Sept. 22, 2012
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
LOUDON,
N.H. -- In his third full season of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing,
and his second on the Cup side with crew chief Paul Wolfe, Brad
Keselowski is the leader of the Chase
standings after one event this year.
Keselowski,
28, a third-generation racer from Michigan, has been described as
relentless in his pursuit of excellence. To be any less committed,
Keselowski believes, wouldn't
be fair to his No. 2 Penske Racing team.
"Am
I relentless?" Keselowski asked rhetorically during a
question-and-answer session after Cup qualifying at New Hampshire Motor
Speedway. "When you want something, you go out
there and get it, you get the job done. I've just always believed if
something's worth doing, it's worth doing well.
"I've
never been afraid to put the effort in, and I've had great teachers in
my life to showcase what that effort means, whether it's my dad or guys
like Paul Wolfe or guys on
the team. I know there's a group of people around me right now at
Penske Racing that work their butts off and make sacrifices to their own
lives for me to be successful. It sure would be a shame to not give the
same."
Keselowski
enters Sunday's Sylvania 300, the second race in the Chase, with a
three-point lead over second-place Jimmie Johnson and an eight-point
advantage over third-place Tony
Stewart, the defending series champion.
Though
Keselowski has just six starts at New Hampshire -- compared with 21 for
Johnson and 27 Stewart -- he feels his recent history at the track
bodes well for Sunday.
"By
today's standards, you could say I have limited experience, because
there's really not that many young drivers or drivers that have less
experience than me in the series,"
Keselowski said. "But I feel that I have the appropriate amount of
experience to be successful.
"I
feel like we've showcased that over the last two weekends here where we
finished fifth (in July) and second (in last year's Chase race), and we
won the Nationwide race the
last time here. So I feel like we have a pretty good track record and
as good a shot as anyone else."
SO MUCH FOR THE 'STACHE
After
crashing out of last Sunday's race at Chicagoland thanks to a stuck
throttle, Jeff Gordon showed up at Loudon clean-shaven, at least in part
on the premise that the mustache
he brought back for the Chase opener didn't bring him the good luck he
had anticipated.
Gordon had kept a promise in growing the sort of mustache he had worn as a Cup rookie in 1993.
"I
did the mustache because somebody said, 'Hey, bring back the mustache,'
" Gordon said. "I said, 'Well, if we make the Chase then I'll bring it
back.' So I brought it back,
and then with the way that it went last week, I was like, 'OK, I'm done
with the mustache.' I just changed my mind."
Though
Gordon trails Keselowski by 47 points with nine races left, he doesn't
believe the deficit is insurmountable. As a measure of how deep the hole
is, however, Gordon could
win all nine races and conceivably not claim the title, if Keselowski
runs second each week.
Perhaps
Gordon was looking for a reverse Sampson effect -- and perhaps it
worked. After shaving the facial hair, Gordon won the pole for Sunday's
race.
THREE CUP STARTS FOR STENHOUSE
As
he prepares for his first full season as a Cup driver next year, Ricky
Stenhouse Jr. will run at least three more races in NASCAR's premier
series in 2012, team owner Jack
Roush said Saturday.
Roush,
however, isn't averse to adding events to Stenhouse's Cup plans, if
circumstances dictate doing so. Stenhouse's main focus this year is
defending his Nationwide Series
title, but Cup experience may play into that.
"Right
now, we're organized for three races for him at Dover, Charlotte and
Homestead," Roush said Saturday. "But if we decide his prospects for
winning the Nationwide championship
are improved by running more Sprint Cup races, we'll do that.
"And
if we decide there's a sponsor that expresses interest and wants to
take a look at him, or to be on board for an additional venue, we'll do
that as well."
Last
week at Chicagoland, Roush Fenway Racing announced a commitment from
Best Buy for 12 races as primary sponsor on Stenhouse's No. 17 Cup car
next year. Fifth Third Bank and
Zest also are on board as primaries for several races, but Roush
indicated that approximately 30 percent of the inventory on his cars is
still available.
BACK ON TOP
Denny
Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota was the fastest car in Friday's opening Cup
practice. Then, because his team mistakenly ran racing tire pressures
instead of qualifying tire pressures
for Friday's time trials, Hamlin qualified 32nd. In Saturday's two
practice sessions, however, Hamlin was back on top of the speed charts
at 131.656 mph and 132.053 mph, respectively, suggesting that a run
through the field is likely on Sunday. . . . Dale
Earnhardt Jr. was pleased with changes made to his car during
Saturday's final practice. With 22 minutes left in the session,
Earnhardt, who qualified 14th for Sunday's race, radioed to crew chief
Steve Letarte, "Pretty easy to drive, considering what I've
been driving all weekend -- just a little snug." Earnhardt was tied for
ninth-fastest in the session, matching the speeds of Hendrick
Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick (130. 959 mph).
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