SRT Motorsports - Weekend Motorsports Recap - August 12

 
NASCAR OVERVIEW
Dodge is firmly locked in the battle for championships in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series.  Brad Keselowski is fifth in the Sprint Cup point standings with an 80-point lead over 11th in the standings.

Four races remain to set the Chase for the Sprint Cup field.  The top 10 in the point standings after 26 races advance to the Chase along with a pair of wild card berths – the two drivers 11th to 20th in the point standings with the most wins.  Those 12 drivers will compete for the Sprint Cup over the final 10 races of the season.

In the Nationwide Series, Hornish continues to close in on the leader.  He’s now just 24 points behind the leader with 12 races remaining on the 2012 schedule.  He was 74 points behind the leader after race 10.  Since then, Hornish has posted 11 top-10 finishes in the 12 events including four top fives in the last five races.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (NSCS)
Dodge drivers Brad Keselowski and Sam Hornish Jr. scored top-five finishes in a wild dash to the finish in Sunday’s Finger Lakes 355 at Watkins Glen International.  Keselowski led the Dodge charge with a runner-up finish, his second straight at the 2.45-mile road course.

Keselowski’s second-place finish moved the Penske driver up to fifth in the season standings.  He’s 80 points ahead of 11th-place Kasey Kahne, all but guaranteeing him a spot in this year’s Chase to the Sprint Cup Series championship.

In a wild one-lap sprint to the finish.  Three drivers – Keselowski, Marcos Ambrose and Kyle Busch – battled in a one-lap sprint to the finish that included multiple passes and unrelenting action.  Ambrose survived.  Keselowski just missed.  Busch is ticked.  

As usual, the race was a fuel-strategy affair with teams opting for a two- or three-stop approach.  And, as Watkins Glen has become short-track racing with right-hand turns, there was plenty of fender banging that continued all the way through the last corner of the 90-lap, 220.5-mile race.
 
“What a race and what a finish” said Keselowski’s crew chief Paul Wolfe.  “We had a fast Miller Lite Dodge all weekend and it showed today.  Brad (Keselowski) has proven that he can run a great race on road courses.  Today was no different.”

The Wolfe-led Blue Deuce was fast off the hauler qualifying fourth.  A two-stop fuel strategy was the plan from the start and it paid off.  Keselowski led three times for 37 laps and was at the point on Lap 71 when the fourth and final caution appeared.

On the restart, Busch (third) drove inside Ambrose and Keselowski in a gutsy pass in the ultra-fast, right-hand Turn 1.  Busch led the next 15 laps to the white flag.  In the next 2.45 miles, all three drivers would lead as oil on the racing surface figured prominently in the finish.  Busch stumbled in the oil on corner exit in Turn 1.  Keselowski hit the slick patch and ended into the back of Busch which was enough to turn the No. 18.  For the rest of the final lap, Ambrose and Keselowski appeared to be racing on ice (oil).  They entered the final corner side-by-side with Ambrose clearing the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge and held the advantage to the checkered flag.

 “He (Busch) missed the corner (turn one) because he slipped in oil,” said Keselowski.  “I got under him going into (turn) two.  We all slipped in the oil.  I hit him and spun him.  I mean, I hate to say there was nothing I could do but there was literally nothing I could do. It was just one big giant oil slick underneath his car.  I feel bad about that.”

Keselowski was seeking his fourth win of the season.  He’s currently tied with Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart as the only three-time winners in the first 22 races.

“It came down to just running a whole lap against Marcos,” he added.  “I got in the oil and we’d slip up.  He’d get by me and then he’d get in the oil and I’d get by him.  Just really good, hard racing; some beating and banging.  I think that’s the way racing should be.  It’s great to race against guys like Marcos that you can run on, lean on and don’t lose their cool and intentionally wreck you.  That’s what racing is supposed to be right there: a little bit of bumping and rubbing but none of that intentional wrecking.  Marcos is a class act and that’s the way racing should be.”

Not lost in the excitement of Keselowski-Ambrose duel was Hornish’s run in the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge.  Starting 17th, Hornish was solid all day capitalizing on a fast car and patience.  He methodically worked his way up the scoring tower.  He broke inside the top 10 on Lap 46 and never looked back. 

His fifth-place finish is his first top five in seven career Cup road course races.  His career best finish of fourth came at Pocono in 2009.

“A really good day for the Shell/Pennzoil Dodge,” said Hornish.  “I thought that we had a great car, great strategy and it all worked out today.  This is a tough place.  It was real hard racing with a bunch of fast cars.  Our Shell/Pennzoil Dodge was fast.  We had to come a long way from the back (17th) but I knew that the car was fast enough to make my way up through the pack.  I just had to be patient and not wear the car out before the end of the race.”
 
NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES (NNS)
Consistency has become a Sam Hornish Jr. trademark in Nationwide competition.  That consistency has the driver of the No. 12 Dodge Challenger in contention for the season championship.  The battle for the title has turned into a five-driver duel with 12 races remaining on the 2012 schedule.  Hornish is currently third, just 24 points behind the leader. 

Hornish used his first career NASCAR pole as a springboard to a solid third-place finish in Saturday’s Zippo 200 at The Glen.  It was his ninth consecutive top-10 finish.  The effort vaulted Hornish up one spot to third in the point standings, 24 markers behind the leader.  It was his career-best road course finish.

“It was an awesome race today,” said Hornish.  “Our PPG Dodge Challenger was fast all day and to bring home a third-place finish, gain on the point’s leader and race hard at the end with Brad (Keselowski) was cool.”

Hornish finished right behind teammate Brad Keselowski.  Both Dodges led laps and challenged for the race win.  Keselowski led a race-best 44 laps.  Hornish led 15.  With Keselowski and eventual winner Carl Edwards banging fenders ahead of him, Hornish’s decision to race cautiously the last 10 laps was more about the bigger picture, the season championship.

“I felt like we probably gave up a few positions here and there just trying to be overly cautious,” Hornish added.  “That’s what you have to do.  I felt like today was the day that we were going to have an opportunity to gain on the championship point lead.”

The race came down to a shootout at the end between the Dodges of Keselowski and Hornish and Carl Edwards.  Two cautions in the final 10 laps closed the field and opened the door for Edwards to challenge Keselowski, the leader when the fourth caution appeared on Lap 70.

Keselowski lost the lead on Lap 73 as Edwards completed a tough pass to the outside as the cars approached the esses at the 2.45-mile road course.  Keselowski regained the lead momentarily on Lap 76 but lost it again to Edwards' cross-over move as the cars approached Turn 1 to start Lap 77.

“Good hard racing,” Keselowski said.  “Nothing wrong.  The restarts are the best chance to make a pass.  We definitely had one of the fastest cars out here today.  I’m proud of everyone on this Discount Tire/SFK team.  A lot of fun when you have fast cars.”

The final caution appeared on Lap 78, setting up a two-lap shootout.  On the race’s final restart on Lap 81, Edwards grabbed the lead but Keselowski made a final charge – a side-by-side, door-banging duel coming out of Turn 7.  With Keselowski running out of room and losing momentum, Edwards was able to regain the advantage and lead the final two laps to claim the win. 
 
“A fun race for sure, especially with a car as fast as that one was,” said Keselowski of the No. 22 Dodge Challenger.  “Man, it makes it so much fun to race with a car like that.  Obviously, I would have liked to get the win but there’s a lot to be proud of.”

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