SRT Motorsports - Sprint Cup Race Recap - New Hampshire

 
LOUDON, N.H. (Sunday, July 15, 2012) – Brad Keselowski overcame a disappointing starting position and a couple of bad restarts to finish fifth in the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 Sunday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Keselowski started 22nd in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger and twice lost track position on restarts, dropping from fifth to 10th each time.  The last time came with just over 100 laps to go but just as he did earlier, he clawed his way back.  He pushed his way into the top five a final time with 21 laps left in the 301-lap race at the 1.058-mile track.

“We had a really, really good long-run car today but we were off just a little bit on short runs,” Keselowski said.  “I’m proud of the effort.  Obviously, you want to come here and win.  Wins are really what matters but a good strong, consistent effort that gives us something we can bring back for the Chase and feel comfortable about is important.  So, I’m proud of the effort.”

Keselowski acknowledged that his position in the inside line on restarts didn’t help his chances for a better finish.

“You know, what really killed us was the line we kept getting on the restarts,” he said.  “It was the inside line.  I just couldn’t get going from there.  I think we had really good long-run speed.  We weren’t quite as good as we needed to be on the short run.  Our balance was a little bit shifted.  That played a part into it.   Track position and the further up you are, the better the air you’ve got.  We just never really had that.”

Paul Wolfe, Keselowski’s crew chief, said the team will be looking to make improvements in qualifying.  “We’ve got to go to work and figure out how to get the Miller Lite Dodge qualified better,” Wolfe said.  “That’s been a challenge of ours; we continued to show this weekend that we’re struggling there.  It’s something that we’ll put a little emphasis on and see if we can’t get it better.

“Any time you can finish top five in the Cup series, that’s a pretty strong day especially with how we had to fight back on a couple of those restarts.  The car just didn’t seem to go real well on two tires and we got stuck on the bottom on both of those restarts.  Both times we went from fifth to 10th.  Our car was really good 15, 20 laps into the run but this place is so tough to pass.  We were able to fight our way back.”
 
Sam Hornish Jr. (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T) had a solid afternoon.  He hovered around 20th-place most of the race and finished 22nd.

Crew chief Todd Gordon took a calculated risk late in the race.  Gordon opted to forgo a chance to pit during the third and final caution on lap 235.  Hornish was back on the lead lap and was hoping for a caution before he had to make his scheduled pit stop.  The yellow never appeared and Hornish had to pit under green 27 laps from the finish.  

“The big thing for us was just to make sure we were smart about how we ran and stay out of trouble,” Hornish said.  “I would like to have finished on the lead lap but that really wasn’t in the cards for us today.  At times, I thought we were pretty good but we just weren’t consistent enough.  We didn’t have that corner entry stability.  I could get up to ‘em, roll the center on ‘em and come up off the corner beside ‘em but I couldn’t drive it down in there like I needed to make passes.”

Team owner Roger Penske was on Hornish’s team radio for much of event, offering words of encouragement to his driver.

“Well, believe it or not, there was a time when he called my races so he was on the radio a lot more then than he was today,” Hornish said.  “It’s always good to have the boss here.  I heard him in my ear yesterday for the first time since maybe Las Vegas or somewhere in that period of the year, so it had been 10 or 12 races at least.  We’re glad to have him here and wish we could have put on a little bit better show today.”

The race was won by Kasey Kahne, his second win of the season.  Denny Hamlin, who led 150 laps, finished second.  There were 16 lead changes among eight drivers.  Keselowski led twice for three laps.  The race was slowed by three cautions for 15 laps.
 
Race Results
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
LENOX Industrial Tools 301
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Sunday, July 15, 2012
  1. Kasey Kahne
  2. Denny Hamlin
  3. Clint Bowyer
  4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
  5. BRAD KESELOWSKI
  6. Jeff Gordon
  7. Jimmie Johnson
  8. Kevin Harvick
  9. Greg Biffle
10. Ryan Newman
22. SAM HORNISH JR.

 
NASCAR Sprint Cup
Point Standings
(After 19 of 36 Races)
  1. Matt Kenseth                                 707
  2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.                         -16
  3. Greg Biffle                                     -40
  4. Jimmie Johnson                            -51
  5. Denny Hamlin                               -79
  6. Kevin Harvick                                -85
  7. Tony Stewart                                 -89
  8. Martin Truex Jr.                             -90
  9. Clint Bowyer                                  -93
10. Brad Keselowski                           -94
11. Carl Edwards                                -140
12. Kasey Kahne                                -160
24. A.J. ALLMENDINGER                  -307

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