News

THE RACE

BCBS Drive for the Cure 300
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Friday, October 10, 2014
 
THE RESULTS

The No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang
Driver: Brad Keselowski
Starting Position: 10
Finish Position: 1
Owners' Points Position: 1

THE RACE REVIEW

· Brad Keselowski and the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang team started the 200-lap race in the 10th position based on the results of the Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session. The result marks only the second time in nine NASCAR Nationwide Series starts this season that Keselowski did not start on the front row.

· The BCBS Race for the Cure 300 got off to a slow start with a caution on the opening lap. Once the action did pick up, Keselowski slipped back to 12th while being conservative on the restart.

· At lap 33, Keselowski reported that the Discount Tire Mustang was not turning well through the center or on corner exit and that the ride quality was adversely affecting corner entry.

· The veteran driver felt as though something was wrong with the front-end of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford and, on lap 56, made an unscheduled pit stop as the handling got dramatically worse. The Discount Tire pit crew changed four tires, added fuel and made a chassis adjustment during the green flag stop. It was discovered during this stop that the right front tire had unraveled.

· The unscheduled pit stop resulted in Keselowski losing a lap to the leaders. A lap 68 caution allowed Keselowski to take the wave around and get back on the lead lap.

· Crew chief Jeremy Bullins had a long discussion with Keselowski during a red flag on lap 75 to determine the best strategy for tires. When the yellow was displayed to get the field moving, and the pit lane opened, the No. 22 machine stopped for four tires and fuel.

· The Discount Tire Ford restarted 13th at lap 80 and by lap 94 had moved up to fourth in the running order. From that point on, Keselowski remained a fixture inside the top-five.

· At lap 132, Keselowski took the lead for the first time in the 300-mile race. He would go on to lead twice for a total of 22 laps.

· A series of late race cautions saw Keselowski drop back into the top-five, but the cagey veteran driver managed his tires, worked traffic and retook the lead at lap 187 by passing teammate Ryan Blaney for the top spot. Once he took the lead, Keselowski did not look back and went on to score his fourth NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of the year.

· The finish was Keselowski’s 31st career NNS win and ties him for fifth all-time in NNS wins with Jack Ingram.

· The result also marked his third NNS victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  The victory also increased the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford team’s point lead in the NNS Owners’ chase to 31 markers over the No. 54 of Joe Gibbs Racing.
 

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING

BRAD KESELOWSKI, NO. 22 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD

WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS WHEN YOU HAD THE TIRE ISSUE EARLY?

“It was going to be fun to try and get back through the field. I told Jeremy (Bullins, crew chief) over the radio that I thought we were playing prevent defense early in the race. Everybody was waiting to see who was going to blow the next tire. You didn’t want to run slow and get further back in traffic before you could make passes, but you could just see that everybody that ran hard kept having tire problems and we had some on the first run. Thankfully, we got better and made some adjustments on the car and, man, I don’t know, it was looking like a long night, but the 22 Discount Tire team did an awesome job with this Ford Mustang and got it tuned in there for the end when it mattered.”

WHAT MAKES THIS GROUP SPECIAL?

“The people. Whenever you have a successful team, it’s always the people. We have great sponsors in Discount Tire and Roger Penske as a car owner and Jeremy Bullins has done a tremendous job with this program on year three. He’s really earned it, and I’m glad I get to drive with him.”