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NASCAR BGN: Battle For The Busch Crown: Second Half of Season Suits Keller's Style

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
August 21, 2001

* Jason Keller moved up to second in the NASCAR Busch Series championship points standings following his eighth-place finish at Michigan International Speedway. It was Keller's career-best finish at MIS, helping him improve his position in the standings. Keller now trails leader Kevin Harvick by 236 points and he leads third-place Greg Biffle by 68 points.

* During the past two seasons, Keller has gained momentum and logged some impressive runs in the second half of the Busch Series season. Since Milwaukee (this season's half-way point), Keller has tallied seven top-10 finishes, including five top-five finishes.

His performance during the latter half of the 2001 season thus far is very similar to his impressive run at the end of 2000. Last year, Keller racked up 11 top-10 finishes and eight top-five finishes in the final 16 races of the season. He finished the season second in the championship points standing behind teammate Jeff Green.

* The second half of the season also signals the series' return to some of Keller's strongest tracks. This weekend, the Busch series returns to Bristol Motor Speedway where Keller won in 1999 and finished second in the fall of 2000.

Additionally, Keller is also eager to make the second trip to several tracks including Darlington Raceway and Lowe's Motor Speedway. Keller had career-best finishes - a pair of third-place runs - at both tracks earlier this season.

Jason Keller Quotes

About the championship chase... "This past weekend at Michigan, the Albertson's team did just what we needed to do. We didn't have a great starting position, but we kept digging at it and we finished with a top 10. Because we didn't give up, we were able to move up in the points battle. It will be difficult to catch Harvick without a little help. I'm not hoping he has problems, but if he finishes out of the top 10 we need to be there to capitalize on it. If we want to win this thing, we're going to have to continue to improve every week.

About the second-half of the season... "We're in a great position now - we're second in points, and some of my best tracks are coming up like Bristol and Dover. We're also going back to some other tracks that the Albertson's team had really good runs at earlier this year. Hopefully, we will be able to put some pressure on the leader and make a strong run for the championship. Throughout my career, it seems like the teams I have worked with have been able to turn it up a notch during the second half of the season. I think that much of my success is a result of the way the team has come together. This Albertson's team is a perfect example. We have worked hard and seen the results on the track."

Text provided by Heather Kincel

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