JR Motorsports teammates battle hard, finish strong at Gateway
MADISON, Ill. – If Dale Earnhardt Jr. watched the final laps of the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 at Gateway International Raceway, he may have had to look away.
Earnhardt Jr.’s drivers, Brad Keselowski and Landon Cassill, were battling for fifth place on the last lap Saturday night.
But the two young drivers survived without crashing each other, and Keselowski passed Cassill for fifth on the final lap.
“It’s cool racing your teammate,” Keselowski said. “It’s a lot of fun whether you’re racing Dale or racing Landon. Thankfully, we ran each other clean. That makes it a lot easier on the guys.”
While Cassill didn’t want to lose a position, he’d rather be passed by a JR Motorsports teammate than someone else.
“He’s running for a championship, so he needs all the points he can get,” Cassill said.
But when asked if he let Keselowski past, Cassill quickly shot back with, “No.”
The two drivers did race each other clean, and Cassill said he didn’t receive nor was he expecting a tap from Keselowski.
“It was clean,” Cassill said. “He just had a faster car at the end, so it’s better that he gets up there in the top five so he gets those points. Hopefully, he wins a championship.”
Keselowski is second in the series standings, 170 behind leader Clint Bowyer. The pass on Cassill gained him five points.
But Keselowski also wanted to earn the spot and not rough up his teammate.
“You definitely don’t want to do that,” Keselowski said. “That’s not cool. I drive the same for anyone. I don’t want to wreck anyone. Landon ran me clean, and it was cool.”
