NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Report
Track: Kansas Speedway
Race: GoBowling.com 400
Date: May 7, 2016
No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford Fusion – Brad Keselowski
Start: 5th
Finish: 10th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 267/267
Laps Led: 3
Points Position (behind leader): 6th (-58)
Recap: Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford Fusion team was in great position to battle for the win late in Saturday night’s GoBowling.com 400 at Kansas Speedway before an incident relegated him to a 10th-place result. After taking the green flag in the fifth position, Keselowski radioed that his Ford was tight in the center of the corners, especially when running the bottom groove. Crew chief Paul Wolfe made several adjustments to the wedge and air pressure to help the balance, and Keselowski drove a determined race to keep the Alliance Truck Parts machine inside the top 10. When he was able to run the top groove, Keselowski was one of the fastest cars on the track. After electing to make a two-tire pit stop under a lap 234 caution period, Keselowski restarted the race from the fourth position with the leaders clearly in his sights. Just a few laps later, however, Keselowski’s bid for a win would dissipate on lap 241 as he spun his Ford after the No. 11 of Denny Hamlin took the air off his car with a three-wide move that resulted in both drivers spinning out. While he made no contact with anything, Keselowski had to pit for four fresh tires, placing him back in the pack with few laps remaining. He was still able to cross the finish line in the 10th position for his sixth top-10 finish in 11 races this season.
Quote: “It was a long night for the Alliance Truck Parts Ford team. We had so much long run speed, but weren’t where we wanted to be on the short runs, so we would kind of lose track position and then gain it back at the end. We kind of clawed our way up into that fifth to tenth range and stalled out there a couple times. With about 30 to go we made a great strategy call that got us up to fourth with fresh tires, and it looked like we were going to have a shot to give Kyle (Busch) a run for the race win and kind of got caught up there in turn three battling for second, so that kind of put us in the back. We drove back up to 10th in the last 20 laps from 17th or whatever, so it was up and down.”
No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford Fusion – Joey Logano
Start: 14th
Finish: 38th
Status: Accident
Laps Completed: 240/267
Laps Led: 3
Points Position (behind leader): 7th (-70)
Recap: Joey Logano looked to have the right strategy late in the GoBowling.com 400, with four fresh tires and 30 laps to go, but instead was swept up in an accident not of his doing and finished a disappointing 38th on Saturday night at Kansas Speedway. Logano started the event in the 14th position in his No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford Fusion. Early on, Logano made up a little ground and broke into the top-10 by lap 25. The AAA Insurance Fusion was tight and crew chief Todd Gordon made both air pressure and wedge adjustments to try and keep up with the changing track conditions as the sun set and temps cooled off. Logano found himself a seventh- to 10th-place car for the rest of the evening and ran there until, with less than 30 laps to go, Gordon called Logano into the pits a final time for four tires. With several of the cars in front of him either staying out or taking just two tires, Logano looked to be in prime position to get to the front and contend for the win. On the ensuing restart, Logano made several daring moves and was racing for the fifth position when two cars in front of him, including teammate Brad Keselowski, spun and slid up the track. Running the high lane, Logano had nowhere to go as the No. 11 of Denny Hamlin slid up in front of him and he slammed into the side of Hamlin’s car. The damage to the No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford was terminal and Logano had to settle for a 38th-place finish, his second-straight DNF. It’s the first time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career that Logano has suffered back-to-back DNFs.
Quote: “It was just a racing deal. I had nowhere to go. I don’t know what we need to do to shake this bad luck. We have fast cars and we are executing. We just need to put it all together. I thought we had a shot there at the end. We had four fresh tires and Todd (Gordon) and the guys had gotten the car to where it was driving pretty good. We had a great restart, got by the 4 and was going to get by the 2, 11 and the 42 in a couple of laps. We had some speed right there at the end and had tires when the guys up front didn’t. If we could have gotten by them, we could have raced those guys up front. It’s just disappointing, but we will hold our heads high and go onto Dover.”
