $22,375 Running
10 22 66 Steve Wallace 5 Hour Energy Drink Chevrolet 250 134 $31,718 Running
11 2 40 Dario Franchitti # Fastenal Dodge 250 135 5 $30,818 Running 2 87
12 11 11 Jason Keller America’s Incredible Pizza Company Chevrolet 250 127 $28,468 Running
13 17 1 Mike Bliss Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet 250 124 $28,668 Running
14 20 12 Sam Hornish Penske Truck Rental Dodge 250 121 $21,335 Running
15 19 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota 250 118 $28,508 Running
16 38 20 Joey Logano GameStop/Call of Duty Toyota 250 115 $27,723 Running
17 14 47 Kelly Bires Bush’s Baked Beans Ford 250 112 $27,678 Running
18 33 25 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Paula Deen/John Morrell Ford 250 109 $27,633 Running
19 39 22 Andrew Ranger Supercuts Dodge 249 106 $27,598 Running
20 29 30 Stanton Barrett NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet 249 103 $28,858 Running
21 4 9 Elliott Sadler Bumper to Bumper Dodge 249 100 $21,025 Running
22 27 5 Landon Cassill # National Guard Chevrolet 249 97 $27,448 Running
23 28 13 Shelby Howard Bobcat Chevrolet 249 94 $21,320 Running
24 32 70 Mark Green ForeTravel Motorcoach/BIOMET Chevrolet 249 91 $20,885 Running
25 16 6 David Ragan Discount Tire Ford 248 88 $21,000 Running
26 12 28 Kenny Wallace U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet 248 85 $27,228 Running
27 30 27 Burney Lamar Kleenex/Food City Ford 248 82 $27,168 Running
28 21 31 Jeff Green Key Motorsports Chevrolet 247 79 $20,655 Running
29 34 81 D.J. Kennington Mahindra Tractors Dodge 246 76 $27,088 Running
30 42 01 Danny Efland sponsordavis.com Chevrolet 245 73 $27,293 Running
31 36 24 Eric McClure Hefty Brand Chevrolet 243 70 $27,003 Running
32 40 52 Brad Teague SCAG Commercial Mowers Chevrolet 242 67 $26,958 Running
33 35 61 Brandon Whitt Ford 237 64 $26,938 Running
34 25 59 Marcos Ambrose Kingsford with Hickory Ford 230 61 $26,918 Running
35 18 7 Mike Wallace GEICO Toyota 221 58 $26,903 Accident
36 26 32 Denny Hamlin Dollar General Toyota 219 55 $20,415 Accident
37 8 60 Carl Edwards Save-a-Lot Ford 160 52 $21,395 Running
38 23 0 Larry Gunselman sponsordavis.com Chevrolet 50 49 $20,355 Brakes
39 41 4 Derrike Cope JVC Chevrolet 31 46 $26,788 Electrical
40 31 05 Casey Atwood 31W Insulation/CertainTeed Ford 19 43 $20,300 Transmission
41 13 73 Kevin Lepage Dodge 6 40 $20,280 Ignition
42 24 98 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 4 0 $20,255 Brakes
43 43 91 Justin Hobgood MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 1 34 $20,216 Ignition
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 110,000, Brad Kesleowski won the Food City 250, his second NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. Prior to the green flag, the following drivers dropped to the rear for the reason indicated: #66 S. Wallace (unapproved impound adjustments); #20 Logano (backup car).
Failed to Qualify: (9) 49 Kertus Davis, 09 John Wes Townley, 89 Morgan Shepherd, 34 Kenny Hendrick, 78 Nick Tucker, 90 Johnny Chapman, 92 Brian Keselowski #, 76 Ryan Hackett, 84 Mike Harmon.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 25 Mins, 30 Secs. Average Speed: 93.509 MPH Margin of Victory: 1.025 Seconds
Caution Flags: 5 for 26 laps: Laps: 19-22 (#59 accident turn 4); 88-93 (#9,60 accident backstretch); 188-193 (#52 accident turn 3); 207-211 (#6 accident frontstretch); 221-225 (#7,32 accident frontstretch).
Lead Changes: 5 among 4 drivers: C. Gale # 1-17; D. Franchitti # 18-88; C. Gale # 89; D. Franchitti # 90-105; C. Bowyer 106-226; B. Keselowski 227-250.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) C. Bowyer 3,762;(2) Brad Keselowski 3,640;(3) C. Edwards 3,521;(4) D. Reutimann 3,361;(5) M. Bliss 3,347;(6) D. Ragan 3,290;(7) K. Busch 3,149;(8) J. Leffler 3,044;(9) M. Wallace 3,021;(10) M. Ambrose 2,964.
Coors Light Pole Award : Cale Gale, #33 (122.007 mph) Featherlite “Most Improved Driver” : Steve Wallace, #66 (28 Places)
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Clint Bowyer, #2 Mobil 1 Oil Command Performance : David Stremme, #64
Raybestos “Rookie of the Race” : Cale Gale, #33 Sunoco Diamond Performance : Brad Keselowski, #88
WIX Filters “Lap Leader” : Dario Franchitti, #40 (87 Laps)
Next Race: Aug. 30, 2008 - Auto Club Speedway