Brad Keselowski dominated most of the evening, leading 146 of the 250 laps to score his third win at Iowa Speedway, tying two-time Nationwide Series Champion, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., with three victories.
Keselowski did have a short run car and had trouble finding his way around the leaders all night long, but the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang was unbeatable in clean air. As soon as Keselowski could get to the door panel, it was a lights out performance. Sam Hornish Jr. and Trevor Bayne provided Keselowski with the strongest challenges.
In addition, Brad Keselowski tied Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for the most Nationwide Series victories at Iowa Speedway with three.
McDowell placed second in a tremendous outing, briefly taking the lead from Keselowski on the final restart. McDowell, who drives for the underfunded Leavine Racing in the Sprint Cup Series, showed that McDowell has more to offer in NASCAR. McDowell, a Glendale, Arizona native, began his NASCAR career with Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007.
“We took two tires at the end,” McDowell added. “We came so close. It was a great run and I am very blessed and thankful.”
Trevor Bayne, who started the race from the pole, leading the initial 31 circuits, finished third. In addition, Bayne came home $100,000 richer, collecting the final Dash 4 Cash prize. Nationwide, title sponsor of the second tier series since 2008, is leaving at the end of the season. Sam Hornish Jr. finished fourth, followed by Ty Dillon in fifth.
Brad Keselowski, the 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion, will start tomorrow’s GoBowling.com 400 from the third position at Pocono Raceway. His Team Penske teammate, Joey Logano, starts on the outside of the front row.
“I thought Sam Hornish and Michael McDowell were good all night,” Keselowski said. They were tough to beat. We gave it all we had, but it very easily could have turned out differently.”
Hornish was second when the final caution came out, but decided to take four tires on the pit stop, while most others opted to take just two, leaving Hornish in seventh position.
However, Hornish managed to finish fourth, falling short of his quest to sweep the races at Iowa Speedway this season. Hornish, a three-time IndyCar Series Champion, led 167 of 250 laps during the race in May.
“It was the chance that we had to go out there and win,” Hornish commented. “Maybe we would have got it with two.”
Chase Elliott, who entered the race as the Nationwide Series points leader, finished eighth. Regan Smith, who entered as the runner-up, finished sixth. Elliott, who has three wins this season, maintains a two-point edge on Smith.
Next weekend, the series heads to Watkins Glen International for Saturday’s running of the Zippo 200 at the Glen (2:15 p.m. ET on ABC).
