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Carl Edwards Wins The Kobalt Tools 400 For Third Win in Five Races

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On the final round of pit stops under green, Carl Edwards took two tires and that was the call of the race as he went on to win Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“The key to winning today is my team,” Edwards said. “This Ford team is unbelievable. Everybody at Roush Fenway is great. It’s unreal. When you’re a kid, you think it’d be great to fly a bunch of woman and drive a racecar and I did. I flew my mother, my wife and my little girl out here and here we are.”

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”288″][/media-credit]Tony Stewart looked to have the win in the bag before a pit road penalty for leaving with equipment on lap 150 set him back. Stewart then took two tires on the next round of stops to get him back out front. However, that forced him to take four tires on the last round of stops while Edwards only took two. As a result, Stewart finished second.

“Yeah, we just gave one away today,” Stewart said. “I just don’t what to say – we just gave one away. The Mobil Chevy was the best thing on the West Coast today. Second sucks.”

Juan Pablo Montoya finished third, after having bad luck at Las Vegas the last couple of years.

“It was a good day,” Montoya said. “We were a little bit off the pace. I thought we were closer. To get a top five at Vegas after what has happened the last few years here is amazing. This is amazing. We changed some guys on the pit crew and they did an amazing job.”

Marcos Ambrose got his first top five for Richard Petty Motorsports as he finished fourth after running up front consistantly all day.

‎”Well, I think I can keep my jobs for a couple more weeks,” Ambrose siad. “Was real tight all day – first top five for RPM. Just got to thank Richard Petty for believing in me and giving me a shot. Todd Parrot is awesome on the pit box. Pit crew was good with pit stops.”

Ryan Newman rounded out the top five. He was followed by Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch and Brian Vickers.

Hometown hero Kurt Busch was hoping to get a win, though found himself spinning around on lap 102 and fighting back the rest of the race.

“Yeah, we gave it all we had and the crew chief made a real good call to get us upfront there,” Busch said. “I wanted to get up there a little more than I should to lead for the hometown crowd, but you can’t do it. You got to race these races smart. We got in there and had Montoya on the outside and just spun around.”

The finish has Kurt Busch tied for the points lead with Tony Stewart.

His brother Kyle Busch had a rougher day as he had a flat tire on lap 95 and then blew up on lap 108.

“Its really unfortunate,” Busch said. “We had a really good racecar. Unfortunately, you get within a five car length cushion and can’t close anymore. The car was running awesome before that and we had that tire go down and go us behind. Lucky for us we got the lucky dog and we were going to work our way through traffic and kablewy, it just broke.”

The marks the third engine problem for Joe Gibbs Racing in two weeks as Joey Logano blew  up last week while Denny Hamlin changed engines before the race.

Busch wasn’t the only one with a motor issue as Regan Smith blew his motor on lap 86.

Motors weren’t the only issue during the race as a lot of drivers suffered flat right front tires. Last week’s winner Jeff Gordon was one of those as he blew a right front with 74 laps to go.

“There was no sign whatsoever,” Gordon said. “We needed to free the car up and nothing we seemed to be doing was helping it. The day started off pretty good, way better than I thought we were going to be considering practice. Those last few runs we started to lose the handle and fall back and when I went in there, no warning. I was just glad that I had a safer barrier to hit.”

David Gilliland blew his right front on lap 150.

“Its tough,” Gilliland said. “We were running good today. We had a good car. We learned a lot of stuff with the mile and a half stuff. We’re still going to take a positive out of this and head to Bristol as we ran good there.”

The Sprint Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway in two weeks.
FINISHING ORDER
1. Carl Edwards
2. Tony Stewart
3. Juan Pablo Montoya
4. Marcos Ambrose
5. Ryan Newman
6. Martin Truex Jr.
7. Denny Hamlin
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
9. Kurt Busch
10. Brian Vickers
11. Matt Kenseth
12. Paul Menard
13. David Reuitmann
14. Kasey Kahne
15. Clint Bowyer
16. Jimmie Johnson
17. Kevin Harvick
18. Mark Martin
19. A.J. Allmendinger
20. Trevor Bayne
21. Jeff Burton
22. David Ragan
23. Joey Logano
24. Bobby Labonte
25. Casey Mears
26. Brad Keselowski
27. Jamie McMurray
28. Greg Biffle
29. Mike Skinner
30. Bill Elliott
31. Robby Gordon
32. Andy Lally
33. Travis Kravil
34. Dave Blaney
35. Tony Raines
36. Jeff Gordon
37. David Gilliland
38. Kyle Busch
39. Regan Smith
40. J.J. Yeley
41. Michael McDowell
42. Joe Nemechek
43. Landon Cassill

Dodge Post-Race Quotes — Las Vegas

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Lap-By-Lap the Kobalt Tools 400

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SM Staff
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GREEN FLAG is in the air as Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle will lead the field around for the first lap on the track.

Lap 3 last week’s winner at Phoenix, Jeff Gordon powers past teammate Jimmie Johnson to take 13th. Biffle takes the lead.

Lap 5 we see that two race lines are forming on the track. Biffle leads Kenseth by almost one second.

YELLOW FLAG lap 9 as Robby Gordon who has been in the hot seat with NASCAR with an incident with another driver and on probation for the rest of the season, solo spins out in turn four but no contact.

Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kurt Busch, David Reutimann and Dale Earnhardt Jr. remain on track while the majority of the leaders head down pit road. Kenseth is out first followed by Biffle, Kyle Busch, Marcos Ambrose and Joey Logano.

GREEN FLAG lap 13 as Gordon leads the field back up to speed. Kenseth is off pace for some reason and has to head to pit road. Tony Stewart takes the lead by turn three.

YELLOW FLAG lap 15 as Andy Lally is lightly tapped from behind by David Gilliland in turn two causing a solo spin. Robby Gordon is the lucky dog. Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray and a few others head to pit road.

GREEN FLAG lap 18 as Stewart and Kurt Busch bring the field back up to speed. Jeff Gordon tries a three wide move for the lead heading into turn one. Gordon slips back to 6th as he has to lift.

Lap 22 Stewart pulls away from Kurt Busch by 8/10th’s. An early mover on the field is David Ragan currently 22nd from his start of 42nd. Clint Bowyer is on the move as well up 12 spots to 16th.

Lap 25 your top ten drivers are Stewart, Kurt Busch, Montoya, Biffle, Ambrose, Jeff Gordon, David Reutimann, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. Reutimann has been moving up in the field from his start of 25th.

Lap 29 Jeff Gordon challenges Reutimann, or should we say the other way around as Reutimann passes Gordon. Kyle Busch follows Reutimann to take 7th.

Lap 33 Matt Kenseth is down a lap in 41st. Kenseth is not the lucky dog though. Michael McDowell and Landon Cassill take their cars to the garage.

Lap 36 Stewart leads the field by 3 seconds. Joe Nemechek takes his car to the garage.

Lap 38 Carl Edwards takes 8th from Jeff Gordon.

Lap 43 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne is currently 14th. Stewart increases his lead over 2nd place Kurt Busch to 3.7 seconds, 3rd place Biffle by 4.8 seconds, 4th place Montoya by 5.4 seconds and 5th place Ambrose by 6.5 seconds. J.J. Yeley takes his car to the garage.

Lap 46 Kurt Busch heads to pit road. Lap 49 Reutimann is in for his stop. Those who made the first stop can go an extra 20 laps. Lap 51 Montoya and Jeff Gordon are in. Lap 52 Stewart is in, leaving Biffle to lead.

Lap 53 Kasey Kahne is in for his stop along with Robby Gordon, McMurray, Regan Smith. Lap 54 Kyle Busch, A.J. Allmendinger, Edwards are in.

Lap 55 many others head into pit road. Lap 58 as Kevin Harvick heads to pit road, Bayne’s tough racing hits him again as he is busted for speeding.

Lap 61 pit stops for the leaders have completed out. Stewart is back in the lead followed by Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Biffle, Bill Elliott, Montoya, Reutimann, Edwards, Ambrose, Truex Jr., Logano, Gordon, Allmendinger, Paul Menard, Harvick, Brian Vickers, Kahne, Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer round out the top twenty.

Lap 72 currently there are 29 drivers on the lead lap. We have had 10 lead changes among 8 leaders. Stewart so far has led the most laps with 51.

Lap 75 “5-Time” Johnson has slipped back to 24th and just a few cars separate him from leader Stewart. We hear that the #48 team might be trying a new setup like they did in Phoenix.

Lap 81 Smith takes his car to the garage.

Lap 83 in the garage we see Cassill, Nemechek, McDowell, Yeley and Smith. Down laps we see Lally, Tony Raines, Travis Kvapil, Elliott, Mike Skinner, Dave Blaney more than 2 laps down along with 1 lap down drivers of Kenseth, Robby Gordon, Bayne, Casey Mears, Brad Keselowski, Gilliland, Bobby Labonte and McMurray.

Lap 90 Johnson has leader Stewart on his heels. Lap 91 Johnson falls a lap down.

Yellow Flag lap 95 for debris after Kyle Busch tags the outside turn one wall with a flat tire. Kyle Busch is the first driver a lap down and the lucky dog. The caution was for debris. The leaders head to pit road. The race back is Stewart, Montoya, Kurt Busch, Biffle, Edwards and Jeff Gordon.

Lap 100 the rest of the top twenty is Ambrose, Logano, Harvick, Truex Jr., Menard, Vickers, Allmendinger, Martin, Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Bowyer, Burton, Newman and Kahne. So far there have been 3 cautions. Stewart has led 77 laps so far among the 12 lead changes in the race so far.

GREEN FLAG lap 101 as Stewart and Montoya get the show going again.

YELLOW FLAG lap 102 as Kurt Busch was way loose in turn three and solo spins. It looked like Kahne was tapped from behind who spins as well and both drivers make it through without issues. Johnson is the lucky dog.

GREEN FLAG lap 106 with Stewart along with Edwards, Biffle and Montoya in tow.

CAUTION lap 108 as Kyle Busch’s car blows up and the inside fills with smoke. Ragan is the lucky dog. Bayne might have picked up some oil on the track as he bounces off of McMurray in turn two.

Lap 114 we get to putt around the track for several laps to clean up the major oil on the track.

GREEN FLAG lap 116 as Stewart and Biffle bring the field back up to speed. Stewart is off like a rocket and he is more than a half second in front of the field within two laps.

Lap 119 we see that Johnson is not having a good handling day as he slips back to 17th. Lap 120 teammate Earnhardt Jr. is looking good at the time though as he runs up to the 9th position.

Lap 125 your top ten drivers are Stewart, Edwards, Biffle, Montoya, Truex Jr., Harvick, Menard, Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Logano.

Lap 130 Earnhardt Jr. takes 7th from Menard. Lap 135 Earnhardt Jr. is currently the biggest mover is Earnhardt Jr. up 26 from his race start of 33rd. Stewart runs 2 seconds in front of Edwards.

Lap 140 it looks like Edwards is closing in on Stewart. The gap is down to 1.4 seconds. Biffle is 3.1 seconds back in 3rd. Green flag stops are coming soon.

Lap 145 Harvick takes 5th place from Truex Jr. Earnhardt Jr. to 6th. Looks like an issue for Biffle as he is on fumes as his gas was not filled all the way. A bad break for Biffle as the team struggles to get the car started back up to get gas back into the engine.

YELLOW FLAG lap 149 as Gilliland’s car shoots flames from the bottom of the car after his car slams into the outside turn two wall from a flat right side tire. Bayne is the lucky dog. The field heads to pit road. Stewart, Edwards, Harvick, Truex Jr. and Montoya are the top five out.

Lap 150 we are up to 6 cautions, 13 lead changes among 10 leaders and 25 drivers on the lead lap. The top twenty drivers are Stewart, Edwards, Harvick, Truex Jr., Montoya, Earnhardt Jr., Menard, Logano, Vickers, Ambrose, Reutimann, Jeff Gordon, Johnson, Newman, Hamlin, Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, Burton, Martin and Bowyer.

Big trouble for Stewart as NASCAR busts the team as he left with the air hose getting hung up on the back of the car and he will go to the back of the pack. Big heart ache for his team and Edwards will be on point.

GREEN FLAG lap 156 as Edwards and Truex Jr. lead the field into turn one. Lap 165 Stewart has moved up into the top 20 in 9 laps, he is on a mission.

Lap 167 (100 laps to go) as Edwards runs 2 seconds in front of Truex Jr.

Lap 175 your top ten drivers are Edwards, Truex Jr., Montoya, Earnhardt Jr., Menard, Logano, Ambrose, Vickers, Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

Lap 181 (86 to go) Stewart is up to 17th, no change in the top ten.

80 to go as Edwards leads Truex Jr. by 2.6 seconds, 3rd place Montoya is 3.3 seconds back, Earnhardt Jr. 4.7 seconds back and 5th place Ambrose 7.3 seconds back. The last round of pit stops should be in about 15 laps.

75 to go as pit stops begin and Biffle is on pit road.

YELLOW FLAG lap 194 as Jeff Gordon will not win two weeks in a row as his right front tire and slams the outside turn four wall. Kenseth is the lucky dog. Bad break for Biffle as he is three laps down.

A big swing on pit road as Stewart and his team take two tires to jump back into the lead position followed by Montoya, Truex Jr., Edwards and Earnhardt Jr.

Lap 200 your top twenty drivers are Stewart, Montoya, Truex Jr., Edwards, Earnhardt Jr., Ambrose, Menard, Logano, Newman, Hamlin, Vickers, Johnson, Allmendinger, Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Harvick, Martin, Kahne, Bayne and Ragan. So far there have been 7 cautions, 17 lead change among 11 leaders and 23 drivers on the lead lap.

Bowyer has the top speed of the day at this track with 205 mph. Stewart has led the most laps so far with 133. Earnhardt Jr. remains the biggest mover on the track.

GREEN FLAG lap 203 as Earnhardt places some pressure on Edwards and Truex Jr. as they fight for 3rd place.

Lap 204 (63 to go) as Hamlin is on the bounce back up to 8th. Earnhardt Jr. takes 4th from Edwards.

60 to go as Earnhardt Jr. races on the inside of Truex Jr. for third place. 59 to go Earnhardt Jr. cannot complete the pass which allows Edwards to retake 4th from Earnhardt Jr.

58 to go a Stewart drops the hammer to leave 2nd place Montoya and the field behind by 2.2 seconds.

55 to go and the biggest mover changes to Hamlin who started from the back holds at 8th place.

50 to go and your top ten drivers are Stewart leading Montoya by 2.8 seconds, 3rd place Truex Jr. runs 3.8 seconds back, 4th place Edwards is 4 seconds behind, 5th place Earnhardt Jr. 5.4 seconds, 6th place Ambrose 5.7 seconds, 7th place Newman 7.2 seconds back, 8th place Hamlin 7.9, 9th place Logano 9.2 and Menard 9.8 back.

45 to go and we are in the window for last pit stops of the race. Edwards took 3rd from Truex Jr. a few laps ago.

44 to go Hamlin passes Newman for 7th.

40 to go Stewart leads by 3.6 seconds over Montoya who will be soon challenged by Edwards.

35 to go with Stewart is 4.3 seconds in front of the field.

32 to go as Stewart heads to pit road for the last stop. A four tire stop and he is off and going but could the pit stop be too long?

31 to go Harvick, Martin, Johnson, Burton, Biffle. It looks like the others took four tires and minimal fuel. We see that Biffle’s team may have not got all the gas he needs.

28 to go as Earnhardt Jr. is in followed by Newman.

26 to go with Edwards, Logano, Truex Jr. Montoya coming in. Logano is busted for letting a tire go out of the box. Logano was having a good day too.

23 to go as Reutimann heads to pit road, Edwards is the new leader with Montoya and Stewart 1.1 and 1.4 seconds back.

20 to go Edwards holds his lead over Montoya by 1.5 and Stewart 2 seconds back.

We have Edwards, Montoya, Stewart, Ambrose, Newman, Hamlin, Truex Jr., Earnhardt Jr., Vickers and Kurt Busch as the top ten.

15 to go Edwards took a two tire stop and continues his lead and no closure from Montoya and Stewart.

10 to go as Stewart closes in on Montoya for second. Both drivers are two seconds back.

8 to go as Stewart begins to setup Montoya for the pass.

7 to go Truex Jr. passes Hamlin for 6th. Ambrose is closing in on Stewart and Montoya.

5 to go as Stewart takes 2nd place.

4 to go Edwards leads Stewart by 1.5 seconds.

3 to go Ambrose is on Montoya for 3rd place. Kenseth versus Vickers for 10th.

2 to go as there is not enough time for Stewart to catch Edwards.

WHITE FLAG for Edwards. Four clean corners for Edwards and…

CHECKERED FLAG for Edwards.

Your unofficial top ten drivers are Edwards, Stewart, Montoya, Ambrose, Newman, Truex Jr., Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch and Vickers.

The race lasted for three hours. We saw 22 lead changes among 15 leaders. 22 drivers finished on the lead lap.

Unofficial Race Results

Pos. St. No. Driver Make Pts. Bon. Laps Status
1 3 99 Carl Edwards Ford 47 1 267 Running
2 15 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 44 2 267 Running
3 23 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 42 1 267 Running
4 2 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 41 1 267 Running
5 8 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 39 0 267 Running
6 9 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 39 1 267 Running
7 17 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 37 0 267 Running
8 33 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 36 0 267 Running
9 22 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 36 1 267 Running
10 19 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 34 0 267 Running
11 1 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 34 1 267 Running
12 18 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 33 1 267 Running
13 25 0 David Reutimann Toyota 32 1 267 Running
14 30 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 30 0 267 Running
15 28 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 30 1 267 Running
16 14 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 28 0 267 Running
17 26 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 28 1 267 Running
18 10 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 26 0 267 Running
19 7 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 25 0 267 Running
20 16 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 0 0 267 Running
21 21 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 23 0 267 Running
22 42 6 David Ragan Ford 22 0 267 Running
23 6 20 Joey Logano Toyota 21 0 267 Running
24 24 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 20 0 267 Running
25 27 13 Casey Mears Toyota 19 0 267 Running
26 20 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 18 0 265 Running
27 11 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 17 0 264 Running
28 4 16 Greg Biffle Ford 17 1 264 Running
29 29 32 Mike Skinner Ford 0 0 262 Running
30 37 9 Bill Elliott Chevrolet 14 0 262 Running
31 38 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 13 0 261 Running
32 40 71 Andy Lally * Chevrolet 12 0 261 Running
33 39 38 Travis Kvapil Ford 0 0 261 Running
34 34 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 11 1 260 Running
35 41 37 Tony Raines Ford 9 0 258 Running
36 13 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 9 1 193 Running
37 35 34 David Gilliland Ford 7 0 147 Running
38 5 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 6 0 107 Out
39 12 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 5 0 77 Out
40 32 46 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 4 0 45 In Pit
41 43 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 3 0 41 In Pit
42 31 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0 0 34 In Pit
43 36 60 Landon Cassill Toyota 0 0 32 In Pit

Ford Las Vegas Post-Race Quotes

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DODGE AWARDS 2010 NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES CHAMPION BRAD KESELOWSKI WITH COMMEMORATIVE 2011 DODGE CHALLENGER SRT8 392

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Penske Racing's Brad Keselowski stands next to his 2011 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392 high-performance street vehicle presented by Dodge in recognition of his 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series driver's championship.

Quaker State to Sponsor Inaugural Kentucky Speedway Sprint Cup Series Race

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What a Difference a Year Makes: Brad Keselowski Can’t Find Luck Even in Sin City

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SM Staff
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A year ago Brad Keselowski could do no wrong in the Nationwide Series.

After three races in 2011 though, Keselowski can’t catch a break. He was one lap away from going from worse to first at Las Vegas. After wrecking on Thursday in an unofficial practice session to being able to make it on fuel mileage, it all ended in turn one.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”285″][/media-credit]Up the hill the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge went and into the wall. Mark Martin went on to win the race.

“I guess there’s a lot to talk about huh,” asked Keselowski after the race.

“We started off this weekend and I didn’t think we were very good at all. We were atrociously bad and my team worked all weekend long and found speed in my car,” he said.

He continued by saying he had about a fourth place car and that the team used strategy and smarts to get themselves in a position to win. Upon hearing everyone in front of him had to pit, Keselowski said he just ran his own race and waited until he was in the right position.

“I was trying to conserve my stuff and watch Mark (Martin) behind and watch my gap; I felt like I did a good job of that. I felt like we had it (race win) but obviously didn’t. I didn’t push the car too hard that’s for sure. I must have run over something because (the tire) went down quick and I’m sure that I ran over something.”

At first it was though that Keselowski had run out of fuel however his team reported that he was good to go to the end. The tire went down from what Keselowski and the team assume came from running over something off the No 81 of Donnie Neuenberger.

He was still able to finish third.

“Just one of them days where you do everything right and don’t win,” Keselowski said.

“That’s the way it goes sometimes. I guess that’s why they call it racing because otherwise you’d go off the practice sheet and know who’d win the race. Obviously that’s not the way that it worked out today. I just feel bad for my guys.”

The luck, or lack there of for Keselowski, is something he’s not used to. Just a few months ago he was celebrating his first Nationwide Series championship. Ever since the new season started in Daytona the series has seen Keselowski suffer through events he hasn’t seen in a while.

In 2010 Keselowski beat the competition for the championship with impressive numbers. In 35 starts he had five poles, six wins, 26 top fives and 29 top 10s. Up into Daytona just a few weeks ago he hadn’t had a DNF in over 100 races. Then he had two back-to-back in the first two races this season.

Daytona he was involved in a wreck. Phoenix last weekend he again ended up wrecked after a flat tire. And now Vegas where the team will leave with another beat up car.

“We’ve had three-straight weeks in this Nationwide Series with three pretty good cars,” said Keselowski.

“I thought that we had the car to beat at Daytona and got wrecked there. I felt like we had a decent car at Phoenix to run in the top five and blew a tire. I felt like we could have at least run in the top five and steal a win; it looked like we were going to and something happened. It’s got to come back around. We’re just on downside of the roller coaster; I’m ready for it to come back up.”

To say he wasn’t pleased is an understatement. Not only was Keselowski upset for his team, but he didn’t appreciate the TV broadcast getting their information wrong in terms of what occurred with his tire.

“TV would say that,” said Keselowski about him making contact with another car which cut his tire.

“They got no idea what they’re talking about. I never touched him [Elliott Sadler]. You can tell I’m a big fan of TV, they get the facts straight about 10 percent of the time.”

It’s all apart of racing and Keselowski knows that. He wrote as much on his Twitter page after the race was over. He also mentioned that he won a race like that in 2009 at Dover, so Saturday must have been his turn to have it go against him.

Keselowski will have a chance for redemption tomorrow afternoon in the Sprint Cup Series event. He starts 20th in his No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge.

CHEVY GRAND AM AT HOMESTEAD: Team Chevy Post Race Update

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Richardson overcomes mechanical woes for 22nd place finish at Las Vegas

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Mark Martin Lucky in Vegas While Danica Patrick Makes History

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Mark Martin, driving the No. 32 Dollar General for Turner Motorsports for the first time, not only was lucky with his fuel mileage but also took advantage of the bad luck of Brad Keselowski to win the 15th Annual Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

[media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”239″][/media-credit]This was Martin’s 49th Nationwide win Series win, making him the seventh oldest driver to win a Nationwide race.

“We only had one chance to win the race and that was to win it on fuel,” Martin said in the media center after celebrating his win in Victory Lane. “When I caught Brad, I realized that it was going to take all the gas I had to get past him.”

“Trent (Owens) gave me great information,” Martin said of his crew chief, who scored his first win ever. “I managed to back off the throttle and wait to see if Brad (Keselowski) would make it or not.”

“It worked out for us today,” Martin continued. “It was a great team effort. Turner Motorsports is doing such good work and I wanted to get in there and be a part of it.”

“It was a real special win for us,” Martin said. “We got us another trophy and that’s all I care about.”

Martin’s Turner Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier also had good luck in Vegas, scoring a second place win in the No. 31. This was Allgaier’s third top-10 finish in three races at Las Vegas and his second top-10 finish in 2011.

“This was a really good finish for us because we battled through a lot of adversity,” Allgaier said. “To be able to come out of here one, two and to be able to be beat by Mark Martin, as much as I wanted to win the race there is only one person in the garage that I’d rather have beat me and it would be Mark.”

“Mark is really cool.”

While luck was on the side of Martin and Allgaier, Brad Keselowski had some of the worst luck of the Vegas Nationwide race weekend. According to Keselowski, the weekend started bad and ended even worse.

“We started off this weekend and we were atrociously bad,” Keselowski said. “My team worked all weekend long and found speed in my car.”

“From there we used great strategy and smarts to get in position to win the race,” Keselowski said. “I was trying to conserve my stuff and felt we had it, but obviously didn’t.”

“I just ran over something because it went down pretty quick,” Keselowski said of his blown tire. “It was just one of those days where you do everything right and don’t win. That’s why they call it racing.”

“I just feel bad for my guys,” Keselowski continued. “We’ve had three great cars in the last three races and something has happened. It just has to come back around. We’re on the down side of the roller coaster and I’m ready for it to come back up.”

While Martin took the checkered flag, Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 7 GoDaddy.com for JR Motorsports crossed the finish line in the fourth position, making her own brand of history as the highest finishing female ever in a NASCAR national series. With Patrick’s fourth place finish, she topped the record of Sara Christian, who finished fifth in 1949.

“I guess that’s something I don’t think about,” Patrick said when asked about her history-making run. “I don’t think about trying to be the highest finishing female. I just think about trying to win the race.”

“It was a good day,” Patrick, running in just her 16th race, said. “We just had a good car. I knew it from the beginning of the race.”

“We worked so hard on the car this weekend and we did have a lot of practice time, which was good,” Patrick said. “I missed those lucky dogs like three more times and we finally got it.”

“It allowed me to be consistent at the end, cautious and not over drive,” Patrick said. “It was a good day for GoDaddy and JR Motorsports.”

Trevor Bayne, the Daytona 500 winner, rounded out the top five for the Sam’s Town 300. After a fairly chaotic run last weekend at Phoenix, Bayne felt most fortunate to have been so close to the front of the field.

“It was cool to get a top-five out of that,” Bayne said. “You take them how you get them.”

“It is awesome for these guys to get a top-five and we probably didn’t deserve it,” Bayne continued. “But we saved gas and put ourselves in that position. I can’t wait to watch the tape on this one.”

Carl Edwards, who had been so dominant in the early part of the race, finished in the sixth position. Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Jason Leffler and Kenny Wallace rounded out the top ten.

Reed Sorenson maintains the Nationwide Series points lead, with Ricky Stenhouse and Jason Leffler following closely behind in second and third respectively. Danica Patrick and Justin Allgaier round out the top five in the point standings.

Unofficial Race Results
Sam’s Town 300, Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 5, 2011 – Race 3 of 34

Pos. St. No. Driver Make Pts. Bon. Laps Status

1 – 32 Mark Martin Chevrolet 0 0 200 Running

2 – 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 42 0 200 Running

3 – 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0 0 200 Running

4 – 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 40 0 200 Running

5 – 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 39 0 200 Running

6 – 60 Carl Edwards Ford 0 0 200 Running

7 – 20 Denny Hamlin Toyota 0 0 200 Running

8 – 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 36 0 200 Running

9 – 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 35 0 200 Running

10 – 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 34 0 200 Running

11 – 30 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 33 0 200 Running

12 – 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 32 0 200 Running

13 – 62 Michael Annett Toyota 31 0 200 Running

14 – 11 Brian Scott Toyota 30 0 200 Running

15 – 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 29 0 198 Running

16 – 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 28 0 198 Running

17 – 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 27 0 197 Running

18 – 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 26 0 196 Running

19 – 99 Ryan Truex * Toyota 25 0 195 Running

20 – 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 24 0 194 Running

21 – 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 23 0 193 Running

22 – 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Dodge 22 0 193 Running

23 – 97 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 21 0 193 Running

24 – 15 Timmy Hill * Ford 20 0 193 Running

25 – 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 19 0 190 Running

26 – 81 Donnie Neuenberger Dodge 18 0 189 Running

27 – 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 17 0 181 In Pit

28 – 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0 0 168 Running

29 – 70 Shelby Howard Chevrolet 15 0 165 Running

30 – 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0 0 130 In Pit

31 – 79 Jennifer Jo Cobb * Ford 13 0 127 Running

32 – 141 Carl Long Ford 12 0 83 In Pit

33 – 40 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 11 0 72 Out

34 – 27 J.J. Yeley Ford 0 0 25 Out

35 – 25 Kelly Bires Ford 9 0 14 In Pit

36 – 55 Brett Rowe Chevrolet 8 0 12 In Pit

37 – 24 Kevin Lepage Ford 7 0 11 In Pit

38 – 39 Josh Wise Ford 6 0 10 In Pit

39 – 52 Daryl Harr Chevrolet 0 0 8 In Pit

40 – 103 Charles Lewandoski * Dodge 4 0 6 In Pit

41 – 168 Tim Andrews Ford 0 0 4 In Pit

42 – 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet 2 0 2 In Pit

43 – 87 Kevin Conway Chevrolet 0 0 2 In Pit

1...6,3616,3626,363...6,448Page 6,362 of 6,448

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