NASCAR: Brad Keselowski Doubles Up at Bristol

Racin’ with Russ

Brad Keselowski barely missed being part of a very early six-car wreck. Instead, he went on to capture the lead of the 500-lap grueling race at Bristol Motor Speedway, narrowly winning over Matt Kenseth on Sunday afternoon.

Greg Biffle earned the pole and led the early laps before A.J. Allmendinger pulled ahead for a surprising 54 laps. Others showing their prowess out front included Brian Vickers (125) and Matt Kenseth (46).

But it was the Dodge of Keselowski who led 231 laps before pulling into Victory Lane for the second consecutive race in a row at Bristol, after many fans said it was just a fluke win.

I’d say he proved his detractors wrong, as it was no easy task to pass on this track and hold off the likes of Kenseth over the final 50 laps.

That early wreck on the frontstretch took place on Lap 24, when Regan Smith barely got into the back of Kasey Kahne, turning him into the bottom barrier and leaving him to sit crossways in the middle of Turn 2. The next batch of cars—Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Marcos Ambrose and Kevin Harvick—had absolutely nowhere to go but into each other with great force and car-crunching damage.

Only Harvick returned to the fray with any results, finishing an amazing 11th. The others spent a long time in the pits for major repairs, returned to the track looking like open wheel modifieds, soldiering on for 32nd to 39th-place finishes.

The final results scrambled the points standings, with Edwards dropping eight positions to 14th and Kenseth up two spots to third place, while Biffle and Harvick stayed first and second, respectively.

Four-time champion Jeff Gordon tangled with teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. late in the show, sending Gordon hard into the outside wall, netting a 35th-place finish and dropping the Chevy driver down three spots to 23rd in the overall standings.

Gordon was visibly unhappy about the situation, while Earnhardt didn’t regret what happened, stating it surely wasn’t a hard hit or intentional.

Hmm...last week, a run in with veteran Mark Martin, and this week a run in with teammate Gordon.

Not exactly making friends out there.

Nationwide

Polesitter Joey Logano led twice for 119 laps, while several top runners like Ricky Stenhouse, Trevor Bayne and Kyle Busch took turns out front.

But a final decision by Elliott Sadler not to make a pit stop paid off, pulling him away for his second checkered flag of the season.

I’m still wondering why Roush teammates Stenhouse and Bayne pitted for tires and gas with less than two dozen laps to go. That proved to be quite dumb, as track position was way more important than more fresh rubber on the track.

Behind winner and current points leader Sadler were Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski, Logano and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Danica Patrick started 27th and finished 19th, two laps down to the leader. Besides being in the way at times to the leaders, it seemed like strictly a survival mission.

The overall race was lackluster without the usual beatin’ and bangin’ for which Bristol was, once upon a time, famous. That can be attributed to the change in the track with the addition of progressive banking. That allows a lot of side-by-side racing—something that doesn't lend well to the old track.

The track has gone from a rootin’ and gouging’ circuit to sportsmanlike side-by-side mundane entertainment.

What do you think? Drop me a line.

Open Wheel News

The initial round of competition for the Formula One series kicked off in Australia, with Jenson Button taking the field to task with a convincing win over Sebastien Vettel and teammate Lewis Hamilton.

So far, the McLarens of Button and Hamilton look very stout, while the Red Bull rides of Vettel and Mark Webber are next in line. Fernando Alonso finished a very credible fifth—a good start to the season seeing that they struggled to qualify 12th. His Ferrari needs work.

From Rumorville

– It was announced this week that Danica Patrick will attend Tony Stewart’s "Prelude to the Dream" charity event, held each year on the banked dirt track at Eldora Speedway. Patrick’s last outing on dirt was at age 14 in a go-kart. This should be entertaining, to say the least, as she pilots a high-powered dirt late model.

– On Tuesday, the final say by NASCAR in regards to the fines levied against Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Cup car will be decided. I still maintain that nothing will change and that crew chief Chad Knaus will be out for six weeks.

That’s it for this week. Next week, RWR will review the NASCAR results from California, along with more racing news from around the globe. Don’t forget to watch the opening round of IndyCar racing from the streets of St. Petersburg, FL and the second round of Formula One action from Malaysia