Keselowski leads most laps, but runs out of fuel to finish 11th at Charlotte

Brad Keselowski, driver of the Penske Racing No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS), finished 11th in the Bank of America 500 – the fifth race in the 2012 Chase for the Championship – at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday night, Oct. 13. Keselowski appeared to have the strongest car, particularly during the middle portion of the race when he led many of his race-high 139 laps. However, the No. 2 machine ran out of fuel at the end on the penultimate run of the race and lost valuable track position that Keselowski was not able to make up as he finished just outside the top 10.

With the result, Keselowski still leads the Chase for the Championship standings by seven points over Jimmie Johnson with five races remaining in the season.

Keselowski started the 334-lap race from the 20th position. As the race began it took the Miller Lite Dodge two laps to build up the air pressure it needed in the Goodyear radials. When the handling of the car came to Keselowski’s liking, he was able to click off laps four tenths of a second faster than the cars in front of him.

A caution period at lap 12 gave Keselowski a chance to assess his chassis. He radioed to crew chief Paul Wolfe that the Miller Lite Dodge was handling a bit tight on corner entry, as well as corner exit. Wolfe elected to bring his driver down pit road while the leaders stayed on the track. He called for only a two-tire pit stop with no adjustments before his driver restarted the race from the 24th position at lap 16.

This early pit stop placed Keselowski and the Miller Lite Dodge team on a different pit cycle for the first half of the race. It allowed him to stay out under a lap 36 caution period to assume the lead for the first time on the night. He was able to maintain his position at the front of the field before making a green-flag pit stop at lap 71 for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Keselowski found himself running in the 30th spot, but he quickly reassumed the lead when the leaders began to make their pit stops around lap 85.

Keselowski remained off pit sequence from the race leaders until the strategy paid off with a timely caution flag at lap 167. Just prior to another pit stop for the No. 2 Dodge, everyone came down pit road at the same time, which reset the field’s track position.

Following the pit stop, Keselowski restarted the race from the third position at lap 173. He was able to race his way back to the lead at lap 213. During the run he began to save fuel in hopes of making it to the end of the race on only one more pit stop. Keselowski visited pit road at lap 221 for another stop of four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. Great pit work by the Miller Lite crew saw Keselowski return to the track with his lead intact as the pit stops cycled through at lap 223.

After building a lead of over one second, Keselowski again went into fuel-conservation mode. While trying to stretch his next-to-last tank one extra lap, he ran out of fuel just past the exit of pit road at lap 276. He was able to coax his Dodge back around to the attention of his pit crew, however it took precious seconds to get the car to re-fire. Keselowski dropped back to 14th place in the running order when the pit stop sequence was completed at lap 282.

Keselowski made a valiant attempt to get back inside the top 10, but he fell one position short as he crossed the line in the 11th position. Keselowski also gained bonus points for leading one lap and leading the most laps.

Penske Racing teammate, Sam Hornish Jr., finished 15th in Saturday night’s Bank of America 500. [10/17/2012]