Opportunistic Brad Keselowski grabs first Nationwide win at New Hampshire
July 14, 2012 (EDITORS: Will be updated)
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
LOUDON,
N.H. -- Pole-sitter Brad Keselowski took advantage of an opportune
moment late in Saturday's F.W. Webb 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race
and held off Kevin Harvick in the closing laps to claim his first
victory at New Hamsphire Motor Speedway, his second of the season and
the 19th of his career.
Race
runner-up Kevin Harvick, who finished .717 seconds back, expressed his
displeasure with Amber Cope by tapping her car on the cool-down lap, an
expression of displeasure at Cope's impeding Harvick's progress and
opening the door for Keselowski's winning pass.
Austin
Dillon ran third, winning Nationwide's $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus and
establishing his eligibility for next week's cash bonus at Chicagoland
Speedway. Sam Hornish Jr. ran fourth, followed by defending series
champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Keselowski
held a 3.6-second lead when Cole Whitt got into Turn 1 too hot on Lap
121 and turned the No. 4 Chevrolet of Danny Efland into the outside
wall. Keselowski, Hornish, Harvick, Dillon and Stenhouse were among
those who took two tires during pit stops under the ensuing caution, and
the field restarted with Keselowski in the lead on Lap 129.
From
that point, Keselowski began to drive away again. By the time Danica
Patrick tapped the No. 81 Toyota of Jason Bowles and spun off Turn 4 on
Lap 149, Keselowski led by 2.3 seconds, but that advantage disappeared
with the fourth caution of the afternoon.
Sadler
came to the pits along with Patrick and Whitt for a four-tire stop on
Lap 151, giving up the ninth position. Sadler restarted 14th on fresh
rubber on Lap 155, with Patrick 15th. The call for new tires paid
dividends, as Sadler gained six positions within eight laps.
Ultimately, he finished seventh and retained his lead in the series standings by three points over second-place Dillon.
While
Sadler was cutting a swath through the field, Harvick grabbed the lead
from Keselowski on Lap 155 and held it through two laps of side-by-side
racing. In clean air, Harvick pulled away to a 1.5-second lead, but
while battling traffic with 22 laps left, Harvick was held up by the
lapped car of Cope.
Keselowski made an aggressive move to the outside and passed Harvick off Turn 4 to take control of the race.
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