Aggressive Brad Keselowski wins Memphis Nationwide Series race
JR Motorsports driver Brad Keselowski celebrates his victory in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Kroger On Track For The Cure 250 at Memphis Motorsports Park. // John Sommers II, Getty Images
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – An aggressive Brad Keselowski won his fourth NASCAR Nationwide Series race of the season, banging his way to victory in the Kroger On Track For The Cure 250 at Memphis Motorsports Park Saturday afternoon.
Keselowski was involved in at least three incidents in the race, the last when he bumped Carl Edwards with a handful of laps remaining.
Keselowski, driving for JR Motorsports, then got the lead when he whipped past the front row of Michael Annett and Tony Raines on a restart with 12 laps to go. He then held off Nationwide points leader Kyle Busch on a green-white-checkered restart to secure the win.
Keselowski picked up an extra $75,000 from Nationwide as part of its Dash 4 Cash program. He won a $25,000 bonus for winning the race and $50,000 for scoring the most points in the four Dash 4 Cash races.
But the most prized possession was the last-in-its-series Elvis trophy that track officials award race winners. Keselowski carried it to the postrace news conference and planned on taking it with him on the plane ride home.
“I’ve got this Elvis – man, I really wanted that trophy bad, just as bad as I wanted the Dash 4 Cash,” Keselowski said. “To be able to finally get it today is a special thing.”
Busch ended up second, with Braun Racing’s Jason Leffler overcoming a sinus infection to finish third. CJM Racing’s Mike Bliss, who led the most laps but was also involved in an incident with Keselowski, finished fourth.
Rusty Wallace Racing’s Brendan Gaughan finished fifth, though he was leading comfortably when the yellow waved for debris with 23 laps remaining. Gaughan lost track position during pit stops, but ended with a top-five finish.
The rest of the top 10: Roush Fenway’s Edwards, Key Motorsports’ Scott Wimmer, Michael Waltrip Racing’s David Reutimann, Richard Childress Racing’s Stephen Leicht and Phoenix Racing’s Landon Cassill.
Neither Edwards nor Bliss were that angry with Keselowski, though they both said if that’s the way he wants to race, they will race him the same way. Keselowski admitted to driving hard throughout the race.
“Today, I was very aggressive and put myself in a lot of those situations that led to contact,” Keselowski said. “Two of them led to spins. I didn’t do myself any favors by that. It’s not like I came out on top with that. I tore my car up and slowed it down. It wasn’t like that was what won me the race.
“What won me the race was being aggressive throughout. The specific contact didn’t win me the race. They actually hurt.”
