Talladega win

Brad Keselowski gets push, Talladega win

By Jim Utter / McClatchy Newspapers
Monday, May 7, 2012

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Even in racing, sometimes help comes from strange and unexpected places.

While a frantic last two laps unfolded in Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, Keselowski found an unlikely partner in Kyle Busch and together the duo soared past Matt Kenseth and into the lead with one lap remaining.

The race wasn’t over yet.

Busch, who got snookered while leading on the last lap of Saturday’s Nationwide race, planned to make up for it against Keselowski, but Keselowski kept just enough distance between the two to prevent the much-lauded "slingshot" move.

So, Keselowski not only earned his second Sprint Cup Series victory of the season but ended a remarkable streak. In the previous four Cup races at Talladega, the driver who led starting the final lap failed to win the race.

There was plenty of praise all-around for 28-year-old native of Rochester Hills, Mich., after the race.

His team owner, Roger Penske, called him "a world class driver."

Busch said Keselowski should be "a title contender every year."

What did Keselowski make of the accolades?

"Hell, it’s my job to be good. That’s what I get paid for," he said. "I don’t get paid to suck at this. If I did, I’m not driving for the right guy."

Keselowski said he and Busch never made any plans ahead of the race to work together. In fact, the two have had multiple run-ins on the track in recent years.

"At Talladega you don’t have a plan. You go up front and you race your butt off all day long," Keselowski said. "You either get to the front or you don’t."

A nine-car wreck on Lap 187 thinned the field and set up a two-lap overtime. Kenseth, who led a race-high 73 laps, got a good restart with Roush Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle right behind him.

With a push from Biffle, Kenseth got a big lead — almost too big. Kenseth and Biffle became separated, allowing the faster two-car tandem of Keselowski and Busch to soar past them.

"I feel real good about the move we were able to pull on Matt," Keselowski said. "I was surprised him and (Biffle) didn’t gang up with more full force than what they did.

"I felt good having Kyle Busch behind me. I knew he was a good pusher. I never had a concern in my mind about who was behind me.
"I had a concern about what I could do to win the race and what move I could execute to not give him the chance."
With the win, Keselowski moved to 12th in the series standings, only three points outside the Top 10. His place in the Chase, however, may well be secured already with a wild card with his second series win.

Kenseth finished third; Kasey Kahne finished fourth — his fourth consecutive Top-10 finish after a dismal start to the year ; and Biffle finished fifth.
"I think we had the winning car we just didn’t have the winning driver," Kenseth said. "We got in front of (Keselowski) and Kyle and as soon as we became clear (of them) it wasn’t long after that that I looked back and we were separated and those guys were outside of (Biffle).
"With nobody behind him he lost his speed and with me not paying enough attention during that to keep us hooked up, it cost us a shot at the win, it cost Greg a shot at the win."
Sunday’s race was the first at Talladega for a rules package that debuted at the Daytona 500 used to steer drivers away from two-car racing tandems for extended periods of time.
Several drivers complained of not being able to race as as hard as they wanted because of fears their engine temperatures would spike in the close-quarters racing.
While the race featured only five cautions, two were for accident involving nine or more cars, sending several drivers to an early exit.
"If we haven’t crashed at least 50 percent of the field by the end of the race, we need to extend the race," a sarcastic Tony Stewart said after the race.
"It’s not fair to fans to not see any more wrecks than that. We still had over half the cars running and it shouldn’t be that way."