Keselowski stretches fuel for Kansas victory

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(June 5, 2011)

KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Stretching his fuel mileage to the maximum, Brad Keselowski coasted across the finish line to win Sunday’s STP 400 at Kansas Speedway.

In winning his first Sprint Cup race of the season and the second of his career, Keselowski got 57 green-flag laps out of his last tank of fuel. Keselowski prevented runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr., his old boss at JR Motorsports, from ending a drought that reached 106 races.

Denny Hamlin, who like Earnhardt was conserving fuel, came home third, followed by Jeff Gordon and series points leader Carl Edwards.

Keselowski’s Penske Racing teammate, Kurt Busch, dominated the race, leading 152 of the 267 laps. But he had to pit late for fuel and finished ninth.

Additional Reporting from Kerry Murphey

Race Recap | Kansas
10 Greg Biffle
9 Kurt Busch the pole sitter and dominant car
8 Tony Stewart
7 Jimmie Johnson
6 Matt Kenseth
5 Carl Edwards
4 Jeff Gordon
3 Denny Hamlin with a solid run
2 Dale Earnhardt Jr spun his 88 about mid-race but recovered to finish 2nd

Victory Lane

1 Brad Keselowski led the last 9 laps while conserving fuel the entire time. It’s Brad’s 2nd career Cup Series win &
Brad didn’t even know he was leading until about 2 laps to go.

Other Stories on the day

Really the biggest story of the weekend came after the Truck Series race from an altercation between Kyle Busch and team owner Richard Childress. NASCAR President Mike Helton spoke to the media.

NASCAR STATEMENT, AND MIKE HELTON AUDIO

NASCAR Statement – June 5, 2011

“NASCAR has reviewed the incident involving Richard Childress and Kyle Busch after the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Saturday at Kansas Speedway. We have met with all parties involved and have determined what happened yesterday is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by NASCAR.

Richard Childress’s actions were not appropriate and fell far short of the standard we expect of owners in this sport. We have met with Childress this morning and made our position very clear to him. Further, we expect he will make it clear to all in his organization to ensure this situation does not escalate any further. We will announce our actions regarding this incident Monday.

Kyle Busch remains on probation with NASCAR and we continue to watch his actions carefully. However, we have determined that Kyle’s involvement in this incident does not violate his probation and no further action is required.”

1 22 Kurt Busch AAA Dodge 30.901 174.752
2 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 31.007 174.154
3 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 31.020 174.081
4 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 31.036 173.991
5 20 Joey Logano Home Depot Toyota 31.061 173.851
6 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald’s Chevrolet 31.087 173.706
7 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford 31.097 173.650
8 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 31.104 173.611
9 27 Paul Menard Zecol/Menards Chevrolet 31.108 173.589
10 29 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet 31.125 173.494
11 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet 31.138 173.422
12 39 Ryan Newman Haas Automation Chevrolet 31.144 173.388
13 14 Tony Stewart The Glades/Office Depot Chevrolet 31.149 173.360
14 16 Greg Biffle 3M/Walgreens Ford 31.169 173.249
15 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota 31.179 173.193
16 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 31.196 173.099
17 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota 31.208 173.033
18 5 Mark Martin Farmers Insurance/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet 31.231 172.905
19 6 David Ragan UPS Ford 31.240 172.855
20 47 Bobby Labonte Clorox/Kleenex Toyota 31.255 172.772
21 17 Matt Kenseth Affliction Clothing Live Fast Ford 31.258 172.756
22 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 31.259 172.750
23 00 David Reutimann TUMS Toyota 31.264 172.723
24 51 Landon Cassill(i) Security Benefit/Thank A Teacher Chevrolet 31.265 172.717
25 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Dodge 31.303 172.507
26 43 A J Allmendinger STP Ford 31.353 172.232
27 33 Clint Bowyer American Ethanol Chevrolet 31.389 172.035
28 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet 31.417 171.881
29 30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Chevrolet 31.418 171.876
30 38 Travis Kvapil(i) Long John Silver’s Ford 31.446 171.723
31 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet 31.473 171.576
32 46 J J Yeley Red Line Chevrolet 31.484 171.516
33 13 Casey Mears GEICO Toyota 31.487 171.499
34 87 Joe Nemechek(i) Nemco Motorsports Toyota 31.497 171.445
35 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Ford 31.533 171.249
36 81 Scott Riggs(i) WhitneysCollision.com Chevrolet 31.582 170.983
37 66 Michael McDowell Victory Junction Toyota 31.616 170.800
38 34 David Gilliland Taco Bell Ford 31.625 170.751
39 71 Andy Lally # TRG Motorsports Ford 31.655 170.589
40 32 Patrick Carpentier(i) U.S. Chrome Ford Owner Points
41 7 Johnny Sauter(i) SPEED Energy Dodge Owner Points
42 36 Dave Blaney Accell Chevrolet Owner Points
43 60 Mike Skinner(i) Big Red Toyota 31.753 170.063

Native son Bowyer dominates Kansas truck race

By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

June 4, 2011

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The unquestioned class of the field in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway, Clint Bowyer won his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race of the season in dominating fashion.

Bowyer, from Emporia, Kan., beat Johnny Sauter to the finish line by 1.695 seconds to claim his third victory in 11 starts in the series. Todd Bodine ran third, followed by James Buescher and Joey Coulter, who passed Kyle Busch on the last of 167 laps for the fifth spot.

It was a watershed race for Bowyer, who posted his first NASCAR national series victory in his home state in the 400th race in Truck Series history. Previously, Bowyer had finished second in the 2007 Sprint Cup race at the 1.5-mile track and second in the 2008 Nationwide Series event here.

“We’ve come close here,” Bowyer said. “We’ve had good runs here, but we just haven’t been able to seal the deal. To finally be able to do a burnout on the frontstretch in front of that crowd is big, man. It’s a good feeling.

“This place means a lot to me. I watched this place being built. I dreamed of being able to race here in anything, and to be able to roll into victory lane … is pretty cool.”

Bowyer, however, has unfinished business at his home track.

“I want to win a Cup race here bad,” said Bowyer, who will start 27th in Sunday’s STP 400 Cup event.

A debris caution on Lap 98 was a godsend for Bowyer and Sauter, who hadn’t been to the pit for fuel and tires since Laps 50 and 59 respectively. Both took advantage of the yellow and came to the pits.

After restarting third on lap 103, Bowyer took the lead from Todd Bodine on Lap 109, two laps before Shane Sieg smacked the Turn 2 wall to cause the sixth caution of the race. Bowyer returned to the pits under yellow on Lap 112 to take on enough fuel to go the distance.

Though he restarted 11th on Lap 116, Bowyer quickly moved to the front, passing Bodine to regain the lead on Lap 122. Bowyer, Sauter and Busch all remained on the track under caution for Clay Rogers’ spin off Turn 2 on Lap 131.
Bowyer led the field to the green flag on Lap 138 and after battling Sauter for half a lap began to pull away.

Notes: Bowyer led 124 laps, including the first 49 … Sauter took over the series lead from Cole Whitt, who fell to second and trails Sauter by 12 points … Polesitter Austin Dillon, who finished 12th Saturday, gained one spot to third in the standings.