Brad Keselowski’s got a fast short run vehicle.
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While Keselowski is not eligible to earn driver points in the series, he helped team owner Roger Penske clinch his third consecutive owners title in the series by getting the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford into Victory Lane. Team Penske leads the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing team by 98 points.
“It was one of those races where it seemed like it could have fallen any way”, Keselowski said. “I didn’t know what to expect, but I didn’t give up. That was a big part of it”.
It’s worth noting that Gordon ranks fifth in driver rating (100.7) at Homestead behind Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex and Kevin Harvick.
Kyle Larson led 50 laps, and was in leading on the 175th lap when a rubbing left tire finally went down coming out of the fourth turn and he was passed by Harvick. And then of course Austin Dillon ran away with it at points.
From the moment he announced his retirement from full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition, Jeff Gordon said he chose this season because he wanted the opportunity to bow out at the peak of his career and as a championship contender.
“Winning never hurts”, Keselowski said.
Xfinity Series points leader and Prosper, Texas native Chris Buescher finished 11th and lost ground to defending champion Chase Elliott, who finished eighth. That puts the #54 too far behind to make up in the remaining two races left in the 2015 season, with the penultimate event of the season being the DAV 200 Presented by Great Clips at Phoenix global Raceway in Avondale in seven days time.
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“It isn’t comfortable yet”, admitted Buescher of his margin at the top. “It is a cushion that we have and I guess you average that out to 12 spots per race so if we go out and finish top-10 the last two we should be in good shape”. The work also delayed the start of the Xfinity race by 45 minutes. His auto was stuck in fourth gear and had to be pushed out of his pit box for much of the race. Busch dropped to 18th on the final restart and salvaged a 14th-place finish. He served the penalty four circuits later.
