SRT Motorsports Weekend Recap - 2-26-2012

February 25, 2012 , DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -  MOTORSPORTS RECAP

DAYTONA 500 POSTPONED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY

54TH Running Of “The Great American Race” Reset For Monday

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012) – For the first time in history, the 54th running of the Daytona 500 has been postponed. The event is rescheduled for Monday with a 12:01 green flag. Fox coverage begins at 12 noon.

Rain showers throughout the afternoon prompted the decision. All 53 previous editions of “The Great American Race” have been run on the scheduled date. Only four events have been shortened due to rain.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (NSCS)

Gatorade Duel – All three Dodge drivers were in Thursday’s first Gatorade Duel. For Brad Keselowski and A.J. Allmendinger, the150-mile event was a race mockup, a shakedown for the big show. They were already locked in the Daytona 500. Allmendinger finished ninth, Brad Keselowski 13th. The stakes for Robby Gordon were much higher. He would have to earn his way into “The Great American Race” by claiming one of two berths up for grabs among seven non-qualified drivers in the race. Gordon came through on the final two laps to finish ninth.

NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES (NNS)

Brad Keselowski calculates he missed winning the 300-mile event by less than two seconds or a few feet. The race was marred by eight cautions with 37 of the 43 starters involved. The yellow appeared three times in the final 15 laps for mishaps involving 19, 14 and 11 cars, respectively. The last came as the cars exited turn four, heading for the checkered flag. The chaos started at the front of the field involving the first 10 cars in the running order. Keselowski was involved too, but managed to weave his way through the spinning cars and debris field to emerge at the front of the group. James Buescher, who had been involved in two earlier mishaps, drove through the wreckage and passed Keselowski just as the yellow appeared, freezing the field. Buescher was declared the winner with Keselowski awarded second after NASCAR’s review of the tape of the finish.

Teammate Sam Hornish Jr. was equally strong on the high-banked track, leading for seven laps. He was running in the top 10 and charging to the front when he was caught up in the 14-car mishap just five laps from the end. The team made repairs, but Hornish had to settle for 20th.

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES (NCWTS)

Parker Kligerman finished 11th in the No. 29 Cooper Standard RAM in Friday night’s NCWTS race. The scheduled 100-lap event started calm, but ended in mayhem. There were four cautions in the last 12 laps involving 23 of the 36 trucks. The race had three attempts at a green-white-checkered finish. Even then, the race still ended under caution with a driver making his first appearance at Daytona taking the win. Teammate Brad Keselowski qualified fifth in the No. 19 twitter RAM and ran in the top five through the first half of the race before getting shuffled out of the draft. He finished 27th. Rookie John King was the winner.


AMA SUPERCROSS

Josh Hansen’s bid for a third consecutive top-five Main Event finish came up short in Saturday night’s event at the Georgia Dome. Hansen finished fourth in his heat and the Hart and Huntington rider was running firmly in the top five in the Main Event when he landed short on a jump, stalling his Kawasaki. He dropped to the rear of the field, but managed to advance to 15th at the end of the 20-lap Main Event. Teammate Kyle Partridge used a second in the Last Chance Qualifier to gain a berth in the 20-bike field for the Main Event. A problem in the rhythm section of the track took away any opportunity for a finish in the top half of the field. He ended up 17th.

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