| MICHIGAN
INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
Sunday,
August 16, 2009 on ESPN
Rochester
Hills native Brad Keselowski wins the CARFAX 250 at MIS
Photo
credit: www.mispeedway.com
BROOKLYN,
Mich. -- It was a two-car race from the start
between Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch until Rochester Hills,
Mich., native Brad Keselowski decided to make it three
with one lap remaining in the NASCAR Nationwide CARFAX
250 at Michigan International Speedway.
Keselowski,
25, led for only three laps, but the one that mattered
was the last lap as he grabbed his third victory of the
season in a wild, heated finish that led to some post-race
verbal turbulence.
The green flag
came out with six laps remaining following the fourth
caution period of the race. Vickers took the lead with
Busch close behind. The two had combined to lead a total
of 110 laps in the 125-lap race.
With two laps
remaining Vickers, Busch and Keselowski briefly ran three
abreast. Vickers forced Busch to run below the white line
on the bottom of the track, unaware Keselowski was winding
up his No. 88 Chevrolet to make his outside-groove pass
for the lead and his fifth victory in 92 Nationwide races.
Vickers, who led for a total of 78 laps, finished second
followed by Busch, who was in front for a total of 32
laps.
“I saw
them bobbling in turns three and four with one lap to
go and I knew I had them,” said a beaming Keselowski.
“I knew it. I knew I could get to the outside and
get past the 32 (Vickers). I wasn’t sure about the
18 (Busch). I don’t know what happened to him.
“Oh my
God, I won at home! I’m speechless. I can’t
believe it. I’m usually terrible here and to win
here is a major accomplishment. It’s so cool to
win in front of my hometown fans. I don’t know what
you guys saw but it was one heck of a show. I can’t
believe I’m in Victory Lane at Michigan. I just
can’t believe it. I’ve been coming here since
I was four or five years old with my parents. I’m
speechless. It’s amazing.
It’s
awesome. I can’t thank everyone enough who got me
to where I am now.”
After the conclusion
of the race, Busch pulled in front of a parked Vickers
on an angle on pit road, hitting the right front panel
of Vickers’ car in the process. Busch then climbed
out of his car and walked over to Vickers’ car,
leaned in and had a brief discussion.
Vickers climbed
out of his car and the two stood toe-to-toe momentarily
with Busch pushing up the visor on Vickers’ helmet
before they separated.
“He (Vickers)
hung on my right rear quarter panel all the way down the
front stretch and gave the win to the No. 88 car (Keselowski),”
Busch said. “He slowed us both down so much. He
had no idea the 88 car was coming and the 88 just drove
past both of us on the outside because Brian Vickers was
trying to slow both of us down.
“Unfortunately,
you race with idiots and I guess you’re going to
have that some times. I’m sure I’m complaining,
and I’m whining and I’m a crybaby but that’s
uncalled for and it’s stupid. I would have run my
own line instead of giving it to the third-place car.”
Vickers started
from the pole after becoming the first driver at MIS to
start from the pole for both weekend races, the Nationwide
CARFAX 250 and tomorrow’s NASCAR Sprint Cup CARFAX
400.
“I’m
so sorry. I forgot it was the Kyle Busch show,”
said Vickers in response to Busch’s statements.
“I thought we were racing for a win. I thought it
was my job to hold him off. Apparently not. He came over
to the car after the race, knocked our right fender in,
which was unnecessary, and then started crying like a
little baby. I asked him to give me a minute to get out
and we could talk about it like men and if he wanted to
fight that was fine with me, but he ran off.
“It‘s
a shame that it went down like that. We were racing hard
and I thought it was a good race. Congratulations to the
88, he snuck around both of us. I didn‘t see him
coming. I let my guys down. We should have won the race
but last I checked it wasn‘t the Kyle Busch show
it was a Nationwide race and I was supposed to race him
for the win.”
Busch widened
his Nationwide Series points lead to 339 over second-place
Carl Edwards when Edwards was involved in a crash, coming
in contact with Trevor Bayne on just the fourth lap of
the race. It eliminated Edwards from the competition.
“I saw
the replay and at first I thought they (the two cars next
to him) must have gotten together and split up,”
Edwards explained. “It definitely looks like I didn’t
give Trevor enough room. We all went into the corner and
I assumed that the car that was on the inside was going
to go to the bottom. I was thinking about the rest of
the corner, and I drove down in there and pinched him
down.
“I hope
his car is not torn up a lot. It’s too bad for my
guys. It’s very frustrating. Man, it’s early
in the race and I probably should have been a little more
cautious.”
Next up is
Sunday’s CARFAX 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race. The
race is scheduled for 2 p.m. Grandstand gates open at
8 a.m.; parking lots open at 6 a.m.
Great seats
are available by calling 800-354-101 or logging onto www.MISpeedway.com.
Source:
Michigan International Speedway
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to our
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