Keselowski outplays, outlasts at Kentucky

As if there wasn’t already enough change going on for NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers at Kentucky Speedway, they had a freshly repaved racing surface heaped into their collective mental notebooks.
By the time they raced 267 laps at the Quaker State 400 on Saturday night, a familiar sight ended up in Victory Lane and proved that fuel mileage isn’t the easiest art form to master.
Brad Keselowski certainly found a way, stretching out his fuel to the absolute maximum and barely holding off Carl Edwards at the line to earn his second win in a row and fourth of the 2016 season.
And when we say barely, the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion got to the line only .175 seconds in front of Edwards’ No. 19 Toyota. With the field trying to stretch fuel up to five laps – 7.5 miles total – beyond the normal fuel window, it was telling when Keselowski couldn’t do the celebratory burnout and needed a push from the tow truck to the Victory Lane celebration.
Trust us when we say it wasn’t a problem, especially if you’re a fan of the Michigan native and 2012 champion. Keselowski has won three of the six Cup races at Kentucky, and with the new lower-downforce package on the cars, it was a load of work from start to finish.
To set the stage, the race’s last pit stop came at lap 196, and the restart was four laps later. That meant those who pitted were right at the top end of the fuel window, 67 laps.
In total, that meant Keselowski and his challengers were trying to stretch the fuel over more than 100 miles (Kentucky Speedway is a 1.5-mile oval). As most of the leaders put on two tires, the NBC voices in the booth thought none of them put enough fuel in to get safely to the end.
Somehow, Keselowski made his fuel work, even having enough to hold off Edwards, who was on his back bumper through most of the white-flag lap.
As the saying of a certain long-running reality show goes, Keselowski outplayed, outwitted and outlasted everyone. After getting Cup win No. 100 for Team Penske, it didn’t take long to get No. 101.
With the season now officially at halfway and only eight races remaining until the Chase, there are still 11 race winners and five open slots available for those still in search of the elusive checkered flag.
Among them, Tony Stewart was impressive in his 600th career start. He didn’t lead laps, but kept moving forward from his 22nd starting position and ended up fifth. The three-time champion is still 30th in points, but 31 clear of Brian Scott.
Rookie Ryan Blaney’s hopes took a bit of a hit as he got into a wreck with fellow rookie Chase Elliott and ended up 35th. He sits 24 points behind Jamie McMurray.
The other three drivers who have Chase spots at the moment are, in order: Ryan Newman (who ended up third at Kentucky), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (13th) and Austin Dillon (16th).
There are no more mile-and-a-half tracks left until the Chase starts, so the time to get the mental and physical adjustments made is now. Short track like Bristol, intermediate like New Hampshire, road course like Watkins Glen, superspeedway like Pocono and Indy, it doesn’t matter. Those who would be ready to run for a title need their A-game on point from this point forward.
And a little thank you to the gods of Gasoline Alley will certainly help. Brad Keselowski knows that feeling.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports or email tominator19@yahoo.com.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.058-mile oval), Loudon, N.H.

-SPRINT CUP: New Hampshire 301, Sunday, 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 318.45 miles, 301 laps.

2015 champion: Kyle Busch

-XFINITY SERIES: AutoLotto 200, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 211.6 miles, 200 laps.

2015 champion: Denny Hamlin.

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Off until July 20 for the Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby at Eldora Speedway.

In another wild week, Kyle Busch wins again

As if the last-lap wreck that sent Austin Dillon hurtling into the catch fence at Daytona last weekend wasn’t enough, there was more insanity at Kentucky Speedway to come. Mother Nature had her hand in things, raining down in monsoonal fashion Thursday and Friday to keep anything on four wheels off the 1.5-mile oval south of Cincinnati for as long as possible.

When the Camping World Truck Series raced in the UNOH 225 on Thursday night, another driver had a close encounter with a catch fence. Ben Kennedy didn’t have quite the wild ride Dillon did – more of a slide along the SAFER barrier after making contact – but it was enough for NASCAR to call the race early with five laps remaining in the 150-lap event won by Matt Crafton.

Friday night’s XFINITY Series race, the Kentucky 300, had a great finish as Brad Keselowski held off Erik Jones and Kyle Busch over the final eight laps to pick up the win.

With all the rain that had fallen before Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 Sprint Cup race, the lack of practice time due to the weather definitely hurt. Qualifying was cancelled for the second straight week, leaving lesser-known drivers like Ryan Blaney – who had a car that was described as “bullet-fast” by some drivers – shut out due to the rule book.

Translation: Part-time teams know rain is an evil four-letter word, especially when a spot in the race has to be earned on the track.

When the Quaker State 400 started, the worst of the weather finally went away and Kyle Busch continued his charge toward a Chase berth with his second victory in three weeks.

Busch’s story gets more and more amazing by the week. The guy only broke bones in both legs because of a crash at Daytona before the Cup season even started, returned less than four months later, and already has two wins.

But from the “not so fast” department, all the winning in the world won’t mean a thing in terms of making the Chase unless Busch somehow finishes in the top 30 in points by the time the Federated Auto Parts 400 is run at Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 12.

That means no more mulligans will be granted with only eight races left before the top 16 drivers are set. As things stand right now, Busch is still 87 points behind Cole Whitt, who sits in 30th place.

One of the big deals from Kentucky came with the introduction of NASCAR’s new rules package that takes downforce away from the cars. Judging from the reaction by drivers after the race, it’s a hit that will hit its stride at multiple tracks. Success on a mile-and-a-half oval is one thing, but the truer test will come at places like Michigan and Indianapolis, where the package will be tried out next.

If things work out there, we may have a winning formula for fans and drivers alike.

It’s not realistic to expect passes for the lead to happen four-wide over the course of every single lap, but drivers who can adapt the best along with their race teams stand the best chance of being in contention for the win at the end.

And good competition throughout the race is a big reason why fans watch the sport in the first place.

Tom Zulewski is passionate about auto racing and has covered everything from winged Sprint cars on dirt tracks to NASCAR, the NHRA and American LeMans Series over an 18-year career in journalism. Follow him on Twitter @Tomzsports.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.058-mile oval), Loudon, New Hampshire

SPRINT CUP: New Hampshire 301, Sunday, 1:30 p.m. ET/ 10:30 a.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance; 301 laps, 318.458 miles.

2014 champion: Brad Keselowski.

XFINITY SERIES: Lakes Region 200, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 200 laps, 211.6 miles

2014 champion: Brad Keselowski.

CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Returns July 22 for the 1-800CarCash Mud Summer Classic at Eldora Speedway, Rossburg, Ohio.